Maura Healey

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Maura Healey
Maura Healey official photo.jpg
44th Attorney General of Massachusetts
Assumed office
January 21, 2015
GovernorCharlie Baker
Preceded byMartha Coakley
Personal details
Born
Maura Tracy Healey

(1971-02-08) February 8, 1971 (age 52)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationHarvard University (AB)
Northeastern University (JD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Massachusetts Attorney General. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007, Healey served as chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state's challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She was then appointed chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau and then chief of the Business and Labor Bureau before resigning in 2013 to run for attorney general in 2014. She defeated former State Senator Warren Tolman in the Democratic primary and then defeated Republican attorney John Miller in the general election. Healey was reelected in 2018.[1] Upon taking office, she became the first openly lesbian state attorney general in the United States.[2]

Healey is the Democratic nominee in the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election.[3] She is heavily favored to win the election and become the state's first elected woman governor and the first openly lesbian governor in U.S. history.[4]

Early life and education

Born at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Maura Tracy Healey grew up as the oldest of five brothers and sisters. When she was nine months old, her family moved to Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, where she was raised.[5] Her mother was a nurse at Lincoln Akerman School in Hampton Falls; her father was a captain in the United States Public Health Service and an engineer. Her stepfather, Edward Beattie, taught history and coached girls' sports at Winnacunnet High School. Her family roots are in Newburyport and the North Shore area.

Healey attended Winnacunnet High School,[6] and majored in government at Harvard College, graduating cum laude in 1992. She was co-captain of the Harvard Crimson women's basketball team.[7] After graduation, Healey spent two years playing as a starting point guard for a professional basketball team in Austria, UBBC Wustenrot Salzburg.[8] Upon returning to the United States, she earned a Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law in 1998.[9]

Career

Healey began her legal career by clerking for Judge A. David Mazzone of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where she prepared monthly compliance reports on the cleanup of the Boston Harbor and assisted the judge with trials, hearings, and case conferences. Healey subsequently spent more than seven years at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where she worked as an associate and then junior partner and focused on commercial and securities litigation.[10]

She also served as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County, where she tried drug, assault, domestic violence, and motor vehicle cases in bench and jury sessions and argued bail hearings, motions to suppress, and probation violations and surrenders.[10]

Hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007, Healey served as chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state's challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She led the winning arguments for Massachusetts in the country's first lawsuit striking down the law.[11]

In 2012, Healey was promoted to chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau.[12] She was then appointed chief of the Business and Labor Bureau.[13]

As a division chief and bureau head in the Attorney General's Office, Healey oversaw 250 lawyers and staff members and supervised the areas of consumer protection, fair labor, ratepayer advocacy, environmental protection, health care, insurance and financial services, civil rights, antitrust, Medicaid fraud, nonprofit organizations and charities, and business, technology, and economic development.[10][13]

During a Zoom conference call on June 3, 2020, before 300 members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Healey asked for a call to action from business leaders to work to end racial inequalities and systemic racism. She ended her speech by saying, "Yes, America is burning, but that's how forests grow.”[14][15]

Massachusetts Attorney General

Elections

2014

Main article: 2014 Massachusetts general election § Attorney General

In October 2013, Healey announced her candidacy for attorney general. Coakley was retiring from the office to run for governor. On September 9, 2014, Healey won the Democratic primary by 126,420 votes, defeating former State Senator Warren Tolman, 62.4% to 37.6%.[16]

Healey's campaign was endorsed by State Senators Stan Rosenberg, Dan Wolf, Jamie Eldridge and America's largest resource for pro-choice women in politics, EMILY's List.[17][18] It was also endorsed by Northeast District Attorney David Sullivan, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong, and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz.[19][20] Organizations that endorsed the campaign include the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, MassEquality, and the Victory Fund.[21][22][23] Healey wrote an op-ed in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette on upholding the Massachusetts buffer zone law, which she worked on at the Attorney General's Office.[9] She also authored an op-ed in The Boston Globe outlining her plan to combat student loan predators.[24][25][26]

Healey defeated Republican nominee John Miller, an attorney, in the general election, 62.5% to 37.5%. Upon taking office, she became the United States' first openly lesbian state attorney general.[27][28]

2018

Main article: 2018 Massachusetts elections § Attorney General

On November 6, 2018, Healey was reelected Massachusetts Attorney General, defeating Republican nominee James McMahon with 69.9% of the vote.[1]

