[1] Honan graduated from Boston College with a bachelor's degree in political science and government in 1981.

[2][3] Honan was first elected in 1986, defeating Carol Wolfe, an administrator for the neighborhood Community District Advisory Council and proponent of school desegregation,[4] and Francis Xavier Griffin.

[9] Honan co-sponsored the first eviction moratorium after the COVID-19 pandemic to be passed nationwide in April 2020.

[10] The bill protected residents from being evicted from or foreclosed on their homes during the state's COVID-19 emergency declaration.

Representative Honan resides in Brighton with his wife Colleen and his daughter Molly.