'Storied career'

For the women of her generation, life plans didn't typically involve career goals: They were to grow up, get married and have children.

Retiring Massachusetts state Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, also known by her nickname, Harlee, did all that: At 85, she's married, still, has raised three children and is now enjoying her four grandchildren.

But the trajectory of her life did not follow the established pattern. She never fit the mold.

Maybe it was her stellar education: Chandler earned a bachelor's degree from Wellesley, a master's from Simmons and a Ph.D. from Clark University (as well as four honorary degrees from colleges in her district: Worcester State, Clark, Becker and WPI). In the life she led before starting her political career, she ran an education consulting firm and worked as communications director of a small software firm.

Through her 28 years in the Legislature, she championed causes that supported the rights of women and children, public health measures and the right of people to choose whom to marry. Chandler was elected president of the state Senate in 2017, only the second woman to hold the office.

"She truly has a storied career," said state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton. "She broke a number of ceilings, for women, for women legislators. She is a real progressive voice in our body, a real mentor."

The two worked together on zoning reform, an issue some might have deemed boring. Their work led the way to the state passing legislation designating some communities as MBTA transportation hubs and requiring set-aside areas for denser housing.

Timothy Murray, president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and a former lieutenant governor, Worcester mayor and city councilor, called Chandler the "hardest-working legislator, always out in the community, visible, engaged, very responsive and helpful."

Foreseeing her future, Murray said, "She may not be in elected office, but she is civic-minded and will continue to be a voice in Worcester. I could always count on her support and advocacy."

An unlikely path

Born in Maryland and raised in Delaware, her election to represent Worcester on Beacon Hill, as a Jewish grandmother without political connections or tradition, came as a surprise to her.

It started when her mother became ill, Chandler said. She quit her job to be available to care for her mother, a move that gave her ample time to think and read the newly merged Telegram & Gazette. She noticed that real estate brokers complained they couldn't sell property in Worcester because of the reputation of the city schools.

"People just didn't want to move to Worcester," Chandler said. She decided it was an issue she could address. In 1991, Chandler ran for, and won, a seat on the School Committee.

"I didn't think about a base, or about finances; I thought if I worked hard, I could accomplish my goal," Chandler said. She polled second, just behind future City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. Chandler served as committee vice chair, and as a member of the personnel committee.

A major accomplishment of her time on the School Committee was implementing a personnel directive that put people of color into school leadership positions.

"I noticed a lack of opportunity in Worcester schools for people of color," Chandler said, adding that children "need to see people who look like them in leadership positions. "

"I enjoyed it; I realized how much I could accomplish," Chandler said, adding that she realized she could accomplish even more as a state representative. She made the leap when Kevin O'Sullivan, the representative for the 13th Worcester District, ran for Congress. "I thought: Here's my chance."

Chandler edged Michael Ferguson in the Democratic primary by just over 100 votes, before handily defeating Republican Constantin Leventis in the general election.

Expecting to be named to the Legislature's education committee, based on her experience with the School Committee and with the commission on Common Core, Chandler was surprised to be appointed to the committee on health.

"In the Legislature's brilliance, I was not appointed to education; my first committee was on health care," Chandler said, explaining that her only experience with health care was accrued as she cared for her mother and as the former president of the Jewish Health Care Center. She later realized that both the state hospital and the state medical school were in her district. Bingo: She's on the health care committee.

At the time, Memorial Hospital, a private health care provider, and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center were each seeking partners. Both were casting their nets in Boston. If any mergers ensued, it could have left residents in Chandler's home district without high-level medical care, pushing patients to Boston.

"We're the second-largest city in New England," Chandler said. She questioned why the partnerships needed to be with Boston facilities and pushed the two hospitals to merge. That happened in 1998. UMass Memorial Health today is the region's largest employer, an economic driver and home to a Nobel Prize winner.

"The merger brought people who would never have come to Worcester," Chandler said.

Her rise to Senate presidency

Chandler says she loved being in the House and "could have stayed." But in 2000, the Senate seat for the 1st Worcester District opened up, when state Sen. Robert Bernstein decided not to run for reelection. She was encouraged to run. Her opponent in the Democratic primary was Joseph D. Early Jr., son of a former U.S. congressman and currently the Worcester County district attorney.

"It was a tough race," Chandler said. She edged Early, taking 52% of the primary vote, before rolling to victory over Republican Christopher LoConto in the general election.

"I was able to do more as a senator than as a representative; I represent 179,000 people," Chandler said, still awed by the responsibility of addressing the needs and concerns of so many constituents. "I was able to do some wonderful things."

Robyn Kennedy, elected to fill Chandler's seat, is poised to follow in her footsteps and will take over representing the district's 179,000 constituents.

