James Arena-DeRosa

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James Arena-DeRosa
Candidate, Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District
Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District
Tenure
2023 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
3
Predecessor: Carolyn Dykema (D)
Compensation
Base salary
$82,044
Elections and appointments
Last election
September 1, 2026
Next election
November 3, 2026
Education
High school
Xaverian Brothers High School
Personal
Profession
Community Advocate
Contact

James Arena-DeRosa (Democratic Party) is a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 8th Middlesex District. He assumed office on January 4, 2023. His current term ends on January 6, 2027.

Arena-DeRosa (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives to represent the 8th Middlesex District. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. He advanced from the Democratic primary on September 1, 2026.

Biography

James Arena-DeRosa graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School.[1] Arena-DeRosa's career experience includes working as a freelance community advocate, the president and CEO of Foodshare, the director of public advocacy of Oxfam America, the New England director of the Peace Corps under the Bill Clinton administration, the northeast regional administrator for the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service under the Barack Obama administration, and the special assistant to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.[1][2] Arena-DeRosa has been affiliated with the SEIU Local 285, the board and executive committee on policy of Mass Farmers Markets, the board of directors of Miracle Of Help Sierra Leone, Africa, the board of governors of the Dante Alighieri Cultural Society, the Sons of Italy Scholarship Commission, the Xaverian Brothers High School Alumni Association, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Association/Reunion Committee.[3]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Committee assignments

2025-2026

Arena-DeRosa was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Arena-DeRosa was assigned to the following committees:


Elections

2026

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2026

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District

Incumbent James Arena-DeRosa (D) is running in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of James Arena-DeRosa
James Arena-DeRosa (D)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District

Incumbent James Arena-DeRosa (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District on September 1, 2026.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of James Arena-DeRosa
James Arena-DeRosa
 
99.8
 
5,513
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2%
 
10

Total votes: 5,523
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

No candidates for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District appeared on the ballot for the Republican primary scheduled for September 1, 2026.

Endorsements

See also: Our approach to covering endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements and voter guide recommendations. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District

Incumbent James Arena-DeRosa won election in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of James Arena-DeRosa
James Arena-DeRosa (D)
 
98.2
 
20,170
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.8
 
366

Total votes: 20,536
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District

Incumbent James Arena-DeRosa advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District on September 3, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of James Arena-DeRosa
James Arena-DeRosa
 
99.4
 
4,295
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.6
 
24

Total votes: 4,319
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

See also: Our approach to covering endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements or voter guide recommendations for Arena-DeRosa in this election.

2022

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District

James Arena-DeRosa defeated Loring Barnes in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of James Arena-DeRosa
James Arena-DeRosa (D) Candidate Connection
 
65.0
 
12,916
Loring Barnes (R)
 
35.0
 
6,947
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
10

Total votes: 19,873
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District

James Arena-DeRosa defeated Connor Degan in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District on September 6, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of James Arena-DeRosa
James Arena-DeRosa Candidate Connection
 
57.1
 
3,070
Image of Connor Degan
Connor Degan Candidate Connection
 
42.9
 
2,307
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
2

Total votes: 5,379
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District

Loring Barnes advanced from the Republican primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District on September 6, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔Loring Barnes
 
99.8
 
1,524
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
3

Total votes: 1,527
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Endorsements

To view Arena-DeRosa's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2014

See also: Massachusetts Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014

Arena-DeRosa was running for election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. Arena-DeRosa was eliminated from contention by state party delegates prior to the Democratic primary on September 9, 2014.[4] The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

James Arena-DeRosa has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.If you are James Arena-DeRosa, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

James Arena-DeRosa did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

James Arena-DeRosa completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Arena-DeRosa's responses.

