Donna Nesselbush

Who is Donna Nesselbush?

Donna M. Nesselbush is an American lawyer, judge and politician from Pawtucket, Rhode Island. A Democrat, she serves in the Rhode Island Senate, representing the 15th district. She took office on January 4, 2011.

A graduate of Brown University, Nesselbush worked as executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence from 1984 to 1991. She attended Suffolk University School of Law, earning a Juris Doctor in 1991. A founding partner of the law firm of Marasco & Nesselbush, she has been an active member of the Rhode Island Bar Association, chairing its social security committee. She was appointed an associate municipal court judge in Pawtucket in 2004 and has served since.

In 2010, she declared her candidacy for the 15th district seat in the Rhode Island Senate. Incumbent John F. McBurney III, a fellow Democrat and fellow judge of the Pawtucket municipal court, subsequently announced that he would not be seeking a nineteenth term in office. Nesselbush won both the primary and general elections unopposed.

Nesselbush is openly gay. She is one of four openly LGBT members of the Rhode Island General Assembly, Reps. Gordon D. Fox, Frank Ferri and Deb Ruggiero.