Patricia Deats Jehlen is a former teacher and current Massachusetts State Senator of the Democratic Party.

[2] She was born October 14, 1943, in Austin, Texas, the first child of Paul Deats, a Methodist minister, and Ruth, a community activist and Girl Scout leader.

The family moved to Massachusetts in 1950, when Paul took a job at the Boston University School of Theology.

Although the race was considered wide open, with expectations that any of the four candidates could win, Jehlen won a substantial victory in the August 30th primary:[6][7] She went on to defeat Republican candidate William White, Somerville alderman-at-large, in the general election on September 27, 2005, and was sworn in by Governor Mitt Romney on October 12.

[8] In the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2014, Jehlen endorsed Don Berwick for Governor of Massachusetts[9] In the Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016, Jehlen endorsed Bernie Sanders.