Massachusetts Senate Swears In Vanna Howard as 1st Middlesex Senator

BOSTON — March 18, 2026 — Massachusetts Senate swears in Vanna Howard, the first Cambodian-American state senator in United States history. Howard, a former five-term state representative, won a March 3, 2026 special election to fill the 1st Middlesex District seat left vacant by the death of Senator Edward J. Kennedy, representing Lowell, Dracut, Dunstable, Pepperell, and Tyngsborough. Governor Maura T. Healey administered the oath in the Senate chamber Wednesday, noting that the milestone extends beyond Massachusetts: "That's not just in Massachusetts — that's in the entire United States of America." Howard, who came to the country as a refugee at age 11 fleeing the Khmer Rouge genocide, told colleagues and supporters she is "committed to continuing" Kennedy's work and pledged to honor mentor Congresswoman Nikki Songas and the late former Lowell Senator Phil Shea. The Senate also adopted, 18-0, the emergency preamble to an act establishing a sick leave bank for Sally DeRocher, an employee of the Department of Correction.