Paulino graduated from Mount Washington College with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 2012.

[1] Paulino defeated incumbent Marcos Devers in the 2022 primary election to become the Democratic nominee for the 16th Essex seat.

[2] He ran unopposed in the 2022 Massachusetts House of Representatives election.

In a rematch, Paulino secured the Democratic nomination for the 16th Essex District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, defeating Marcos Devers of Lawrence with 58.8% of the votes.

[3][4] In 2025, Paulino was selected as a Fellow in the Energy & Environment Innovation Fellowship hosted by the Future Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators concerned with climate change, energy policy, and environmental justice.