Chester Greenough Atkins is a former member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

. He was a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 from Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

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Atkins was born in Geneva, Switzerland on April 14, 1948 and graduated from Concord-Carlisle High School

Concord-Carlisle High School

Concord-Carlisle Regional High School is a public high school located in Concord, Massachusetts, USA, northwest of Boston. The school serves grades 9-12, and as part of the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District, has students from both Concord and Carlisle, Massachusetts...

 of Concord, Massachusetts

Concord, Massachusetts

Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...

 in 1966 and Antioch College

Antioch College

Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...

 in 1970. Atkins was exposed to progressive politics on Antioch's highly politicized campus in the late 60's and early 70's. He was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Massachusetts House of Representatives

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...

 from 1970 to 1971 (the youngest ever elected in Massachusetts) and the Massachusetts Senate

Massachusetts Senate

The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...

 from 1972 to 1984. He was Chairman of the (state) Senate Ways and Means Committee, and he also served as chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee from 1977 to 1990.

When James Shannon

James Shannon

James Michael Shannon , also known as Jim Shannon, is a Democratic politician from Massachusetts. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and later as the Massachusetts Attorney General....

 decided to run for the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 seat vacated by the ailing Paul Tsongas

Paul Tsongas

Paul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...

, Atkins ran and was elected as a Democrat to the 99th Congress

99th United States Congress

The Ninety-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1985 to January 3, 1987, during the fifth and sixth...

 in 1984. He served there for four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1985–January 3, 1993). In his 1990 reelection bid

United States House elections, 1990

The U.S. House election, 1990 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1990 which occurred in the middle of President George H. W. Bush's term...

, Atkins won by a surprisingly thin margin for the heavily Democratic , and as a result, in 1992

United States House elections, 1992

The United States House of Representatives elections in 1992 coincided with the 1992 presidential election, in which Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore were elected as President and Vice President, respectively, defeating Republican incumbent President George H. W...

, Democrats backed Democratic challenger Martin T. Meehan, fearing the seat could fall to the Republicans. His last campaign was riddled with accusations of check-bouncing and mis-managing his own finances. His wife Cory would later run successfully for his old state house seat. Atkins and his wife have been separated for several years.

Atkins founded the ADS Ventures, Inc. consulting and lobbying firm in 1993. He currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

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