Expand All
Who are you? Tell us about yourself.
Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
What legacy would you like to leave?
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?
What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?
Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?
Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.
Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


James Arena-DeRosa campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex DistrictWon general$57,991 $0
2022Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex DistrictWon general$152,464 $0
2014Massachusetts Lieutenant GovernorLost $175,099 N/A**
Grand total$385,554 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in Massachusetts

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2025.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2024.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2023.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Arena-DeRosa and Lina, live in Holliston with their two sons, Anthony and Alessandro. Lina and James married in 1986 and took each other’s last name as both a cultural tradition and a sign of gender equity. Lina is a director for the Holliston Senior Center. Arena-DeRosa is a member of his community's Finance Committee, a Little League Coach and a photographer for Holliston High School's theater group.[1]

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 E-mail communication with Kristen Mathews, March 20, 2014
  2. ↑ LinkedIn, "James Arena-DeRosa," accessed April 18, 2023
  3. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 3, 2022
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named go

Political offices
Preceded by
Carolyn Dykema (D)
Massachusetts House of Representatives 8th Middlesex District
2023-Present
Succeeded by
-


Leadership
Speaker of the House:Ronald Mariano
Majority Leader:Michael Moran
Representatives
Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket District
1st Barnstable District
1st Berkshire District
1st Bristol District
1st Essex District
1st Franklin District
Vacant
1st Hampden District
1st Hampshire District
1st Middlesex District
1st Norfolk District
1st Plymouth District
1st Suffolk District
1st Worcester District
2nd Barnstable District
Kip Diggs (D)
2nd Berkshire District
2nd Bristol District
2nd Essex District
2nd Franklin District
2nd Hampden District
2nd Hampshire District
2nd Middlesex District
2nd Norfolk District
2nd Plymouth District
2nd Suffolk District
2nd Worcester District
3rd Barnstable District
3rd Berkshire District
3rd Bristol District
3rd Essex District
3rd Hampden District
3rd Hampshire District
3rd Middlesex District
3rd Norfolk District
3rd Plymouth District
3rd Suffolk District
3rd Worcester District
4th Barnstable District
4th Bristol District
4th Essex District
4th Hampden District
4th Middlesex District
4th Norfolk District
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4th Worcester District
5th Barnstable District
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5th Middlesex District
5th Norfolk District
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6th Bristol District
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6th Middlesex District
6th Norfolk District
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6th Worcester District
7th Bristol District
7th Essex District
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7th Middlesex District
7th Norfolk District
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7th Worcester District
8th Bristol District
8th Essex District
8th Hampden District
8th Middlesex District
8th Norfolk District
8th Plymouth District
8th Suffolk District
8th Worcester District
9th Bristol District
9th Essex District
9th Hampden District
9th Middlesex District
9th Norfolk District
9th Plymouth District
9th Suffolk District
9th Worcester District
10th Bristol District
10th Essex District
10th Hampden District
10th Middlesex District
John Lawn (D)
10th Norfolk District
10th Plymouth District
10th Suffolk District
10th Worcester District
11th Bristol District
11th Essex District
Sean Reid (D)
11th Hampden District
11th Middlesex District
11th Norfolk District
11th Plymouth District
11th Suffolk District
11th Worcester District
12th Bristol District
12th Essex District
12th Hampden District
12th Middlesex District
12th Norfolk District
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12th Worcester District
13th Bristol District
13th Essex District
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15th Middlesex District
15th Norfolk District
15th Suffolk District
15th Worcester District
16th Essex District
16th Middlesex District
16th Suffolk District
16th Worcester District
17th Essex District
17th Middlesex District
Vacant
17th Suffolk District
17th Worcester District
18th Essex District
18th Middlesex District
Tara Hong (D)
18th Suffolk District
18th Worcester District
19th Middlesex District
19th Suffolk District
19th Worcester District
20th Middlesex District
21st Middlesex District
22nd Middlesex District
23rd Middlesex District
24th Middlesex District
25th Middlesex District
26th Middlesex District
27th Middlesex District
28th Middlesex District
29th Middlesex District
30th Middlesex District
31st Middlesex District
32nd Middlesex District
33rd Middlesex District
34th Middlesex District
35th Middlesex District
36th Middlesex District
37th Middlesex District
Democratic Party (132)
Republican Party (25)
Unenrolled (1)
Vacancies (2)