Voters in the House district long represented by former Speaker Robert DeLeo of Winthrop will elect his successor on March 30.
Primaries will be held on March 2, the deadline for submitting nomination papers to local registrars is Jan. 19, and the last day to file nomination papers with the secretary of state is Jan. 26.
The House set the special election date during Monday's session and several candidates with ties to Beacon Hill have already thrown their hats in the ring for the seat. Five Democratic candidates have already filed paperwork with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance: Juan Pablo Jaramillo, Valentino Capobianco, Jeffrey Turco, Marc Silvestri, and Alicia DelVento.
Jaramillo previously interned for DeLeo and worked as legislative director for Sen. Joe Boncore, Capobianco is Sen. Paul Feeney's chief of staff, DelVento serves as director of communications for Rep. Danielle Gregoire, Turco served as Winthrop Town Council president, and Silvestri is the Revere Director of Veteran Services.
The 19th Suffolk District covers the town Winthrop and parts Revere for a total of 40,445 people, according to data compiled by Ballotpedia from the 2010 U.S. Census. DeLeo first won the seat in 1994 during an uncontested election.
DeLeo left office on Dec. 28 and former Majority Leader Ronald Mariano was quickly elected as the new head of the lower chamber.
