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Marcos Devers
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 16th Essex district
In office
January 2019 – January 4, 2023
Preceded by Juana Matias
Succeeded by Francisco E. Paulino
In office
July 8, 2010 – January 2017
Preceded by William Lantigua
Succeeded byJuana Matias
Acting Mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts
In office
September 2001 – November 8, 2001
Preceded by Patricia Dowling
Succeeded by Michael J. Sullivan
President of the
Lawrence, Massachusetts
City Council
In office
January 2002 – January 2004
Preceded byJoseph Quartarone
Succeeded byPatrick Blanchette
Member of the
Lawrence, Massachusetts
City Council
In office
January 2000 – January 2006
Personal details
Born (1950-10-25) October 25, 1950 (age 73)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Political party Democratic
Education Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo ( BS)

Marcos A. Devers (born October 25, 1950) is a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, [1] [2] since January 2019, after having served in the same position from 2011 until 2017. Devers also is a former acting mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts; when he served as acting mayor from September to November 2001, he became the first Dominican-American to execute the role of mayor in the United States and the first Latino mayor in Massachusetts. [3]

Early life and career

Marcos Devers was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and attended grammar school in Villa Duarte, a barrio in the eastern part of the city. He graduated from secondary school and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo in 1978. Marcos received additional education and training in Japan and Italy in remote sensing during the 1980s. He was a math instructor at Santurce Community College, Santurce, Puerto Rico from 1984 to 1986. He later went on to write technical papers for infrastructure development in the Dominican Republic. [4]

In 1982 Marcos left the Dominican Republic and moved to Puerto Rico, where three of his four children were born. In 1987, he moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Marcos attended Salem State College and the University of Massachusetts Lowell to complete the academic requirements to become a certified educator in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Marcos taught high school level mathematics at both Lawrence High School and the Greater Lawrence Technical High School for sixteen years. He is also the founder and C.E.O. of MDJ Incorporated Engineering & Construction, a civil engineering firm.

Family

Marcos and his wife, Vicky, have been married since 1986, and they are the parents of four children. [5]

Political career

In 1991 Devers decided to run for an at-large seat on the Lawrence City Council. Marcos was finally elected to the City Council in November 1999 on his fifth attempt. He was then re-elected to his seat in 2001 and 2003. As a City Councilor, Marcos has held the positions of Council Vice President (2000–2002), Council President (2002–2004), and Interim Mayor upon the resignation of Mayor Dowling in September 2001 until November 2001. When Marcos was elected the Interim Mayor, he became the first Latino mayor in Massachusetts and the first mayor of Dominican descent in the United States.

He then ran for mayor in 2005 losing to incumbent Michael J. Sullivan and ran again for the 2009 Mayoral election and came in third. [6] Devers also ran for state representative in 2006 and 2008 against former state representative (and former Lawrence Mayor) William Lantigua. The 2006 campaign was a write-in campaign because Lantigua was able to have Devers knocked-off of the ballot. [7]

Massachusetts House of Representatives

In the 2010 special election to succeed William Lantigua for the Massachusetts House of Representatives 16th Essex District. [8] Lantigua endorsed Devers for the North Lawrence Representative seat after Devers endorsed Lantigua [8] for mayor, after Devers came in third behind Lantigua and former city councilor David Abdoo in the 2009 municipal primary. [9]

On June 15, 2010, Devers was elected by a majority of 1,198 votes [2] to the Massachusetts House of Representatives over independent candidate Rafael Gadea. Devers received 1,369 votes, challenger Rafael Gadea received 171 votes. [2] Devers was the elected to a full term in Nov. 2010 over Republican Enrique Matos and Independent Rafael Gadea with 4,495 votes and more than 75% of the vote. [10] Devers currently serves as a member of the Joint Committees on Transportation, Education, Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. He is a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus. [11]

In the 2016 primary election, Devers lost to Juana Matias. [12] Devers ran again for the seat again in 2018. [13] He won the Democratic nomination for his old seat on September 4 against former Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua. He faced no opposition in November and was subsequently re-elected to his old seat. [14] In 2022, he was defeated for re-nomination by Francisco Paulino.

See also

References

  1. ^ Associated Press (June 17, 2010), "Devers fills vacated state House seat", The Boston Globe, Boston, MA
  2. ^ a b c Harmacinski, Jill (June 15, 2010), Devers to succeed Lantigua at statehouse, Lawrence, MA: The Lawrence Eagle Tribune
  3. ^ [1] [ permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Marcos Devers Biography | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "Marcos Devers' Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  6. ^ "Ingeniero RD aspira alcaldía - ElNacional.com.do". Archived from the original on July 5, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  7. ^ Mason, Edward (February 21, 2008), Devers-Lantigua rematch looms in 16th Essex, Lawrence, MA: The Lawrence Eagle Tribune
  8. ^ a b Harmacinski, Jill (June 13, 2010), Lawrence state rep. candidates fail to file campaign finance reports, Lawrence, MA: The Lawrence Eagle Tribune
  9. ^ "Devers seeks to replace Lantigua in state Legislature » Merrimack Val…". www.eagletribune.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  10. ^ "Devers wins re-election in landslide". Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  11. ^ "2019-2020 Massachusetts Black & Latino Legislative Caucus". mablacklatinocaucus.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  12. ^ Keith Eddings. "Matias ousts Devers from 16th Essex seat". Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  13. ^ Keith Eddings. "Devers announces a comeback campaign". Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  14. ^ Keith Eddings; Ryan Hutton. "Devers narrowly defeats Lantigua to regain 16th Essex House seat". Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2019.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Acting Mayor of Lawrence
September – November 2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Joseph Quartarone
 President of the Lawrence City Council
January 2002 – January 2004 		Succeeded by
Patrick Blanchette
Preceded by Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
16th Essex District
July 8th 2010 		Succeeded by
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