KEENAN for Senate

The Keenan Committee P.O. Box 690-168 Quincy, Massachusetts 02269

- January 13, 2025 - Boston Globe

Mass. Senate isn’t transparent. Here’s how to fix that. Our ‘business as usual’ risks public faith.

Change is necessary. If the public cannot trust how we make our laws, how can they trust the laws we make?

- January 5, 2025 - Boston Herald

"Beacon Hill witnessed something rare this past week."

"A Democratic state senator from Quincy publicly rebuked Senate President Karen Spilka’s reelection to the chamber’s top leadership post. Sen. John Keenan opted to vote “present” during Spilka’s reascension to the Senate President’s Office because of what he said were the branch’s poor marks on transparency."

- January 8, 2025 - Commonwealth Magazine

Keenan’s stand for transparency

"Yet the 60-year-old lawmaker caused a minor stir last week when he was the only Democratic state senator who did not vote to reelect Karen Spilka as Senate president. Keenan voted “present” in the roll call to choose a leader for the new two-year session. In a statement he issued after the vote, Keenan said he held back support for Spilka “because changes are needed” in how the Senate goes about its business.

The changes he wants would hardly seem to constitute a radical remake of a deliberative legislative body charged with carrying out the people’s business in a representative democracy. But Keenan’s views – and willingness to rock the boat to make his point – made him stand out in a Legislature that has become increasingly inclined to operate out of public view and has seemed to thumb its nose at long-standing calls for greater transparency and public accountability."

​KEENAN for Senate

KEENAN for Senate