11.07.12 — Maggie Hassan, a 1985 grad­uate of the School of Law, will be New Hampshire’s next gov­ernor. She said her North­eastern edu­ca­tion, including her co-​​op expe­ri­ences, will serve her well in leading the Granite State.

“My time at North­eastern was remark­able in a lot of dif­ferent ways,” Hassan said in an inter­view Wednesday evening. “More than any­thing, what I learned in law school was that every­body counts, and one of the things that lawyers at their best do is make sure dif­ferent people’s voices are heard. That’s been an impor­tant thing I have car­ried with me since law school, and I know many of my class­mates have too.”

Governor-​​ elect Hassan, a 54-​​year-​​old Demo­crat, is New Hampshire’s former Senate Majority Leader. At the end of an often-​​contentious cam­paign, Hassan reached across the aisle in her vic­tory speech Tuesday night, pledging to work with both par­ties. She defeated Repub­lican Ovide Lam­on­tagne, win­ning the sup­port of 54.6 per­cent of New Hamp­shire voters.

“I’m really grateful to the people of New Hamp­shire for the trust they’ve put in me and I’m excited to work with them to move for­ward,” said Hassan, who ran on a plan to develop a more robust and inno­v­a­tive economy and ensure the state has the strongest work­force in the nation.

Hassan is Northeastern’s second law school grad­uate to become a state governor; the first, John Pastore '31, served as governor of Rhode Island from 1945 to 1950 and as a US State Senator from 1950 to 1976.

In the race for the 3rd 
Middlesex (Massachusetts) State Senate seat, Mike Barrett ’77 triumphed and will represent Bedford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Lincoln, Waltham, Weston and parts of
Lexington and Sudbury. Barrett is no political newcomer: after three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and four terms in the State Senate in the 1980s and 1990s, he ran for governor of Massachusetts in the 1994 democratic primary.

In Rhode Island, Frank Lombardi ’88, who heads his own practice and is vice chairman of the Cranston School Committee, won a hotly contested race for the District 26 State Senate seat. Lombardi has received many awards for his commitment to community service, including the Pro Bono Publico Award for Equal Justice from the Rhode Island Bar Association for his work with indigent clients.

Also, in Massachusetts, Karen Spilka ’80, who has represented the 2^nd Middlesex and Norfolk districts since 2004, was re-elected in an uncontested race.

About Northeastern University School of Law
The nation’s leader in experiential legal education since 1968, Northeastern University School of Law offers the longest running, most extensive experience-based legal education program in the country and is a national leader in legal education reform. With cooperative legal education as the cornerstone of its program, Northeastern guarantees its students an unparalleled full year of practical legal work. All students participate in four, full-time legal placements, and can choose from the more than 900 employers worldwide participating in the school’s signature Cooperative Legal Education Program. The future of legal education for the past 45 years, Northeastern University School of Law blends theory and practice, providing students with a unique set of skills and experience to successfully practice law. 

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