Shannon O'Brien | |
|---|---|
.jpg) O'Brien in 2002 | |
| 55thTreasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 7, 1999 – January 2, 2003 | |
| Governor | Paul Cellucci Jane Swift (acting) |
| Preceded by | Joe Malone |
| Succeeded by | Tim Cahill |
| Member of theMassachusetts Senate from the Hampden and Hampshire district | |
| In office January 6, 1993 – January 4, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Dunn |
| Succeeded by | Brian Lees |
| Member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives from the2nd Hampshire district | |
| In office January 7, 1987 – January 6, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | William A. Carey |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Flavin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1959-04-30)April 30, 1959 (age 66) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Emmet Hayes |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Boston University (JD) |
Shannon Patricia Elizabeth O'Brien (born April 30, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served in theMassachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 through 1993, in theMassachusetts Senate from 1993 through 1995, and was theMassachusetts state treasurer from 1999 through 2003. In that last position she became the first woman to be elected in Massachusetts to statewide office by her own accord. She was the Democratic Party nominee in the2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, but lost in the general election toMitt Romney.
Four generations of O'Brien's family have served in elected office in Massachusetts government. Her great-grandfather, Michael T. O'Brien, was the proprietor of the family funeral home inEasthampton, Massachusetts, and first elected to the state legislature in 1930.[1][2] Her father, Edward O'Brien (1933–2004), was a lawyer who served on theMassachusetts Governor's Council from 1970 to 1975 and left the post to run forMassachusetts attorney general, losing the 1974 Democratic primary toFrancis X. Belotti. He then ran for Congress in 1976, losing to the incumbentSilvio Conte; he returned to the Governor's Council after the 1978 election and remained in office until his death in 2004.[3]Shannon's mother is named Ann. Shannon has four siblings:[2] Erin, a clerk at the West Roxbury District Court; Gaelan, a court officer in the Northampton District Court; Tara, a former employee atBoston City Hall; and Michael, who runs the family funeral home inEasthampton.[4]
O'Brien was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated fromYale University in 1981, where she was captain of theYale Bulldogs varsity women's soccer team.[2] She received herJuris Doctor degree from theBoston University School of Law in 1985.[citation needed]
O'Brien worked for a large Boston law firm before her father alerted her to an open seat in the state legislature, which she won.[2]O'Brien served in theMassachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 through 1993, and in theMassachusetts Senate from 1993 through 1995. While a state legislator she authored a law that increased penalties for crimes against children such as abuse and neglect.[2]
She was theMassachusetts state treasurer from 1999 through 2003, winning the office in theMassachusetts general election, 1998, after losing in her first attempt for that office inMassachusetts general election, 1994 and subsequently working as a vice president for external affairs at a health-care company.[2] She was the first woman to be elected in Massachusetts to statewide office by her own accord. She came into the office after it had suffered a major embezzlement scandal, and she tightened controls over the funds involved.[2] While serving as State Treasurer, she restructured the lottery commission and the Abandoned Properties Division in Massachusetts, gaining acclaim for returning dormant funds to the residents of the state. She also refinanced state debt and in doing so saved about $500 million.[2] In dealing with the near-infamousBig Dig project in Boston, which became the most expensive highway project in U.S. history,[5] she forced public disclosure of a $2 billion cost overrun.[2]
She won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2002, defeating State Senate PresidentThomas Birmingham, formerDemocratic National Committee andAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee chairSteven Grossman, formerUnited States Secretary of LaborRobert Reich, and former nominee for lieutenant governorWarren Tolman. In this action she became the first woman to win a major party nomination for governor in the Commonwealth.[2] In the general election she garnered 45 percent of the vote to Mitt Romney's 50 percent.[citation needed]
Following her defeat in 2002, O'Brien joined Boston-area local television stationWLVI as a consumer advocate. She left the station in 2005 to head theBoston Area Girl Scouts, and as such is the CEO of the Patriot's Trail Girl Scout Council covering Greater Boston.[6]
In January 2014 OIKOS Software appointed O'Brien to its board of directors.[7]
In August 2022, State Treasurer and Receiver GeneralDeb Goldberg appointed O'Brien as Chair of the Cannabis Control Commission.[8] Goldberg suspended O'Brien from the position on September 15, 2023.[9]She was fired a year later after Goldberg found credible allegations of racial insensitivity and bullying.[10] On September 2, 2025, Judge Robert Gordon of the Suffolk County Superior Court ruled that Goldberg's decision failed to meet the "high bar for removal" and ordered that O'Brien be reinstated with back pay.[11]
O'Brien lives in Massachusetts with her husband, formerstate representativeEmmet Hayes, and children.[citation needed]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts 1999–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forTreasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts 1994, 1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Massachusetts 2002 | Succeeded by |