Danillo Sena is an American politician who is the member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

from the 37th Middlesex district. He was elected in a special election on June 2, 2020, against Republican Cathy Clark. The election was held to replace former Representative Jen Benson, who resigned back in January 2020 to become the new President of the Alliance for Business Leadership.

Early life and education

Sena was born to a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family in

Timbaúba Timbaúba is a city in Pernambuco, Brazil. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, it has an estimated population of 52,802 inhabitants as of 2020. Geography * State - Pernambuco * Region - Zona da mata Pernambucana * ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and immigrated to

Acton, Massachusetts Acton is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately west-northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston along Massachusetts Route 2 west of Concord, Massachusetts, Concord and about southwest of Lowell ...

as a 14-year-old in 2001. He is a recipient of

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a Immigration policy of the United States, United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigra ...

. He earned

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in political science from

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

in 2019.

Career

He worked for State Senator

Jamie Eldridge James Bradley Eldridge (born August 11, 1973) is an American politician and lawyer. He serves as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate from the Middlesex and Worcester District. Eldridge previously served three terms in the Massachus ...

as a district director and legislative liaison for six years.

Massachusetts House of Representatives

Sena is the first Brazilian immigrant to be elected to a state legislature in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He is a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and also Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity, Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, Education and also Public Safety and Homeland Security.

Personal life and family

Sena received a green card and became a citizen in 2018 at the age of 31. He is married to Yim, who is a Cambodian refugee and together they have two children – Juliana and Leonardo.

References

External links

Representative Danillo Sena, Democrat - 37th Middlesex

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...