Senator Petruccelli to resign in January

Senator Anthony Petruccelli, who served first in the Massachusetts House and later the Senate, announced he will resign from his Senate seat effective sometime in January to take a job in the private sector. 

Petruccelli, who is currently the Senate’s Majority Whip, will go to work for Kearney, Donovan and McGee as a new member of their growing firm.

“I love my job as a State Senator,” he said on Friday. “However after almost 17 years in legislature and 20 years as a public servant, my family and I felt it was time to move in a different direction for me professionally and for our lives as a family. While it is sad to leave something that I have loved and that has been representing the people of First Suffolk and Middlesex District for almost nine years, it is exciting to move into the private sector.”

Petruccelli, of East Boston, who got his start in politics as the late Mayor Thomas Menino’s neighborhood liaison to Eastie, was first elected during one of the neighborhood’s most hotly contested state representative races in 1999.

He served in the House with distinction for seven years, chairing committees like the Committee of Election Laws and the Community on Development and Small Business. As Eastie’s state rep, Petruccelli tackled issues ranging from environment, housing, economic development and education.

In 2007, when former Senate President Robert Travaglini resigned from the Senate, Petruccelli ran and won the seat left vacant by Travaglini during a special election.

In the Senate, Petruccelli rose through the ranks quickly and chaired several committees there, most notably as Chairman of Financial Services. Last year Petruccelli was tapped by Senate President Stan Rosenberg for a leadership role in the Senate as Majority Whip.