Representative Christopher R. Blazejewski

House Majority Leader

Christopher R. Blazejewski (D) was first elected in November 2010 and represents District 2 in Providence. He was re-elected by his Democratic colleagues to serve as the House Majority Leader in November 2022. As a representative, Leader Blazejewski has championed environmental protection, education, civil rights, senior services, healthcare, and economic opportunity for working families.

Representative Blazejewski cosponsored and led passage of the Act on Climate, requiring the state to reach net zero emissions based on current climate science and providing for an equitable and just transition to clean energy and inclusion of environmental justice communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. He also led passage of legislation putting Rhode Island on a path to a $15 minimum wage and ensuring pay equity for Rhode Island workers regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin.

Representative Blazejewski cosponsored and led passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act, which codified in state law the privacy rights and reproductive freedoms affirmed by Roe v. Wade. He co-sponsored and helped pass laws prohibiting high capacity firearm magazines, banning firearms from school grounds, and banning untraceable firearms - “ghost guns” and 3D-printed guns - in Rhode Island. He also cosponsored the “fair chance licensing” law protecting Rhode Islanders from being denied occupational licenses because of unrelated criminal convictions.

Representative Blazejewski sponsored Rhode Island’s first-in-the-nation Homeless Bill of Rights. He sponsored legislation creating the Deborah DeBare Domestic Violence Prevention Fund, as well as a law that expanded the crime victims’ compensation fund to assist domestic violence survivors and their children and families. He sponsored a law expanding domestic violence protective orders to protect more children, as well as a law making noncompetition agreements unenforceable against hourly and low-wage employees, children,​ and college students.

He was the sponsor of the Innovate RI Small Business program that assists Rhode Island small businesses in applying for federal funds targeting research and innovation; the program also​ matches some or all of the federal funds awarded. He also sponsored the creation of Rhode Island’s Wavemaker Fellowship program, which is aimed at attracting and retaining graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, design, and medicine through tax credits for student loan payments. Another law he sponsored requires “Super PACs” to disclose major donors.​​

Representative Blazejewski graduated from Harvard University in 2002 and received his juris doctorate from Harvard Law in 2005. An attorney, he works for Sherin and Lodgen LLP. He is licensed to practice law in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and is a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association.

Representative Blazejewski was born on December 3, 1979. A lifelong Rhode Islander, he resides in Providence with his wife, Ami Gada, their daughter, Aria, and their son, Liam.​