Meet Christine

State Representative | 34th Middlesex District | Medford & Somerville

Christine P. Barber is State Representative for the 34th Middlesex District, which includes neighborhoods in Medford & Somerville. Christine was first sworn in after winning a 2015 election and is the first woman to represent the 34th Middlesex District, continuing her career of fighting for justice and equity.   

Now in her fourth term in office, Christine’s priorities stem from her core progressive values and include working for affordable housing, immigrant justice, disability rights, early childhood education, affordable health care, women’s rights, addressing climate change and improving access to public transportation. 

Christine serves as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, and is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, and House Committee on Post Audit and Oversight.

Christine is a member of the Massachusetts Autism Commission, the Early Education Workforce Council, and the Commission on Structural Racism in Correctional Facilities of the Commonwealth. She also serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators, Co-Chair of the Task Force on Justice-Involved Women, and is an active member of the Progressive Caucus, Food Systems Caucus, and Criminal Justice Reform Caucus. 

Christine brings her health care policy and public health expertise to Beacon Hill. Before being elected State Representative, Christine spent eight years as a health policy expert for national health care advocacy organization Community Catalyst, where she worked with advocates and policymakers to ensure that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. Christine led a number of health care campaigns on issues ranging from organizing groups around the country to enact the Affordable Care Act, starting grassroots outreach programs to enroll people in health coverage, and ensuring health insurance coverage for transgender individuals.  

Earlier in her career, Christine served as a staffer in the State House. Her proudest accomplishment was working on the team that drafted the landmark 2006 Massachusetts health reform bill, Chapter 58. This law became a blueprint for the Affordable Care Act. 

Christine is passionate about how public health impacts our community. Christine’s local activism includes work to improve access to healthy food, better public transit, standing up for immigrants’ rights, cleaning up the Mystic River and its parks, and creating more affordable housing. Christine is active in the Somerville Democratic Committee and is on the Advisory Board of Emerge Massachusetts. Recent awards include the Emerge Woman of the Year, The Welcome Project’s YUM Award, and Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts Legislator of the Year.  

Christine’s work on drafting and advocating for legislation is centered on listening and working closely with her constituents and grassroots groups. Some of Christine’s most recent accomplishments include: passing “Laura’s Law,” which requires hospital emergency departments to ensure entrances are monitored, clearly marked, and easily accessible; getting funding in the state budget for local pedestrian safety improvements; passing her bill to require all communities build multi-family housing near transit; requiring the state to address the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on people of color with autism; and organizing to ensure free and nutritious meals were provided to Massachusetts students statewide during the pandemic. 

The daughter of a public school teacher and manufacturing plant manager, Christine earned a Master’s of Public Policy and Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.

Christine lives in Somerville with her partner, Ryan, and their two kittens, Rafi and Roscoe.