DANVERS — If re-elected in November, state Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, would be third in seniority in the House of Representatives.
In a year in which incumbents seem to have targets on their backs, Speliotis is not shy about touting his record.
He serves as chairman of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, which, among other things, handles requests by cities and towns to grant additional liquor licenses.
"I'm proud of it," Speliotis said of his years of service, "and my constituents are proud of it. It puts me at the table when it matters."
If re-elected to the seat he first won in 1997, Speliotis would serve his eighth term representing Danvers, Topsfield and Ward 6 in Peabody.
While Speliotis likes to look back, he does not want to dwell on the past, in part because his daughter Pia told him, "Dad, people don't care what you did. It's what you are going to do that really matters," Speliotis said.
He grew up in a close-knit, Greek family who lived in Peabody until he was 10 and then moved to Danvers. His Peabody home, a three-family house that was heated by coal, no longer exists: it was in what is now a parking lot across the street from St. Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church.
Speliotis graduated from Danvers High in 1971 and attended Northeastern University, earning a degree in political science and his teaching certificate. His sister and brother-in-law, Sharon and Tom Gould, own Treadwell's ice cream stand not far from Bishop Fenwick in Peabody. Speliotis' brother, Jim, lives in the house the family moved to on Appleton Street in Danversport.
In the 1980s, Speliotis served four terms as state representative in a former district that encompassed both the Danvers and Peabody downtowns. In 1986, he lost his bid for re-election by 72 votes to Tom Walsh, a former city councilor in Peabody.
"That's why I'm so tenacious (about) campaigning," Speliotis said. "That's the way I always have been."
Speliotis spent 10 years handling government affairs for Northeastern University, then won an open seat formerly occupied by Sally Kerans.
This year he has a strong challenger in Republican Dan Bennett, a town selectman, but Speliotis thinks it's not really Bennett he's running against.
"I'm running against a tide of anti-Democrats and anger at the president," Speliotis said. "I have had fantastic response from the people in my district. As long as we can focus the campaign on my accomplishments, and my shortcomings, we'll be fine."
Accomplishments include bringing in millions for capital projects at North Shore Community College and Salem State as vice chairman of the Committee on Higher Education, he said.
"That's directly assisting my constituents," he said.
He also touts legislation to redevelop the former Danvers State Hospital into a massive apartment complex and helping to jump-start work to fix two interchanges on Route 128 in Danvers.
He has filed bills to prohibit smoking within 25 feet of public buildings, to mandate life sentences for second and subsequent rape convictions, and sponsored a law to require that antifreeze contain a "bittering" agent to make it unpalatable to animals and young children. Another bill he sponsored that became law renamed the bridge over the Waters River on Route 35 the "Danversport Miracle Bridge."
In response to the November 2006 Danversport explosion, he also filed a bill to increase training for people working with low-pressure processed steam boilers, a bill that has yet to pass.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or by e-mail at eforman@salemnews.com.
Ted Speliotis
Age: 57
Wife: June, 30 years
Children: Pia, 29; Ashley, 27
Occupation: State representative
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