John Velis
John Velis
Massachusetts State Senate Hampden and Hampshire District
Tenure
2023 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
2
Prior offices
Massachusetts House of Representatives 4th Hampden District
Massachusetts State Senate 2nd Hampden and Hampshire District (Historical)
Compensation
Elections and appointments
Education
Military
Personal
Contact
John Velis (Democratic Party) is a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, representing Hampden and Hampshire District. He assumed office on January 4, 2023. His current term ends on January 6, 2027.
Velis (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts State Senate to represent Hampden and Hampshire District. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
John Velis was born and lives in Westfield, Massachusetts. Velis served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and Massachusetts Army National Guard. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of South Florida and a juris doctor from Suffolk University. His career experience includes working as a lawyer.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Velis was assigned to the following committees:
- Elder Affairs Joint Committee, Vice Chair
- Housing Joint Committee
- Judiciary Joint Committee
- Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Joint Committee, Chair
- Public Safety and Homeland Security Joint Committee
- State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint Committee
- Veterans and Federal Affairs Joint Committee, Chair
2021-2022
Velis was assigned to the following committees:
- Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Joint Committee, Senate vice chair
- Judiciary Joint Committee
- Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Joint Committee, Senate vice chair
- Municipalities and Regional Government Joint Committee
- Public Safety and Homeland Security Joint Committee
- State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Joint Committee
- Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Joint Committee
- Veterans and Federal Affairs Joint Committee, Senate chair
2019-2020
Velis was assigned to the following committees:
- Judiciary Joint Committee
- Ways and Means Joint Committee
- Veterans and Federal Affairs Joint Committee, Vice Chair
- Financial Services Joint Committee
- House Ways and Means Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of te 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Joint |
| • Health Care Financing Joint |
| • Marijuana Policy Joint |
| • Veterans and Federal Affairs Joint, Vice chair |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Velis served on the following committees:
| Massachusetts committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Judiciary Joint |
| • Public Health Joint |
| • Veterans and Federal Affairs Joint |
| • Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Joint |
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2024
General election
Democratic primary election
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Velis in this election.
2022
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2022
General election
Democratic primary election
Republican primary election
2020
State Senate - regular election
See also: Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2020
General election
Democratic primary election
Republican primary election
State Senate - special election
See also: Massachusetts state legislative special elections, 2020
General election
Democratic primary election
Republican primary election
2018
General election
Democratic primary election
2016
Elections for the Massachusetts House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 8, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 7, 2016.
Incumbent John Velis ran unopposed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives Fourth Hampden District general election.[2][3]
Incumbent John Velis ran unopposed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives Fourth Hampden District Democratic Primary.[4][5]
| Massachusetts House of Representatives, Fourth Hampden District Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic |  John Velis Incumbent (unopposed) |
2014
General election
Elections for the Massachusetts House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on September 9, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 3, 2014. Incumbent John C. Velis was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Dan Allie was unopposed in the Republican primary. Velis defeated Allie in the general election.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Velis Incumbent |
58.9% | 7,327 | |
| Republican | Dan Allie | 41.1% | 5,111 | |
| Total Votes | 12,438 |
Special election
John C. Velis (D) defeated Dan Allie (R) in the special election, which took place on April 1. Velis was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Allie was unopposed in the Republican primary.[7][8][9]
The seat was vacant following Donald F. Humason, Jr.'s (R) election to the Massachusetts State Senate.[10]
A special election for the position of Massachusetts House of Representatives Fourth Hampden District was called for April 1, with a primary on March 4. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was January 28.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John C. Velis |
53.4% | 2,697 | |
| Republican | Dan Allie | 46.6% | 2,354 | |
| Total Votes | 5,051 |
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Velis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
John Velis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
John Velis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Massachusetts scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 3 to December 31. Formal session ended on July 31, 2024 and an informal session was convened from August 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 4 to November 15.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 5 to August 1.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 6 to January 4.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Massachusetts State Legislature was in session from January 1 to January 5.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 2 through December 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Massachusetts General Court was in formal session from January 3 to July 31. The legislature was in informal session from August 1 to December 31.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 4 through November 15. The legislature held an informal session from November 16 to January 2.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 6 through July 31.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 7, 2015, through January 5, 2016.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Massachusetts General Court was in session from January 14 through August 1.
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Senator John Velis, "About John," accessed April 19, 2023
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 State election candidates," accessed October 3, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Election data lookup," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Candidates (Democratic)," accessed June 20, 2016
- ↑ Secretary of the Commonweath of Massachusetts, "Massachusetts Election Statistics," accessed October 14, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2014 State Primary Candidates," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed February 18, 2014
- ↑ nepr.net, "Democrat Velis Snags Westfield State House Seat From GOP," April 1, 2014
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "Official special election results," accessed April 16, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 masslive.com, "Special election to fill Don Humason's former 4th Hampden District House seat set," December 30, 2013
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