New reps sworn in
BOSTON - State Reps. Pamela Richardson, D-Framingham, and Thomas Conroy, D-Wayland, were sworn in as MetroWest's newest voices on Beacon Hill yesterday by now-former Gov. Mitt Romney in the ornate House chamber as their children looked on.
Richardson won a last-minute campaign Nov. 7 to fill the 6th Middlesex District seat vacated when Framingham Democrat Deborah Blumer died Oct. 13.
``I've been working as the representative since I've been elected ... and now it's official, so I can actually participate in the session, so that's a difference,'' Richardson said as her husband, Peter, and sons, 11-year-old Gordon and 10-year-old Doug, ate lunch with new lawmakers' families in the State House Great Hall.
Richardson, a 37-year-old Saxonville resident originally from Sudbury, said she is considering sponsoring several bills, including a measure to ensure state Board of Education members do not have any conflicts of interest.
Conroy unseated Wayland Republican Susan Pope in November, turning the 13th Middlesex District over to the Democratic Party that already dominated the Legislature.
Conroy, a 44-year-old native of Cheshire, Conn., said he shares two legislative priorities House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi voiced yesterday: implementing the state's new health care law that requires everyone in state have health insurance and promoting energy efficiency.
Conroy also listed increasing state aid and the economy among his priorities.
``People live in Sudbury, Lincoln and Wayland because of the school and the environment and quality of life,'' Conroy said.
Conroy's wife, Sarah Sewall, and their four daughters - 10-year-old triplets Madeleine, Cashen and Emma and 5-year-old Sophia - watched him take the oath of office.
New state Rep. John Fernandes, D-Milford, also was sworn in as the representative for the 10th Middlesex District. The 54-year-old replaced longtime Milford state Rep. Marie Parente, whom he unseated in the Democratic primary last September.
Richardson, Conroy and Fernandes all voted to re-elect DiMasi as House speaker yesterday and reiterated their opposition to putting a gay marriage ban on the ballot.
Two of those three lawmakers are bringing a new stance on gay marriage to their districts: Blumer opposed advancing the gay marriage ban, but Pope and Parente wanted to put it on the ballot.
The three new lawmakers are taking different approaches to working outside of the State House. Richardson said she will not continue working in real estate. Conroy said he still will work in the Boston office of Marsh Inc., an international risk management solutions firm, and Fernandes said he will continue working at his law firm in Milford.
(Emelie Rutherford can be reached at 617-722-2495 or erutherford@cnc.com.)