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 Chair of the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity, and previously served as Chair of the Special Joint Oversight Committee to investigate the deaths of 76 Veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Previously, Linda also served as Chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, Vice Chair for the Joint Committees on Revenue, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Veterans and Federal Affairs.

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, Linda 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. 

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 Linda and Donald’s 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, Linda 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.

Linda has recently been a lead sponsor of several key pieces of legislation that have become law, such as the civics education law (requiring hands-on civics education for middle- and high-school students across Massachusetts, signed into law in 2018); Nicky’s Law (to protect individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities from abuse by care providers, signed into law in 2020); and the Combined Sewer Overflow public notification law (requiring public alerts when sewage overflows into waterways so residents know when to avoid contaminated waters, signed into law in 2021). She has also been a lead sponsor of legislation to improve environmental protections, animal welfare, public safety, mental health services, and more, in addition to sponsoring many local bills for her district.

As an athlete in high school and college, Linda enjoys all outdoor sports and activities in her free time.