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Who is Maura Healey: Massachusetts Likely Next Governor?

(Photo courtesy of Mass.gov) Maura is running for governor.

William T.Doherty
Connector Contributor

On January 20th, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey finally ended months of speculation over whether she would seek the state’s highest elected office with an emphatic yes. Healey’s announcement came after incumbent governor Charlie Baker announced he would not seek a third term in December. With Baker, the state’s highest ranking and most popular elected Republican out of the running, it seems that this election may be decided in the Democratic Primary. Healey’s accomplishments are numerous and voters should get to know the woman who is likely to be their governor a bit better. To that end, who is Maura Healey?

The eldest of five siblings, Healey was raised in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, before studying government at Harvard. Healey’s love of basketball, still heavily on display today, led her to the role of co-captain for Harvard’s women’s team. Eventually she obtained a Juris Doctorate from Northeastern University and embarked on a career in law.

Healey cut her teeth working for District Judge A. David Mazzone, before moving to private practice. In 2007 she joined the Attorney General’s office in the Civil Rights Division, leading Massachusetts’ victorious challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act in 2010. In 2014 then Attorney General Martha Coakley retired to challenge Charlie Baker for the Governorship, leading Healey to run and later win the office of Attorney General 62.5%-37.5% and to be re-elected with 69.9% of the vote. She became the first openly gay state attorney in the United States.

What has Healey done as Attorney general? Healey was one of the several Democratic Attorney generals who challenged the Trump Administration’s Muslim Ban in 2017 as well as pushed for a special counsel following FBI Director James Comey’s firing. Healey filed over 100 suits against the Administration. Healey additionally played a pivotal role in the 4.3 billion dollar settlement against the Sackler family of Purdue Pharmaceuticals for their role in the Opioid crisis. Healey has also routinely intervened on the side of workers, suing gig-economy companies for denying decent wages to workers, exacting fines for companies such as Family Dollar this week for preventing staff from meal breaks. Through her time as AG, Healey has enjoyed a good working relationship with Governor Charlie Baker which is an increasingly rare show of successful bipartisanship today.

Healey’s years of public service and impressive litigation record have built a well deserved reputation of a dedicated fighter, ready to defend the people of Massachusetts. Recent polling by the Mass Polling Group indicates an early comfortable lead for Healey against other Democratic hopefuls, progressive State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and Harvard Professor Danielle Allen. The race is likely to be decided in the Primary election in September. With the Massachusetts GOP alienating Charlie Baker supporters and their presumptive nominee Geoff Diehl having lost to Elizabeth Warren in 2018’s landslide senate election, this is Healey’s race to lose.

 

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