Atkins launching re-election effort

By Jennifer Myers, jmyers@lowellsun.com

Updated: 03/27/2010 06:35:42 AM EDT

ACTON — State Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord, will kick off her re-election campaign at 2 p.m. today at Ichabod’s Cafe on Great Road in Acton.

Atkins, 63, first elected to the Fourteenth Middlesex District seat in 1998, is seeking a seventh term. The district includes Concord, Carlisle, and parts of Acton and Chelmsford.

In her capacity as the vice chair of the House Committee on Rules, Atkins worked with Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo on a rules-reform package that limits the speaker’s term to a maximum of eight years and gives the speaker the authority to unilaterally remove a member from a committee or leadership position if he or she is indicted.As the co-chair of the Women’s Caucus Domestic Violence Task Force, Atkins led the effort to expand the laws regarding restraining orders. Prior to the new law, signed by Gov. Deval Patrick last month, victims of abuse or intimidation could only petition for protective orders if the alleged perpetrator was a family member, roommate, spouse or former spouse, or someone with whom the victim had a “substantial” dating relationship.

The new law allows victims of abuse to petition for protective orders regardless of their relationship to the alleged perpetrator.

As of yesterday, no other candidates have stepped forward to challenge Atkins.

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