Sen. Linda Ujifusa was elected in November 2022 to represent District 11 (Portsmouth, Bristol) in the Rhode Island Senate.
Sen. Ujifusa graduated from Harvard College, B.A., magna cum laude, and from N.Y.U. School of Law, where she was an editor of the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change and member of the Moot Court Board.
Sen. Ujifusa was an attorney at Mintz Levin, a private law firm in Boston, and in the Superfund Enforcement Division of the U.S. EPA Office of Regional Counsel. She also taught legal writing at the University of California Hastings Law School.
Beginning in 2016, Sen. Ujifusa served three terms on the Portsmouth Town Council, including as vice president of the council from 2018 to 2022. During her tenure, she focused on new initiatives that improved town management of properties and budgets. She also focused on emergency planning and climate change resiliency. During her tenure on the council, Sen. Ujifusa balanced the need to maintain a low tax rate with the imperative of funding essential services. She spearheaded efforts to secure grants to increase resiliency and to create an open space and recreation master plan, and to partner with a non-profit to rebuild a senior center with 50+ units of affordable housing.
As past chair of the Aquidneck Land Trust board of directors, and founder and chair of the RI Healthcare Access & Affordability Partnership, she helped draft state legislation, organized community education and outreach efforts, and testified before lawmakers at the State House.
The 2016 presidential campaign of Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders spurred Sen. Ujifusa to become involved in politics, and she served as a delegate for Sen. Sanders at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the RI Democratic Women's Caucus, which supports women candidates for public office.
In addition to her elected and professional roles, Sen. Ujifusa is a member the Portsmouth Historical Society, the Portsmouth Senior Center, the Naval Station Newport Restoration Advisory Board, Mt. Hope Farm, Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, Blithewold, and supporter of the Bristol 4th of July Committee. She has also volunteered at Portsmouth public schools, for the Portsmouth Open Space Committee, and at Portsmouth and Bristol COVID vaccination clinics.
A third-generation Japanese-American, Sen. Ujifusa was born and raised in San Jose, California, and attended public schools. She and her husband, J. Mark Ryan, MD, have resided in Portsmouth since 1993. They have three children, John, Katie, and Jamie Ryan, all of whom attended Portsmouth public schools.
Sen. Ujifusa can be reached at (401) 472-4721 and sen-ujifusa@rilegislature.gov.