SALEM — Republicans weren't the only group to make substantial legislative gains on Election Day.
The John Keenan caucus will double in size in January.
While Salem state Rep. John Keenan cruised to a fourth term on Tuesday, voters on the South Shore elected their own John Keenan to the state Senate.
Meet John F. Keenan of Quincy — a lawyer and career public official with striking similarities to John D. Keenan of Salem.
The two John Keenans are in their mid-40s, a year apart. Both graduated from Harvard College, then Suffolk Law School, then went on to work in the mayor's office in their respective hometowns. (At one point, they even participated in a joint conference call between Quincy and Salem city officials.)
While North Shore Keenan played football at Harvard, South Shore Keenan worked in the athletic department's equipment room.
Now they'll both have offices in the same space: the Massachusetts Statehouse.
"He was always a good guy, so it'll be great to work with him," South Shore Keenan said of North Shore Keenan.
The two have known each other loosely since their college days, when Keenan the football player would check in with Keenan the equipment room worker.
Even the Harvard Registrar's Office couldn't keep the two John Keenans straight.
"Literally, on a couple occasions, my tuition bill would be paid by his parents," Salem's John Keenan said. "And I would have to go to the comptroller's office to sort it out."
In fact, part of being a John Keenan, it seems, is running into other John Keenans.
South Shore Keenan remembers a specific insurance case he litigated years ago in Worcester Superior Court, involving himself, a defense attorney named Jack Keenan and a mediator named John Keenan.
"The woman checking us in said, 'I've had a long day. Not funny,'" Keenan said.
Courtrooms and football seem to be a running theme for John Keenans.
A U.S. federal judge in New York shares the name, as did a former guard for the Washington Redskins who played in the 1940s.
"It's funny," North Shore Keenan said. "When I came in here, there was a Dan Keenan, My brother's name is Dan Keenan. He was in the House, and we overlapped for a year. I used to get his mail all the time. ... Now that there are two John Keenans, I'm sure there will be a lot of confusion. We'll certainly straighten it out."
Whether the two John Keenans are somehow distantly related (genealogists discovered last month that President Obama and Republican Sarah Palin are 10th cousins) remains a mystery.
"My family tree goes back to Rebecca Nurse (a victim of the Salem Witch Trials) on my father's side," North Shore Keenan said.
"Mayflower. We beat him here," joked South Shore Keenan. "No, I don't know. I'm not sure. My father's family is originally from Ireland, but I'm not sure when."
John Keenans do, apparently, stick together. North Shore Keenan once contributed to South Shore Keenan's campaign for Quincy City Council.
In the House, North Shore Keenan actually sits next to state Rep. Stephen Tobin, who unsuccessfully battled South Shore Keenan in the primary for the vacated state Senate seat.
Tobin even asked North Shore Keenan for his endorsement — which he declined.
By the way, both John Keenans fared better on Election Day than their Harvard classmate, Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank Caprio, another member of the Crimson football team from the late 1980s. Caprio made headlines after telling President Obama he could "take his endorsement and ... shove it" while running for governor. He finished third.
The presence of one John Keenan in each chamber of the bicameral state legislature raises another question.
Could there be two John Keenans in the state Senate some day?
"In all likelihood, it's unlikely," Salem's John Keenan said. "But never say never."
Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salemnews.com.
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