Marcos A. Devers (born October 25, 1950) is a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

, since January 2019, after having served in the same position from 2011 until 2017. Devers also is a former acting mayor of

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and Nort ...

; when he served as acting mayor from September to November 2001, he became the first

Dominican-American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United Stat ...

to execute the role of mayor in the United States and the first Latino mayor in Massachusetts.

Early life and career

Marcos Devers was born in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, 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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

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. In 1982 Marcos left the Dominican Republic and moved to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, where three of his four children were born. In 1987, he moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Marcos attended

Salem State College Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...

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.

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. Devers also ran for

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

in 2006 and 2008 against former

(and former Lawrence Mayor)

William Lantigua William Lantigua (born February 19, 1955) is a politician in Massachusetts. He became Mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, in January 2010 following his November 2009 defeat of Lawrence City Councilor David Abdoo. Upon taking office, Lantigua bec ...

. The 2006 campaign was a write-in campaign because Lantigua was able to have Devers knocked-off of the ballot.

Massachusetts House of Representatives

In the 2010 special election to succeed

for the

16th Essex District. Lantigua endorsed Devers for the North Lawrence Representative seat after Devers endorsed Lantigua for mayor, after Devers came in third behind Lantigua and former city councilor David Abdoo in the 2009 municipal primary. On June 15, 2010 Devers was elected by a majority of 1,198 votes to the

over independent candidate Rafael Gadea. Devers received 1,369 votes, challenger Rafael Gadea received 171 votes. 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. 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. In the 2016 primary election, Devers lost to

Juana Matias Juana B. Matias is a Dominican-American politician and attorney from the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served in the Massachusetts House of Repres ...

. Devers ran again for the seat again in 2018. 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.

References

External links