(Photo courtesy of Benjamin Heffner) “Dome of the Massachusetts State Capitol”
Olivia O’Sullivan
Connector Staff
On March 18th, Vanna Howard of Lowell made history as the first Cambodian-American state senator in the United States. Coincidentally, March 18th was also the 30th annual Immigrant’s Day at the Massachusetts State House. This was announced at the ceremony, to much applause. According to the Lowell Sun, Howard stated, “I am truly honored that the voters of the first Middlesex District have placed their trust in me. When I first came to this country as a refugee, I could have never imagined being elected to first the House of Representatives and now the Massachusetts State Senate.”
Howard, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide, immigrated to the United States at the age of eleven. She experienced the brutal regime of Pol Pot and suffered immense loss of her family and loved ones. After fleeing Cambodia with her mother in 1979, Howard dedicated her life to helping others, especially in her community.
A UMass Lowell alumnus herself, Vanna Howard has deep roots in the city of Lowell. Howard worked for Congresswoman Nikki Tsongas for over a decade, first as a constituent services representative and then as a regional director for the Greater Lowell area. Howard also served as chair for the Massachusetts Asian American Commission.
In 2018, Nikki Tsongas encouraged her to run for office as a state representative. She won the election for the 17th Middlesex District and made history – as she would continue to do – as the first Cambodian-American state representative in the United States. She has secured millions in funding for housing, childcare, and public infrastructure for the district. Howard also successfully sponsored a bill for establishing April 17th as Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day.
Her achievements as a state representative as well as her campaign brought her to her swearing-in ceremony on March 18th. During her address to the audience, Howard took a moment to appreciate the community that showed up to support her campaign. She stated, “Although I am the one standing here, this moment belongs to all of us. I want to thank the volunteers and supporters throughout the five communities and beyond that worked hard through a winter campaign… in sometimes minus 5 degree weather to get the message out about our campaign. We did the work because it was important.”
As a state senator, Howard represents the first Middlesex district. This encompasses the constituents of Lowell, Groton, Dunstable, Tyngsborough, Westford, and Pepperell. Howard has built a platform on affordability and community resilience. She advocates for tax cuts for working families as well as making housing and education more accessible.
State Senator Vanna Howard succeeded the seat of the late Edward J. Kennedy, whose work she hopes to continue. To maintain the seat beyond his term, Howard will need to run for reelection during the midterms. Her former competitor in the general election, Sam Meas, implied to the Lowell Sun that he plans to run for the seat again.
In reference to Vanna Howard, political science junior Ronan Dowd said, “It’s fantastic that we have somebody who cares about the district so much in such an important seat.”
