{{Short description|American politician}} {{Cleanup bare URLs|date=August 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Jennifer Flanagan | image = Rep Flanagan.jpg | office1 = Member of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission | term_start1 = 2017 | term_end1 = 2021 | predecessor1 = Initial member of commission | successor1 = Kimberly Roy | office2 = Member of the Massachusetts Senate<br />from the Worcester and Middlesex district | term_start2 = 2009 | term_end2 = 2017 | predecessor2 = Robert A. Antonioni | successor2 = Dean Tran | office3 = Member of the<br />Massachusetts House of Representatives<br />from the 4th Worcester district | term_start3 = 2005 | term_end3 = 2009 | predecessor3 = Mary Jane Simmons | successor3 = Dennis Rosa | party = Democratic }}
'''Jennifer L. Flanagan''' is a former member of the Massachusetts General Court and the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission.
== Education== Leominster High School; University of Massachusetts Boston, B.A. Political Science; Fitchburg State College, M.S. Mental Health Counseling.
== Political career == thumb|Official portrait, circa 2005
Flanagan served as a legislative aide and then chief of staff to then-Leominster State Rep. Mary Jane Simmons.<ref name="ma-legis">{{Cite web|url=https://malegislature.gov/People/Profile/JLF0|title=Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan}}</ref> In 2004 Simmons announced she would not seek re-election to the 4th Worcester district due to health concerns,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_2546395/|title=Simmons was upbeat to the end|date=2005-01-31|website=Sentinel and Enterprise|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> and Flanagan ran for the open seat. Flanagan won the primary and general election, and served two terms as a Massachusetts State Representative.
Flanagan served as a Massachusetts State Senator for the Worcester and Middlesex district, which includes her hometown of Leominster. She is a Democrat who served from 2009,<ref name="ma-legis" /> to 2017. She first won the State Senate seat in 2008, winning a contested Democratic primary and facing no general election opponent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_10485802/|title=Flanagan wins state Senate race; unopposed in general election|date=2008-09-17|website=Sentinel and Enterprise|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> When running for re-election in 2014 the nomination forms to get Flanagan on the primary ballot were filed with an incomplete address,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/breakingnews/ci_25709321/flanagan-eyeing-options-after-signature-error|title = Flanagan eyeing options after signature error|date = 6 May 2014}}</ref> forcing her to run a write-in campaign during the primary in order to be on the general election ballot.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thelandmark.com/news/2014-09-11/Front_Page/Battle_of_the_sticker_campaigns.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-09-11 |archive-date=2014-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911164954/http://www.thelandmark.com/news/2014-09-11/Front_Page/Battle_of_the_sticker_campaigns.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> There was no candidate for the seat on either the Republican<ref>http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/BallotOut.aspx?btcode=R&ctcode=34&wno=0&prno=1</ref> or Democratic<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/BallotOut.aspx?btcode=D&ctcode=34&wno=0&prno=1 | title=My Election Info: Search }}</ref> primary ballots. Her general election opponent, Richard Bastien, also got on the general election ballot with a write-in campaign in the primary.
In 2017, Flanagan was chosen by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker as his pick for the newly formed Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/08/23/baker-appoints-state-senator-jen-flanagan-cannabis-control-commission/vdp7AOKEezTysR3KHPV2WN/story.html|title = First member of state pot commission didn't support legalization - the Boston Globe|website = The Boston Globe}}</ref> The appointment was notable because she opposed cannabis legalization and is from a different party than the governor. She stepped down in 2021 to become the director of regulatory policy at Vicente Sederberg.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanson |first1=Melissa |title=Jennifer Flanagan announces she's stepping down from Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, ending 25-year career of public service |url=https://www.masslive.com/cannabis/2021/04/jennifer-flanagan-announces-shes-stepping-down-from-massachusetts-cannabis-control-commission-ending-25-year-career-of-public-service.html |work=MassLive |date=April 13, 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.jenflanagan.com/ www.jenflanagan.com] *[http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/jlf1.htm Legislature webpage]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Jennifer L}} Category:Massachusetts state senators Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Category:Women state legislators in Massachusetts Category:People from Leominster, Massachusetts Category:Politicians from Worcester County, Massachusetts Category:University of Massachusetts Boston alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Fitchburg State University alumni Category:21st-century American women politicians Category:21st-century members of the Massachusetts General Court
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