After earning experience as an assistant, Travaglini entered the political world in the 1983 election for the Boston City Council. He was elected as the councilor for District 1,[2] and was subsequently re-elected to four two-year terms. In November 1992, Travaglini was elected to the Massachusetts Senate, and served both as a state senator and city council member during 1993.[3]
In 1999, Travaglini moved up in rank to Majority Whip of the Senate. He reached the pinnacle of his political career in 2003, when he was elected as President of the Massachusetts Senate. Travaglini was the first Italian-American to lead either legislative branch in Massachusetts.[4]
Travaglini resigned from the senate position in 2007, in order to start a lobbying firm, Travaglini Eisenberg Kiley, and later one called Travaglini Scorzoni Kiley.[5][6]
Travaglini, a longtime resident of East Boston, now resides in Winthrop. He is married to Kelly (née Holtz) and has three children: Taylor; Jennifer; and Andrew. His brother, Michael, was an unsuccessful candidate for an at-large City Council seat in 1993.[8]
In 2008, Travaglini spent $30,000 on an oil-on-canvas portrait by Boston-based artist Thomas Ouellette, which now hangs in the Senate Reading Room of the Massachusetts State House, alongside former Senate Presidents such as Calvin Coolidge and Horace Mann. As of 2008, only eleven Senate Presidents have portraits in the State House.[9]