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Katherine Marlea Clark is an American politician who has served as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district since 2013.
She has been Assistant House Democratic Leader (officially Assistant Speaker) since 2021, making her the fourth-highest-ranking House Democrat.
Her district includes many of Boston’s northern and western suburbs, such as Medford, Framingham, Woburn, Waltham and her hometown of Revere. Clark was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2008 to 2011 and Massachusetts Senate from 2011 to 2013.
Born in Connecticut, Clark worked as an attorney in several states, before moving to Massachusetts in 1995, where she worked in state government. She joined the Melrose School Committee in 2002 and became committee chair in 2005.
She was first elected to the state legislature in 2008 and contributed to legislation regarding criminal justice, education, and municipal pensions. She won the 2013 special election for the U.S. House of Representatives, to succeed Ed Markey, in the 5th district, and sits on the House Appropriations Committee.
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Katherine Clark Children: Meet Nathaniel Dowell, Addison Dowell, Jared Dowell
She married Rodney S. Dowell in 1992. The couple is blessed with three sons; Nathaniel Dowell, Addison Dowell, and Jared. They live in Revere and have three children, one of whom identifies as non-binary.
Katherine’s career in public service is driven by her commitment to helping children and families succeed.
She is a vocal advocate for ending wage discrimination, protecting women’s health care, access to affordable, high-quality child care, paid family leave, safer schools, and other reforms to address the challenges women and families face.
She believes that Congress must work to end the glaring disconnect between the needs of families at home and priorities in Washington.
In Congress, she brings her experience as a state senator, state representative, general counsel for the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services, and policy chief for the state attorney general.