Tenure

Healey's plan to reduce gun violence addresses what she perceives as its root causes. The plan includes enhancing the background check system to include information regarding recent restraining orders, pending indictments, any relations to domestic violence, parole, and probation information. The plan also seeks to better track stolen and missing guns. Healey advocates fingerprint trigger locks and firearm micro-stamping on all guns sold in Massachusetts.[29][30]

Healey's plan for criminal justice reform includes ending mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and focusing on treatment rather than incarceration.[31]

Healey plans to combat prescription drug abuse and Massachusetts's heroin epidemic by implementing a "lock-in" program. The program will be carried out in pharmacies as a way to identify and track prescription drug abusers and distributors. Her plan includes deployment of new resources to drug trafficking hotspots, improvement of treatment accessibility and expanding access to Narcan.[32]

Abortion

Healey's women's rights platform focuses on sex education, expanding access to abortion services in Massachusetts, and ensuring that every woman in Massachusetts has access to abortion regardless of where she lives, her occupation, or her income.[33]

Gun control

On July 20, 2016, Healey announced her intention to ban the manufacturing of most assault rifles in Massachusetts.[34]

Trump administration

On January 31, 2017, Healey announced that her office was joining a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's Executive Order 13769,[35][36] commonly known as a "Muslim ban."[37][38] Healey condemned the order as "motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment and Islamophobia, not by a desire to further national security."[35] A federal court eventually struck the order down on similar grounds.[39]

On March 9, 2017, Healey announced that her office was joining a lawsuit challenging Trump's Executive Order 13780.[40][41] She said the new order, a revised version of the one that had been struck down, "remains a discriminatory and unconstitutional attempt to make good on [Trump's] campaign promise to implement a Muslim ban."[40] The order has since been blocked in various federal courts on similar grounds.[41][42]

On May 11, 2017, after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, Healey led efforts calling for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Her office sent a letter to that effect, signed by 20 Attorneys General across the nation, to Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.[43] On March 17, Rosenstein appointed a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller.[44]

2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign

Main article: 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

On January 20, 2022, Healey announced her candidacy in the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election.[45] Her announcement came after Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, announced he would not seek reelection. On September 6, 2022, Healey won the Democratic primary election.

Personal life

Healey lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts.[10][46] She plays basketball recreationally.[47][48][49][50] She is openly gay.[51]

Electoral history

2014 Massachusetts Attorney General Democratic primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Maura Healey 322,380 62.1
Democratic Warren Tolman 195,654 37.7
Write-in 721 0.1
Total votes 518,755 100.0
2014 Massachusetts Attorney General election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Maura Healey 1,280,513 61.7
Republican John Miller 793,821 38.2
Write-in 1,885 0.1
Total votes 2,076,219 100.0
2018 Massachusetts Attorney General election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Maura Healey 1,874,209 69.9
Republican Jay McMahon III 804,832 30.0
Write-in 1,858 0.1
Total votes 2,680,899 100.0

