Biography


Gale Candaras, an attorney, has a twenty-year record of exemplary public service. She resides in Wilbraham with her husband, Arthur Wolf, a law professor at Western New England College School of Law. Together, Gale and Art co-founded the Institute for Legislative and Governmental Affairs at the College, fulfilling Gale's original campaign promise to bring state government closer to the people of Western Mass. Over the years, the institute has hosted many legislative and agency committee hearings, giving local citizens and officials the opportunity to testify close to home. Gale and Art have a grown son, who is a corporate attorney in Vermont. All three are products of public schools.

Prior to her election to the Senate, Gale served for ten years as the State Representative for the 12th Hampden District, representing Wilbraham, Springfield and East Longmeadow, the largest district in the state in terms of the number of people served. Gale was the first in her class of legislators to be promoted to leadership and served as a division leader under two speakers. Gale now serves as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs and as a member of the Joint Committee on Healthcare, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and the Joint Committee on Public Service.

While serving in the House, Gale chaired the Commission on the Adequacy and Allocation of court funding and substantiated the work of the Pioneer Institute and the Monan Commission that court funding was not equitably distributed in our state and that the Springfield District Court has been consistently and knowingly under funded. She sponsored legislation creating and currently chairs the state task force on the eradication of cervical cancer in the Commonwealth. . Gale also sponsored legislation creating a commission to study the shortage of physicians in Western Mass and currently serves on that commission as well. Before being elected State Representative in 1997, Gale served Wilbraham as a local volunteer and elected official on the Finance Committee, Planning Board and Board of Selectmen. Her work in local government gave Gale valuable insights into the issues facing our cities and towns.

Gale first came to Massachusetts to attend Western New England College School of Law after graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management from the Honor's College, magna cum laude. Gale is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts and sat for the bar in each of those states. Gale took post-doctoral courses in Elder Law, Insurance Law, Medicaid Planning and Estate Taxation at Western New England College School of Law to prepare her to legislate in the complex legal and regulatory environment facing a growing population of seniors. She is a candidate for an LLM degree in Elder Law and has an interest in fiduciary responsibility. In 2006, Gale passed important legislation that will save seniors thousands of dollars, increasing both the Community Spouse Resource Allowance and the Personal Needs Allowance for seniors in nursing homes and their community-based spouses. She was named "Legislator of the Year" by the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, Massachusetts Chapter.

Gale's professional experience includes work in New York City's financial district at Goldman Sachs where she was with the Equity Trading and Arbitrage Division for almost five years. Her responsibilities ranged from working on the Division's budget to serving as the compliance liaison between the legal department and the trading floor. Gale also worked for a number of years at Neuberger and Berger, a boutique brokerage firm in lower Manhattan and also worked briefly for the Institutional Investor magazine. Gale has worked for several law firms and practiced family and business law in Hartford and Springfield.

Gale's leadership improves the lives of the people she serves. Her achievements can be seen throughout the District. From parks to libraries to courthouses to hospitals, to a state of the art recycling center, Gale has helped take crumbling, abandoned and derelict properties and fought hard to return them to productive use or keep them on line. She has been a zealous advocate for more equitable funding for Western Massachusetts and, in 2006, Gale's efforts yielded record amounts of education and local aid as well as funding for a county-wide, oral health pilot project for all preschoolers.

Gale is a tireless advocate for the issues important to Western Massachusetts. Months before news of proposed toll hikes hit newsstands, Gale was fighting to ensure that the costs of fixing the Big Dig would not fall on the backs of local people. Working cooperatively with the Senate, she was the lead House sponsor on bills prohibiting toll hikes to pay for "The Dig." Gale was also the lead sponsor on a tough drunk-driving bill, supported by our District Attorney, and she also sponsored and passed one of the toughest anti-drag-racing bills in the country, which helped our City residents. Gale also worked hard to help Springfield's teachers settle a protracted contract dispute and was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Springfield Education Association in September 2007.

"From the beginning, I knew that votes, like respect, are earned. I've earned votes by working very hard. I never give up and I get results for the people I serve. We've always run clean campaigns and the Senate race was no different. I promised voters nothing more than good government and I offered them my proven leadership, reputation for integrity and hard work, and record of accomplishment. I appreciate the opportunity and trust the voters of the 1st Hampden and Hampshire District have placed in me to serve as their state senator."