"Seeing Senator Chandler in a position of leadership gave me the confidence to run," Kennedy said. "She is a committed, dedicated, active leader. She showed us how to be a leader.

"I want to thank Senator Chandler for all the work she has done, making the state safer, stronger, better for all families," Kennedy said.

Chandler rose to become Senate majority leader when, in late 2017, a scandal led to her becoming the second woman elected as Senate president. The vote came after the former president, Stanley C. Rosenberg, announced a leave of absence as authorities launched a criminal investigation into his husband, Bryon Hefner.

"We needed someone whose ethics could not be questioned," said state Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer. "There is no one who did not think she was the right choice: she was the right person at the right time."

Chandler served as president until July 2018, when Karen Spilka was elected to the top post. In celebrating Chandler's career, Spilka thanked Senate President Emerita Chandler for her devotion to public service and the Massachusetts State Senate.

"As many have noted, she stepped up to lead our institution in one of our darkest hours," Spilka said. "She provided an honest and unflinching account of life for women before Roe v. Wade as she vigorously defended reproductive justice in our commonwealth. She loved her communities and constituents, and never stopped fighting for them.

"The senator will be remembered for her smile and her wit, as well as a toughness that allowed her to have a successful, long career as a public servant. I wish her all the best in her retirement," said Spilka. "She will be missed."

Focus on health care,

women's issues

Chandler attributes her success as a politician to her late start in the career.

"Who starts when they're 54?" she asked rhetorically. "I already was who I was when I first ran for office." As an older woman Chandler was not distracted and not perceived as a threat to anybody.

Much of the legislation she has championed has revolved around women and women's health.

In the 1990s, when some health insurance companies and health maintenance organizations opted to pay only for one overnight stay for new mothers and their babies, pushing them out of hospitals within 24 hours of giving birth, Chandler acted.

Her bill opposing "drive-through deliveries" became a national model. Massachusetts became the fourth state to enact a law forcing insurance companies to pay for longer stays. A federal law, passed in 1996 and enacted in 1998, followed.

"I became hooked on health care legislation," Chandler said.

Over her tenure she has championed expanding oral health care, legislation to make wigs available to those who are undergoing cancer treatments, and the passage of the NASTY Women Act, which repealed old, unenforced laws related to reproductive health, including an 1845 state ban on abortion and limits to contraception.

In that effort, she foresaw the eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. ("You had to be blind not to see it," she said.)

"When [former president Donald] Trump came into office, I became concerned and wrote the bill supporting the ROE Act," Chandler said, referring to the bill she sponsored that enshrines legal abortion in state law. "Massachusetts was ready."

She was instrumental in crafting the buffer zone bill separating protesters and patients at abortion clinics, and in defeating an attempt to limit marriage to one man and one woman.

"People have the right to marry whomever they want; that's what life is about, it makes people happy," Chandler said.

'Responsibilities at home'

This month, in her farewell remarks from the Senate Chamber floor (a room she was instrumental in having renovated) she promised the gathered legislators that it would be the last time they would hear her champion the regional transportation agencies serving communities outside the Route 128 belt.

"They need equitable funding; my constituents rely on the RTA every day," Chandler told the senators.

In his introductory remarks, Sen. Michael J. Rodrigues, D-Westport, called Chandler "straightforward, honest and committed to fighting for her constituents and district through to the bitter end."

"She led with integrity and grace and ensured the integrity of the Senate," Rodrigues said. "She is a dedicated public servant, a true friend and leader."

Chandler herself alludes to her credo of service: She's there to represent her constituents, not for power or her own aggrandizement. Her job, she says, is to give voice and place to those without, to serve the people.

In his remarks, state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, referenced Chandler's measure to issue identification to unhoused Massachusetts residents.

"Just because they have no home, doesn't mean they have no place in the discussion, in society," Tarr said. He praised her work as a trailblazer and a role model for women and girls.

"Harriette Chandler came here to make a difference, with deep respect for this chamber, patience, perseverance and firmness," Tarr said. "She will forever be a part of the legacy of this Senate; she will forever be our friend."

The last three years have been unusual for Chandler. Because the pandemic forced legislators to work harder and longer to represent those they serve, but also because she made the decision to retire. It was the first time in 31 years she wasn't anxious during election season.

"I sat back and was outside looking in," Chandler said.

As she packs up the memorabilia in her State House office, much of which she will donate to the Worcester Historical Museum, she looks backwards and forwards: It's a bittersweet moment. She never established a district office, preferring to meet constituents in their own environments, she would go to them.

"I have responsibilities at home," Chandler said, alluding to her husband, Burton, who has been ill. She's sure she will do something; she likes to swim, knit and cook, but has her eye on staying involved with the community she represented, in different ways, for 31 years.