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Massachusetts Election Results". The New York Times. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  2. ^ Johnson, Akilah (November 12, 2014). "Maura Healey setting her course as attorney general". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  3. ^ "It's Official: Maura Healey Announces Run for Massachusetts Governor". NECN.com.
  4. ^ Glueck, Katie; Astor, Maggie (September 6, 2022). "Live Updates: Maura Healey Could Make History in Run for Massachusetts Governor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  5. ^ "A CONVERSATION WITH MAURA HEALEY". www.jfklibrary.org. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  6. ^ Murphy, Matt (September 12, 2019). "Maura Healey Endorses Elizabeth Warren Ahead Of Democratic Debate". WBUR. State House News Service. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  7. ^ Ingersoll, Justin R.P. (March 14, 1992). "Star Still Rising for W. Cagers' Captain Maura Healey". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  8. ^ Levenson, Eric (August 26, 2014). "Pro Basketball Star-Turned-Attorney General Hopeful Maura Healey Can Still Ball". Boston.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  9. ^ a b Schoenberg, Shira (October 22, 2013). "Massachusetts Attorney General candidate Maura Healey says experience in AG's office prepared her for the top job". Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d "Martha Coakley aide seeks her post". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  11. ^ "Massachusetts: Maura Healey Could Be Top LGBT Attorney In The Country". Advocate.com. September 7, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  12. ^ "AG Coakley Appoints New Leadership to Office". mass.gov. February 16, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Coakley Aide Announces Run For Mass. Attorney General". WBUR. Associated Press. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  14. ^ Schoenberg, Shira (June 2, 2020). "Healey: 'America is burning. But that's how forests grow'". CommonWealth. MassINC. Retrieved June 3, 2020. “Yes, America is burning. But that’s how forests grow," she said.
  15. ^ Chesto, Jon (June 2, 2020). "AG Healey urges business leaders to seize 'once in a lifetime opportunity' to address racial inequity". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 3, 2020. ‘America is burning, but that’s how forests grow,’ she tells Greater Boston Chamber
  16. ^ Scharfenberg, David. "Healey defeats Tolman in Democratic AG primary". Boston Globe. No. September 9, 2014. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  17. ^ Rizzuto, Robert (March 4, 2014). "Attorney general hopeful Maura Healey lands endorsements from Rosenberg, Dan Wolf, Jamie Eldridge". MassLive. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  18. ^ Bernstein, David. "Emily's List Is Endorsing Maura Healey and Deb Goldberg". Boston Daily. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  19. ^ "Fitchburg mayor endorses Maura Healey for attorney general (video)". May 12, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  20. ^ "Attorney General hopeful Maura Healey lands endorsements from 2 Western Mass. mayors, discusses plan to tackle opiate abuse". masslive.com. May 6, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  21. ^ "Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan endorses Maura Healey for attorney general". Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  22. ^ "Warren Tolman and Maura Healey, Democratic candidates for attorney general, announce dueling endorsements to start week". masslive.com. May 13, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  23. ^ "Bay Windows: Healey Wins Endorsement of The Victory Fund, MassEquality Political Action Committee". Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  24. ^ Healey, Maura. "Stopping student loan predators". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  25. ^ "Mass. AG hopeful Maura Healey calls for tougher oversight of for-profit colleges". Associated Press. Retrieved March 7, 2014.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ "Mass. AG hopeful: Crack down on for-profit schools". The Washington Times. Associated Press. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  27. ^ "RESULTS: Healey Elected First Out State Attorney General". Advocate.com. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  28. ^ "Democrat Maura Healey tops GOP's Miller to become the nation's 1st openly gay attorney general". My Fox Boston. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  29. ^ "Attorney general candidate Maura Healey proposes stricter gun laws for Massachusetts in new plan". April 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  30. ^ "AG candidate outlines approach to gun violence". Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  31. ^ "Democrat Maura Healey says ending mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders, focusing on treatment over incarceration among priorities as attorney general". May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  32. ^ "Prescription Drug Abuse Reaches Epidemic Proportions". Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  33. ^ "Democratic attorney general hopeful Maura Healey says women's rights platform includes focusing on sex education, expanding access to abortion services in Massachusetts". May 22, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  34. ^ "Assault Weapons Ban Enforcement". July 19, 2016.
  35. ^ a b "Maura Healey Is Suing the President Again". Boston Magazine. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  36. ^ "Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States". whitehouse.gov. March 6, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017 – via National Archives.
  37. ^ Savransky, Rebecca (January 29, 2017). "Giuliani: Trump asked me how to do a Muslim ban 'legally'". TheHill. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  38. ^ Saletan, William (January 31, 2017). "Of Course It's a Muslim Ban". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  39. ^ Liptak, Adam (February 9, 2017). "Court Refuses to Reinstate Travel Ban, Dealing Trump Another Legal Loss". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  40. ^ a b "Maura Healey says Massachusetts will join new lawsuit against Trump's revised travel ban". Boston.com. March 9, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  41. ^ a b International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump (4th Cir. 2017) http://coop.ca4.uscourts.gov/171351.P.pdf Archived August 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  42. ^ "Federal judge in Hawaii freezes President Trump's new entry ban". Washington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  43. ^ "Healey leads coalition of attorneys general calling for special prosecutor to oversee Russia probe". Boston.com. May 11, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  44. ^ "Appointment of Special Counsel". www.justice.gov. May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  45. ^ Astor, Maggie (January 20, 2022). "Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey Enters Governor's Race". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  46. ^ "Maura Healey Talks Historic Campaign for Attorney General in Massachusetts". Huffingtonpost.com. March 13, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  47. ^ Maura Healey for Attorney General (August 9, 2014), Maura Healey's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, retrieved May 26, 2017
  48. ^ "WATCH: Mass. AG Candidate Shows Her Basketball Skills". NECN. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  49. ^ The Boston Globe (December 1, 2014), Baker vs. Healy in a friendly game of Horse, retrieved May 26, 2017
  50. ^ "Maura Healey Is Still Better at Basketball Than You Will Ever Be". Boston Magazine. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  51. ^ Johnson, Akilah (November 12, 2014). "Maura Healey setting her course as attorney general". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 21, 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maura Healey.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Massachusetts
2014, 2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts
2022 		Most recent
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Massachusetts
2015–present 		Incumbent
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