He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1930 until 1932, representing the electorate of Murray.
Donovan was also a prominent member of the local sporting community, and served as secretary of the Deniliquin Athletics Club and the Deniliquin Licensed Victuallers Race Club at the time of his election.
His career was to be short-lived, however; Donovan lost his seat to Lawson in 1932, as Labor suffered a significant defeat across the state.
He subsequently worked in the New South Wales Department of Labour and Industry from 1933 until 1935, and was the private secretary to senior federal minister Eddie Ward from 1941 until 1947.
He was the secretary of the Australian delegation to the International Labour Organization conference in Geneva in 1947.