Warren E. Tolman is a Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 lawyer and former member of the Massachusetts General Court

Massachusetts General Court

The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...

, serving in both of the Court's houses. He was a candidate for governor of Massachusetts

Governor of Massachusetts

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...

 in 2002

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2002

The Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2002 was held on November 5, 2002. Businessman Mitt Romney was elected to a four-year term, to be served from January 2, 2003 until January 4, 2007. Every four years, Massachusetts holds state-wide elections for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney...

, but lost the race for the Democratic

Massachusetts Democratic Party

The Massachusetts Democratic Party is the state affiliate of the United States Democratic Party in the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The state party chairman is John E...

 nomination to Shannon O'Brien

Shannon O'Brien

Shannon Patricia Elizabeth O'Brien is a Democrat from Massachusetts. O'Brien served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 through 1993, in the Massachusetts Senate from 1993 through 1995, and was the Massachusetts State Treasurer from 1999 through 2003...

.

Legal and political career

Tolman attended Amherst College

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

 and Boston College Law School

Boston College Law School

Boston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts.With approximately 800 students and...

, working in the interim as a United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, Inc. , typically referred to by the acronym UPS, is a package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the...

 driver. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Massachusetts House of Representatives

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...

 in 1990 and the Massachusetts Senate

Massachusetts Senate

The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...

 in 1994. During his time in the Court, Tolman became known for his criticism of the Big Dig and his conflicts with House Speaker Thomas Finneran

Thomas Finneran

Thomas M. Finneran , is a radio talk host and former Massachusetts Democratic politician who served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from April 1996 to September 2004...

. In 1998, Tolman ran for lieutenant governor

Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

The Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts...

 as the running-mate of Democratic nominee Scott Harshbarger

Scott Harshbarger

Luther Scott Harshbarger is a lawyer and a Democratic politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.-Education and early career:...

. Though Harshbarger lost to Republican Paul Cellucci

Paul Cellucci

Argeo Paul Cellucci is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 69th Governor of Massachusetts and US Ambassador to Canada.-Early life and career:...

, Tolman was cited as an asset to his campaign.

After his political career, he became an Of Counsel

Of counsel

Of counsel is often the title of an attorney who is employed by a law firm or an organization, but is not an associate or a partner. Some firms use titles like "counsel," "special counsel," and "senior counsel" for the same concept...

 for Holland and Knight. He has argued in court for reforms of the indigent defense law in Massachusetts. He appears every Thursday as a political pundit on the Fox 25 Morning News

WFXT

WFXT is a television station owned and operated by the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Boston, Massachusetts. The station's studio and office facility is in Dedham, Massachusetts, and its transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts...

.

2002 gubernatorial election

Tolman ran for governor in 2002 on a platform that included reform of the Big Dig project and a single-payer state health care program. However, he attracted the most attention for his efforts in regard to Massachusetts's Clean Elections

Clean elections

"Clean Elections" is a term used to describe a particular system of government financing of political campaigns, in which the government provides a grant to candidates who agree to limit their and private fundraising efforts and limit their campaign-spending.- In the United States :Clean Election...

 law, which had previously been passed and not funded. Tolman was a plaintiff on a lawsuit, ultimately successful, to force the state to provide funding under the law. In order to be eligible for public campaign financing in case the law passed, he abided by its mandates even before it was technically in place, limiting individual campaign contributions to no more than $100. He had previously supported the law as a senator. It was eventually repealed. Tolman has since ascribed some of his electoral difficulties to the delay in funding.

Personal life

Tolman attended public schools in Watertown, Massachusetts

Watertown, Massachusetts

The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,915 at the 2010 census.- History :Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England...

, including Watertown High School

Watertown High School (Massachusetts)

Watertown High School is the local high school for Watertown, Massachusetts. It is modest in size and boasts a diverse student population. The school is home to the Watertown Red Raiders, who are best known for their varsity field hockey and boys' basketball programs...

. He is married to fellow Watertown native Carolyn Tolman; they have three children. Former Massachusetts State Senator and current Massachsetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman

Steven Tolman

Steven A. Tolman is an American labor union leader state legislator who is the current President of the Massachusetts AFL–CIO. From 1999 to 2011 he served in the Massachusetts Senate, representing the 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex district. From 1994 to 1998 he was a member of the Massachusetts House...

is his brother.