Richard R. Tisei (; born August 13, 1962) is an American politician and realtor from Massachusetts. A Republican, he served in both chambers of the Massachusetts General Court for a combined 26 years, eventually becoming Minority Leader in the Massachusetts Senate. He was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 2010 and the nominee for Congress from Massachusetts's 6th district in 2012 and 2014.
A graduate of American University, Tisei was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1984. At 22, he was the youngest Republican ever elected to the Massachusetts General Court. Tisei served in the House until 1990, when he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. He was elected Assistant Minority Leader in 1997 and Minority Leader in January 2007. He did not run for re-election in 2010, instead running for Lieutenant Governor alongside Republican gubernatorial nominee Charlie Baker. The two lost to Democratic incumbents Deval Patrick and Tim Murray by 6.41%.
Tisei ran for the United States House of Representatives in 2012, narrowly losing to seven-term Democratic incumbent John F. Tierney by 1.2%. He ran again in 2014 and faced former U.S. Marine Seth Moulton in the general election after Moulton defeated Tierney in the Democratic primary. Tisei was defeated again, this time by almost 14%. Tisei has received attention as one of the few openly gay Republicans to have run for Congress.
Early life, education, and early career
Tisei was born in Somerville, Massachusetts. Tisei's grandparents were immigrants from Tivoli, Italy. The son of a builder, he graduated from Lynnfield High School in Lynnfield, Massachusetts in 1981.
Tisei received his B.A. from American University in 1984. A high school visit to the Massachusetts State House gave Tisei "the political bug." In 1982, Tisei was an intern at the White House at the domestic office of Vice President George H. W. Bush. Later, Tisei interned at the office of Massachusetts House Minority Leader William G. Robinson.
Massachusetts House of Representatives (1985–1991)
In 1984, Tisei ran for the open 22nd Middlesex district seat of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Running as a Republican, Tisei defeated Democratic candidate Donald Flanagan, of Wakefield 11,189 to 8,263 and took office the following year. Tisei was the youngest Republican ever elected to the Massachusetts House. He won re-election in 1986 and 1988 with 77% of the vote.
In 1990, he voted against Republican Minority Leader Steven Pierce's budget.
Massachusetts Senate (1991–2011)
The district included Lynnfield, Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, and Wakefield.
Elections
In 1990, incumbent Democratic State Senator John A. Brennan decided to retire. Tisei decided to retire his seat in the lower chamber to run for that open senate seat. He defeated Democrat Mike Festa and Independent Paul Maisano 54%–37%–9%. He won re-election unopposed in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2008. In 2000, he defeated Democrat Steve Spain 73%–27%. In 2004, he defeated Katherine Clark 57%–43%. In 2010, he decided to retire in order to run statewide. Clark ran again and won the seat.
Tenure
As a member of the State Senate, Tisei served for many years as a member of the Joint Committee on Human Services and Elder Affairs. He was named legislator of the Year by the Massachusetts Alliance for the Mentally Ill, The Human Service Providers of Massachusetts and the Home Health Care Association Of Massachusetts. Tisei had a 100% rating from MASS NARAL and Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts. He was also a supporter of same-sex marriage.
Tisei is known best for sponsoring the 1993 Welfare Reform Law and the Whistleblower Protection Law. He also sponsored legislation that would limit the amount of campaign funds candidates can rollover from year to year.
He is a fiscal conservative and strongly supported a sales tax holiday.
In a Washington Post article, he described himself as "a live-and-let-live Republican. My philosophy is, the government should get off your back, out of your wallet and away from the bedroom."