Republican Party leaders nationwide are coalescing under Donald Trump as he gears up for his second term. In the Massachusetts Senate, it appears the small but slightly growing GOP caucus isn't looking to make any major changes.
The four-man Senate Republican Caucus in 2025 will add its first woman in 20 years, but the shift in composition won't change its leadership, according to a majority of members, who said they see Sen. Bruce Tarr of Gloucester continuing as the group's frontman.
Tarr himself told the News Service last week that he has "no plans to change course" after 14 years as Senate minority leader. He ascended the post in 2011 during the first term of the Obama administration and on the heels of Republican state Sen. Scott Brown's 2010 U.S. Senate victory.
The caucus' four-man roster features a couple of Baker-style moderates, including Tarr, and a couple senators who are seen to be from the more conservative end of the Massachusetts Republican spectrum.
In January, Sen.-elect Kelly Dooner, a Republican city councilor from Taunton, will join them to form a quintet.
"I think she would be a little bit more conservative. But she's going to vote for the district first," said strategist Holly Robichaud of the firm Tuesday Associates, who worked on Dooner's winning campaign.
Asked about the outlook for Senate Republicans' leadership next year, Robichaud said she thinks caucus members will opt to keep their current structure.
"I don't think there'll be a shakeup," she told the News Service.
Like Dooner, Sen. Peter Durant flipped a Senate seat for the Republicans when he won a special election to succeed former Sen. Anne Gobi, offering a playbook for how Republicans can win in a state where independents and Democrats outnumber them. While Democrats have had success here, more than 64 percent of registered voters in Massachusetts are unenrolled, neither Democrat nor Republican.
Tarr, asked if he would be seeking another term as leader when members are sworn in Jan. 1, initially told the News Service the conversation was "premature" and that "we'll talk about that at some point."
A few moments later, as he walked into a meeting in the Senate president's office, the Gloucester Republican approached the News Service and said: "I'm focused on finishing the remainder of this session. We obviously have a lot of items that are in active play. And when those things are concluded, that's when we think about the next session. But I have no plans to change course."
Tarr earned plaudits Monday from Sen. Patrick O'Connor and Durant, the Spencer Republican who previously ran for state party chair.
"I'm really happy with Bruce's leadership and I certainly have no intention of changing," said Durant. "I've watched Bruce over the past year as I've gotten involved more with the caucus, which isn't hard because there was only four of us. But I see the hard work that Bruce does. I think he's a good leader. I think he's a fantastic leader, actually. So, I have every intention of voting to have him back as the leader."
O'Connor, of Weymouth, said he is giving his "full support" to Tarr in the 194th General Court.
"I don't foresee any change happening. I think Bruce has been a very good leader of the caucus ... very versed on all of the issues that come before us," he said.
O'Connor said Tarr has helped the caucus navigate procedural waters over the past couple of months as large bills have emerged from unusually late-term conference committees.
"And really, one of the formal sessions, the one on climate, came because of our real push to make sure that something as large as a 100-plus page climate bill doesn't get done in an informal session," he added.
A majority of Republican lawmakers – 17 representatives along with Durant and Sen. Ryan Fattman, a conservative Sutton Republican – voted against the climate and clean energy siting legislation during the formal sessions that followed. Meantime, both Tarr and House Republican Leader Bradley Jones Jr. voted with Democratic leadership in favor of the bill.
In the Senate, individual members have more power to slow or stop progress on bills, particularly during informal sessions that come after July in an election year. Senate Republicans wielded their power in 2024 differently than they did on a related bill in 2010.
Sam Doran
This year, they sought a formal session at which they could go on the record about whether they supported the energy siting bill. In 2010, the goal was to stop a wind energy siting bill altogether. Sen. Michael Knapik objected to taking it up during an informal session, and in a subsequent session, it was Tarr who showed up to object to its consideration. In total, objections on the floor punted action on the conference report across 25 informal sessions between August and November of that year, and the final note in the legislative history is, "No further action taken."
Dooner and Fattman could not be reached.
Tarr knocked doors with Dooner last month in her district, and he sent out a press release welcoming her aboard after her close win over Democrat Joseph Pacheco. He wrote that he looked forward to working with Dooner on issues including the economy, public safety, government transparency, and "bringing a responsible end to the migrant shelter crisis."
"We're looking forward to having Kelly in there and helping us change the conversation -- or keep those changes we've made over the past year with my election coming in, keep those changes going,"
Durant said Monday. He added, "Obviously, Massachusetts didn't vote for President Trump. But I think that there were still some clear messages sent to everyone here in Massachusetts when President Trump outperformed some of what he did in previous elections. So, I think there is a message of fiscal constraint, of kind of changing the way business is done. I think my election last year helped emphasize some of that. I think Kelly's election did, as well."
One forthcoming change could come in the list of additional titles and appendant stipends that Tarr is able to bestow. Operating with the present tight lineup, every Republican senator besides Tarr is designated as an assistant minority leader. Back when the caucus was larger, some members were also designated as minority whip and assistant whip.
Tarr took the lead for Senate Republicans after Minority Leader Richard Tisei departed to run alongside Charlie Baker for the corner office in 2010. That unsuccessful campaign prefaced Baker's victory in 2014. Patching together a coalition that also included independents and conservative Democrats, Baker enjoyed two straight wins and showcased a Massachusetts moderate brand of Republicanism.
The size of the Senate Republican Caucus has ebbed and flowed but remained small, at one point up to six (during the 2015-2016 session), then down to three until Durant's special election win.
It's a far cry from the veto-sustaining power the GOP Caucus enjoyed from 1991 to 1992, the first two years of Gov. William Weld's tenure. Republicans in the 1990 election pushed their numbers up to 16 seats, before dropping to nine members a couple years later.
Senate Republicans will be up against a 35-person caucus of Democrats which in 2025 will feature only two new faces.
~ State House News Service
