| Rep. Matthew S. Dawson (D-Dist. 65, East Providence) was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in November 2022. He is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee, the House State Government and Elections Committee, and the House Special Legislation Committee.
In 2024, Representative Dawson introduced a new law that will expand mail ballot access for voters who cannot sign their name due to blindness, disability or inability to read or write. He also introduced bills that would make it a misdemeanor to harass another person by using an electronic device to record their movements and that would help to protect the public's ability to secure accountability for the failure of the Washington Bridge.
During his first legislative session in 2023, Representative Dawson introduced a new law which allows families affected by childhood lead poisoning to recover up to three times their actual damages if their landlord is found to have violated lead safety laws.
He graduated from East Providence High School, the University of Rhode Island, earning a degree in Journalism and Political Science in 1990, and the New England School of Law in 1995.
Born on January 12, 1968, Representative Dawson is a practicing attorney at Lynch & Pine. He is currently a member of the RI Bar Association, the RI Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, and the RI Hospitality Association. He also is the owner of The Red Door restaurant in Providence, has been a member of the Boston College football chain crew for the past 25 years, and plays guitar in the band Liquid Courage.
His past public service includes serving as a prosecutor for the RI Attorney General's office from 1995-2011 where he served as Chief of the Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit and, later, as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. From 2012-2014 he served as a Probate Judge in East Providence. Representative Dawson was the 2019 Providence Journal's People's Choice Attorney of the Year and he served as President of the Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys from 2021 to 2022.
He lives in the Riverside section of East Providence with his wife of 27 years, Bethany, and their two daughters, Kelsea and Abby. |