Healey running for governor, Rollins running from no one

STATE

To the surprise of no one who observes Mass politics, Attorney General Maura Healey jumped into the governor’s race last week. From the announcement: “Maura has stood with us as the People’s Lawyer, and now she’s running for Governor to bring people together and build an economy in which everyone can thrive. Maura has spent her career standing up for the people of Massachusetts—taking on ExxonMobil, Purdue Pharma, the NRA, predatory lenders. Maura is running to be Governor for everyone—to tackle the high cost of living, invest in people, and move Massachusetts forward. This means making child care more affordable, modernizing our schools so every child learns in a safe and sustainable environment, and addressing the climate crisis.”

As Dig readers know, Healey is one of those purported progressives with a tremendous rep for fighting big old bad guys but who barely sticks it to the chumps in her own backyard, particularly those in her party. Which is why she is able to run for the top spot, and why you’ll likely see the whole party establishment fall in line behind her while abandoning the two other remaining blue hopefuls, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz and Harvard professor Danielle Allen, like they already did former state Sen. Ben Downing, who dropped out unceremoniously in December. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, former state representative and Trump’s guy in the Bay State Geoff Diehl is likely to emerge in front.

Danielle Allen’s campaign issued the following statement on Healey’s decision to enter the race: “Every single day, in every community in Massachusetts, people are struggling with the impacts of these challenges. So status quo is not an option. We need a fresh perspective that can see beyond the politics and start bringing us together to build solutions. I’m in this race—and I’ve been in it for a year—to make sure Massachusetts has a real choice. A choice between a perspective ready to meet the moment and business as usual. And a choice between the narrow solutions our politics have been offering us, or a chance to reimagine the possible, and bring everyone to the table to find a path forward that empowers all of us.”

NATIONAL

After months of stubbornness from GOP lawmakers in Washington, Vice President Kamala Harris finally cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm now-former Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins as the new US Attorney for Massachusetts. Republicans had taken issue with the DA’s reluctance to prosecute low-level crimes, calling her too “radical.”

Unelected conservatives have been more direct. As CNN reported last week, “The first Black woman to lead the US Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts … faces an uptick in threats against her following a contentious confirmation process. The violent and often racist threats against Rachael Rollins have been reported to authorities, and she is seeking protection from the US Marshals Service, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. … The threats against Rollins have prompted calls for the Justice Department to do more to protect people of color in the federal judicial system, which has become increasingly diverse. Rollins joins the most diverse class of US attorneys in the department’s history.”

So, for the record, bigots who paint their face like the American flag and pound their chest to the drumbeat of Blue Lives Matter propaganda and whatever other authoritarian jingoist anthem is en vogue don’t actually care about law enforcement one bit. At least not when the person in power looks like US Attorney Rollins.