Marilyn Petitto Devaney

Marilyn Petitto Devaney

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Successor: Mara Dolan

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Elections and appointments

Last election

September 3, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Suffolk University

Graduate

Boston State College

Personal

Profession

Associate director

Contact

Campaign website

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Marilyn Petitto Devaney (Democratic Party) was a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council, representing District 3. She assumed office on January 7, 1999. She left office on January 2, 2025.

Devaney (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Massachusetts Governor's Council to represent District 3. She lost in the Democratic primary on September 3, 2024.

Devaney completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Marilyn Petitto Devaney's career experience includes working as an associate director. She earned a bachelor's degree from Suffolk University and a graduate degree from the Boston State College.

Political career

Massachusetts Governor's Council (1999 - 2025)

Devaney was first elected to District 3 of the Massachusetts Governor's Council in November 1998 and assumed office on January 7, 1999. She has won re-election every two years between November 2000 and 2024. She left office in January 2025.

Elections

2024

See also: Massachusetts Governor's Council election, 2024

General election

General election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Mara Dolan won election in the general election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mara Dolan (D)	98.7	330,523
		Other/Write-in votes	1.3	4,203

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 334,726
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Mara Dolan defeated incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on September 3, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mara Dolan	52.0	46,250
		Marilyn Petitto Devaney	47.9	42,580
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	123

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 88,953
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Devaney in this election.

2022

See also: Massachusetts Governor's Council election, 2022

General election

General election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney won election in the general election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Petitto Devaney (D)	98.2	248,736
		Other/Write-in votes	1.8	4,456

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 253,192
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney defeated Mara Dolan in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on September 6, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Petitto Devaney	50.8	50,960
		Mara Dolan	49.1	49,302
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	107

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 100,369
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Massachusetts Governor's Council election, 2020

General election

General election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney won election in the general election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Petitto Devaney (D)	98.5	346,900
		Other/Write-in votes	1.5	5,378

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 352,278
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on September 1, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Petitto Devaney	99.1	165,045
		Other/Write-in votes	0.9	1,528

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 166,573
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Massachusetts Governor's Council election, 2018

General election

General election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney won election in the general election for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Petitto Devaney (D)	74.2	282,505
		Other/Write-in votes	25.8	98,004

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 380,509
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3

Incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney defeated Nick Carter in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 on September 4, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Petitto Devaney	56.2	51,781
	Submit photo	Nick Carter	43.8	40,372

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 92,153
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Marilyn Petitto Devaney completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Devaney's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I ran for Governor’s council after seeing my friend beg a

judge eight occasions to keep her abusive boyfriend in jail. The judge told her you have wasted my time and wasted the court's time. A week later, my friend was murdered by her abusive boyfriend. I vowed to then be the councillor who fights for justice for you and your families. I fought for reform, and I succeeded.

I am a first generation American. I am the mother of four and the grandmother of three. I was married to my husband Jack, a Watertown fighter, and am now widowed. I have a Master's Degree in Education and Counseling. I was the youngest Town meeting member in Watertown when I was first elected. I represented the City of Watertown as a Councillor-at-Large for nearly 30 years. I was on the Commission of Disability for 22 years. I volunteered counselling juveniles on probation, and am very active in my community as a volunteer and as a member of many organizations including the American Legion and the League of Women Voters. I am now the Governor's Councillor for District 3, representing 31 cities and towns. The Governor's Council approves nominations of judges and clerk magistrates to the bench, approves appointments to the Parole Board, the Appellate Tax Board and Industrial Accidents Board, and approves pardons and commutations, public administrators, notaries public, and justices of the peace. We vote on people--not on issues.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I work for the people full-time as your Governor's Councillor. I've only been absent one time--to bury my husband. I meet with all the nominees individually and have met, investigated and vetted over 1000 nominees. I bring a unique perspective to the Council as many of the Councillors are lawyers who have conflicts of interest because they appear before judges they vote on. I'm not afraid to ask the tough questions and take unpopular positions.
• I am a reformer. I promised to reform the Council and I have delivered. I have promoted transparency by establishing the first Council website to keep the public informed; I restored the online live-streaming of Governor's Council hearings with the support of the ACLU and other progressive groups; I successfully lobbied the Governor to prohibit the corrupt practice of nominees donating to the Governor's Councillors, Lt. Governor, and Governor. There are additional reforms that I am working on, such as prohibiting Councillors from speaking in secret which the Open Meeting Law would ban; and prohibiting candidates for Governor's Council from taking donations from nominees like my opponent did.
• There are no minor nominations, every one of them

