Sean Garballey, 23, a grad student at Suffolk, soundly defeated two opponents yesterday to gain a seat in the commonwealth's House of Representatives. Garballey will represent Arlington and part of Medford.

Garballey is a recent graduate of UMass Lowell and has served on the Arlington School Committee. On his campaign website he exclaims, "Public Service is my life!" He credits a volunteer tour guide position at the State House when he was 16 with igniting a passion for politics.

It remains to be seen whether he'll be an effective advocate on issues important to the young: increased school funding, safer buses, fewer (allegedly) disrobed Red Sox scouts. Regardless, in a supposedly representative body, it's nice to have a few youthful legislators. We hope the Honorable Sean Garballey does our demographic proud.

Photo of Garballey with Governor Deval Patrick from his campaign website.