Representative Linda Dean Campbell Served 2007 - 2022 Democrat - 15th Essex

Linda was elected to represent the 15th Essex District in 2006. She is currently serving as the Vice Chair of the Committee on Revenue and on the Committees of State Administration, Public Health, and Post Audit and Oversight. In previous sessions she served as Vice Chair of the Committees on Veterans and Federal Affairs, and Public Safety.

Linda’s public service started with ROTC at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where she was appointed as the first woman ROTC commander. She received an Army ROTC scholarship and the assurance of active duty. She served in Germany for six years at the battalion and corps level and traveled extensively behind the Iron Curtain and throughout Europe. When Linda returned home, she attended Parachute (Jump) School at Fort Benning, GA, and the Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course at Fort Huachuca, AZ before being assigned as a paratrooper and an Intelligence Officer with the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade (Airborne), XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, NC. In this capacity, she led a unit that provided daily intelligence to the Commander of the Army’s part of the Rapid Deployment Force and for Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

While serving as Captains in the U.S. Army in Germany, Linda and Donald (now a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel) married. After eight years of active duty service, Linda left the Army to start a family and taught part time at the undergraduate and high school level before her husband was deployed to Desert Storm. A note of interest is that their first child, Marie, was born only a week after Donald’s deployment. Linda returned to Methuen during Donald’s deployment and said that she will be forever grateful for the support she received from both her family and community at this time.

Linda first became involved with politics as an environmental activist who represented the City of Methuen in a two-year successful fight to prevent the construction of a massive gas/coal fired electrical generation plant along the Merrimack River at the West Methuen / Dracut line. As a result of this successful endeavor, she was encouraged to run for City Council, where she topped the ticket and served with distinction for six years. Likewise, because of her record of accomplishments on City Council, she was encouraged by her community to run for State Representative when the seat opened up.