  makes decisions that impact people’s lives. I am against purely political appointments. In contrast, I am especially proud to have voted for many historic firsts that reshaped our Supreme Judicial court – to reflect the people of Massachusetts. The first black man chief

  justice, the first Jewish Chief justice, a man- the first black woman chief justice, the first openly LGBT justice-a woman-first black woman justice member and first Asian justice– a woman. We cannot go back to the bad days before my reforms when decisions were made behind closed doors – like when a judicial nominee did not disclose a family member was on the Governor’s Council or when nominees could make corrupt donations.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Open government. Respect for the people who come before us as well as the public who might be in support or in opposition. I follow up with all members of the public who have concerns about appointments, and I listen to them. It's very important for the public to be kept informed and for their perspectives to be respected and addressed in a way that assures them that we are seeking the best candidates to ensure justice for them and their families.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The Governor's Council is the only elected body that is the check and balance on the Governor. If the Council votes no, then that's the last word and the nominee does not get appointed to the bench or board or commission and the pardon or commutation gets denied. It's very important to take the time to vet candidates not only when they first apply, but also when they are elevated or up for re-appointment to evaluate their on-the-job performance before voting.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My mother was an Italian immigrant who came from simple beginnings and wasn't allowed the advantages that her brothers had, such as graduating from high school. She had to go work in a thread mill factory, 12 hours a day. She lived through the Depression, buried a son who drowned, and had to borrow money to bury him. Even with all her sorrows, she was the kindest and most compassionate person. Whenever other people were sick, my mother was always the one to deliver soup or macaroni and meatballs. She even gave away furniture to a family from Ireland who she thought was poorer than she was. I still love and miss her.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

To Kill a Mockingbird. This book is about a black man wrongly accused. That's one of my goals in my role--to make sure that judges aren't prejudiced and to seek out people who would be candidates for sentence commutations because they were wrongfully convicted due to racial prejudice. I regularly visit the prisons to interact with the inmates and am working with advocates who share the same commitment.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity. Honesty. Compassion.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I hope that I helped people achieve justice and that they remember me as kind and compassionate.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

John F. Kennedy being assassinated. The world changed forever.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Wrapping meat at a supermarket. I did that for about a year.

What is your favorite book? Why?

To Kill a Mockingbird. I identify with fighting for justice and fighting against the system even when it's unpopular.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Wonder Woman, of course!

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Not being afraid to do what's right even when it is unpopular. For example, when I restored the live-streaming of the hearings to the public, it was only done after a long battle with fellow Councillors. I believe the public had a right to know and to be included and I will fight for that the public's right to know every time.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Seamus was driving down the highway and got pulled over by a state trooper. Seamus said, "I wasn't speeding officer." The trooper said, "I'm sorry to tell you that your wife fell out of the car about 3 miles back." And Seamus replied, "Thank God. I thought I went deaf."

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

There are too many to list, but just to name a few: The SEIU/Nage union; Professional Firefighters Union; Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian; Frank Bellotti former Attorney General; Phil Johnston former Chair of the Democratic Party of Massachusetts; and Mel Poindexter, member of the Democratic National Committee.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

Marilyn Petitto Devaney did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Marilyn Petitto Devaney did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Marilyn Petitto Devaney campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3	Won general	$45,650	$0
Grand total			$45,650	$0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Massachusetts Governor's Council District 3 1999-2025	Succeeded by Mara Dolan (D)