Jon Hecht

{{Short description|Politician in Massachusetts, US}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Jon Hecht | state_house = Massachusetts | district = 29th Middlesex | birth_name = Jonathan Hecht | term_start = January 7, 2009 | term_end = January 6, 2021 | predecessor = Rachel Kaprielian | successor = Steve Owens | birth_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. | education = Stanford University (AB)<br>Harvard University (JD)<br>Tufts University (MA) | spouse = Lora Sabin | children = 4 | party = Democratic }} '''Jonathan Hecht''' is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 29th Middlesex district from 2009 to 2021.

== Early life and education == Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Hecht spent his youth in Belmont, attending Belmont Public Schools. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Stanford University in 1981, a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1988, and a Master of Arts in law and diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1990.<ref name="official">{{cite web|url=http://www.mahouse.gov/People/Profile/J_H1|title=Member Profile - Jonathan Hecht|publisher=Massachusetts General Court|access-date=March 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Yale">{{cite web|url=http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/JHecht.htm|title=Jonathan Hecht|publisher=Yale Law School|access-date=March 18, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604203430/http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/JHecht.htm|archive-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/78629/jon-hecht|title = The Voter's Self Defense System}}</ref>

== Career == Hecht was a New York City attorney before working as a program officer for human rights and governance for the Ford Foundation in Beijing from 1990 to 1994. He was a research fellow and law lecturer in East Asian legal studies at Harvard Law School from 1994 to 1998. He co-founded the China Law Center at Yale Law School in 1999 and was its deputy director until 2006.<ref name="official" /><ref name="Yale" /> A former board member of the Arsenal Center for the Arts, Hecht won a seat on the Watertown Town Council in 2005, later serving as chair the council's budget, economic development, and rules committees.<ref name="official" /> Elected as a Democrat to the 29th Middlesex District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2008, Hecht was Vice Chair of the Elder Affairs Committee and was a member of the House Committee on Post Audit and Oversight and the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. He was a member of the Mental Health Caucus, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Caucus, and Urban Parks Caucus.<ref name="official" /> In December 2011, Hecht was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the special election to replace Steven Tolman in the Massachusetts Senate, but lost to state representative Will Brownsberger in the primary election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://belmont.patch.com/articles/why-will-won-staying-close-to-home-pays-off-for-brownsberger |title=Why Will Won: Staying Close to Home Pays Off for Brownsberger |work=Belmont Patch |location=Belmont, MA |date=December 14, 2011 |author1=Tucker, Franklin |author2=Breitrose, Charlie}}</ref>

== Personal life == Hecht and his wife Lora Sabin, a public health economist at Boston University School of Public Health, reside in Watertown and have four children.<ref name="official" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.jonhecht.com/ Official web site] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111124012706/http://electhecht.com/ Campaign web site]

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ma-hs}} {{s-bef|before=Rachel Kaprielian}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives<br>from the 29th Middlesex district|years=January 7, 2009–January 6, 2021}} {{s-aft|after=Steven Owens}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecht, Jon}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Category:Stanford University alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni Category:Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Category:People from Belmont, Massachusetts Category:People from Watertown, Massachusetts Category:21st-century members of the Massachusetts General Court