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. 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. In dealing with the near-infamous Big Dig project in Boston, which became the most expensive highway project in U.S. history, she forced public disclosure of a $2 billion cost overrun. She won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2002, defeating State Senate President Thomas Birmingham, former Democratic National Committee and American Israel Public Affairs Committee chair Steven Grossman, former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, and former nominee for lieutenant governor Warren Tolman. In this action she became the first woman to win a major party nomination for governor in the Commonwealth. In the general election she garnered 45 percent of the vote to Mitt Romney's 50 percent. Later career Following her defeat in 2002, O'Brien joined Boston-area local television station WLVI as a consumer advocate. She left the station in 2005 to head the Boston Area Girl Scouts, and as such is the CEO of the Patriot's Trail Girl Scout Council covering Greater Boston. In January 2014 OIKOS Software appointed O'Brien to its board of directors. In August 2022, State Treasurer and Receiver General Deb Goldberg appointed O'Brien as Chair of the Cannabis Control Commission. Personal life O'Brien lives in Massachusetts with her husband, former state representative Emmet Hayes, and children. Electoral history 2002 election for Governor Mitt Romney (R), 49.8% Shannon O'Brien (D), 44.9% Jill Stein (G), 3.5% Carla Howell (L), 1.1% Barbara Johnson (I), 0.7% References External links |- 1959 births American women lawyers Boston University School of Law alumni Living people Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Boston State treasurers of Massachusetts Women state legislators in Massachusetts Yale Bulldogs Yale University alumni 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians