William Lantigua
| William Lantigua | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts | |
|
In office January 4, 2010 – January 4, 2014 |
|
| Preceded by | Michael J. Sullivan |
| Succeeded by | Dan Rivera |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 16th Essex District |
|
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In office January 2003 – February 12, 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Jose L. Santiago |
| Succeeded by | Marcos Devers |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 19, 1955 Dominican Republic |
| Political party | Independent,Democratic |
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 became the first elected and second serving Hispanic mayor in Massachusetts history.
William Lantigua was born in the Dominican Republic on February 19, 1955 to Enrique Lantigua and Ana Elvira Soto. Lantigua has three siblings one sister and two brothers. He moved to the United States in 1974 from the Dominican Republic. Educated in the Dominican Republic and later worked for 23 years for Schneider Electric in North Andover, MA. William Lantigua is the father of three daughters; Veronica, Vanessa, and Valerie as well as his son William Kennedy.
For years during the 1990s, Lantigua worked as an organizer in the City of Lawrence helping elect Jose Santiago, the second Puerto Rican to serve in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (the first was Nelson Merced, elected in 1988) and later Mary-Ellen Manning to Massachusetts Governor's Council over incumbent and Mayor of Lawrence Patricia Dowling.
In 2002 Lantigua, ran as an independent against Democrat Jose Santiago and was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2002. In 2004 Jose Santiago again ran against Lantigua eventually losing for a second time. In 2006 Lantigua decided to run for the first time as a Democrat this time being challenged by longtime city councilor and former Mayor of Lawrence Marcos Devers. But Lantigua was able to have Devers removed from the ballot challenging his residency in the district since Devers lived in the district under one year. Lantigua went on to win the election unopposed. In 2008 Devers again challenged Lantigua in the Democratic primary this time with his name on the ballot only to lose by 399 votes. Lantigua was unchallenged in the general election winning his 4th election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Lantigua was State Representative of the 16th Essex district from 2003 until his resignation February 2010.
As a State Representative, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Elder Affairs Committee and as a member of the Ways and Means Committee along with the Committee on Bonding and Capital Expenses. Lantigua also served two one-year terms as chair of the Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus.
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