Life has come full circle for two lifelong friends with a monumental life achievements over the weekend.
Rep. Adrian Madaro and his former campaign manager and chief of staff, Liana LaMattina, grew up in East Boston together, took karate classes together when they were kids and attended Boston Latin School together as teens.
In 2015 the two friends since childhood teamed up for Madaro’s successful run for state representative with LaMattina, the daughter of former City Councilor Sal LaMattina, running the campaign’s day-to-day operations.
On Sunday both Madaro and LaMattina crossed the stage at the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion at the Seaport to accept their Law Degrees from Suffolk University School of Law.
Madaro graduated from Tufts University and went on to receive his Master’s Degree there while LaMattina is a Boston University graduate and enrolled in Suffolk University Law School after running Madaro’s campaign and then becoming his chief of staff.
“I can’t thank my wife, Ariel, my mother, Debra, and my father, Jacopo, enough for all their support during this journey,” said Madaro at a luncheon prior to his graduation. “I also want to congratulate Liana for her achievement. She has been someone that has been by my side while I balanced my responsibilities as a state representative and commitment to the community with attending law school part time. I also want to thank my extended family and friends for all their support and allowing me to lean on them whenever I needed.”
In 2015 former Rep. Carlo Basile announced that he was leaving office to work in Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration and a special election was scheduled for March of that year.
Only 23 years old at the time, LaMattina was tapped by Madaro to run his campaign for the state rep seat. Just one year removed from her graduation from Boston University where she received a degree in Business Management with a concentration in Organizational Behavior, LaMattina became an organizational dynamo for the campaign.
“I worked so hard for this degree and I’m so thankful,” LaMattina said Sunday after graduation. “To my parents, Sal and Lisa, thank you for sacrificing and ensuring I had access to every opportunity to further my education. To my fiance, Angel, thank you for your love and support. I couldn’t have done it without you. To my friends and family, thank you for your constant support and encouragement. A special thank you to the late Thomas Menino for seeing my potential and pushing me to go to law school – I wish you were here to see me cross the stage.”
Madaro would call LaMattina the best campaign manager anyone could ask for.
After securing the Democratic nomination and winning the general election, Madaro brought LaMattina on as his legislative aide at the State House.
During her tenure, LaMattina has served East Boston with tireless dedication by handling constituent issues, community concerns, and legislation for Madaro’s office.
She left Madaro’s office last year to focus on her last year of law school.