Local legislator says five terms is enough, will not run for re-election

Joy Hearn hoping her vacant seat will result in a 'robust election'

By Josh Bickford
Posted 1/10/18

Barrington's Joy Hearn will not run for re-election.

The Democrat who represents District 66 in Barrington and East Providence announced last week that she had decided that her fifth term at the …

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Local legislator says five terms is enough, will not run for re-election

Joy Hearn hoping her vacant seat will result in a 'robust election'

Posted

Barrington's Joy Hearn will not run for re-election.

The Democrat who represents District 66 in Barrington and East Providence announced last week that she had decided that her fifth term at the statehouse would be her last. 

"I'm a fan of term limits," said Rep. Hearn. "This is a time that just made sense. It's a good time to say good-bye."

Rep. Hearn was first elected to her seat in 2008 and currently serves on the House Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Municipal Government. 

She said she has enjoyed working at the statehouse, and in a letter to the editor listed some of her achievements:

"Over the 10 years I have served in the General Assembly, I have had the great fortune to be involved in a number of momentous legislative initiatives: marriage equality, the institution of a statewide education funding formula, major tax reform and championing a good government agenda," she wrote. "It was the Barrington Bridges and their long overdue schedule and budget overruns that got me to run and I was delighted to see completion of the White Church Bridge on time and on budget. Government can work."

According to her biography page on the state legislature website, Rep. Hearn's focus at the statehouse has often been education, "most notably her legislative initiatives that allocated funds for full-day kindergarten and supported the creation and execution of the state's education funding formula."

Rep. Hearn said she spent the last month or two considering her plans for the future and finally settled on not running for re-election. She said part of her decision was based on a hope that a vacant seat in District 66 would result in a more "robust election."

"I think the best kind of public servant comes from a robust election cycle," she said, later adding "I am a believer in a robust democracy."

Rep. Hearn said she has no plans to move from Barrington. It was not clear whether she had future intentions to run for a different political office.

"Barrington and this section of Riverside have been a blast to represent," she said. 

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