Legal professional Basic Andrea Campbell on Tuesday launched her 2026 reelection marketing campaign, highlighting her first-term document on shopper safety and federal litigation.
Campbell, a Democrat who in 2022 grew to become the primary Black lady elected to statewide workplace in Massachusetts, made her announcement in Boston’s South Finish, close to the place she grew up.
“Our work is far from done,” she informed supporters. “Too many families are still struggling to live paycheck to paycheck … This is why I’m running for re-election, because Massachusetts deserves an attorney general who leads with empathy, compassion and a sense of urgency.”
Since taking workplace in January 2023, Campbell has taken an expansive method to the function of lawyer normal, usually clashing with the federal authorities. Her workplace is a part of practically 40 lawsuits in opposition to the Trump administration, concentrating on actions that threaten investments in schooling, well being care and analysis. Lawsuits have protected $3.01 billion of the $3.18 billion President Donald Trump has focused, Campbell mentioned Tuesday.
Campbell has restructured the lawyer normal’s workplace, making a Reproductive Justice Unit, an Elder Justice Unit and an Workplace of Gun Security Enforcement. She additionally defended Massachusetts’ regulation banning assault weapons in a case that reached the U.S. First Circuit Court docket of Appeals, which upheld the statute.
Her workplace secured responsible verdicts in opposition to defendants in a Boston space intercourse trafficking ring and launched an investigation into the Boston Police Division’s gang unit and gang database over allegations of racial bias.
On housing, Campbell has enforced the MBTA Communities Act, a controversial regulation requiring cities and cities to zone for multifamily housing close to public transit. She sued the city of Milton for failing to conform. The Supreme Judicial Court docket upheld the regulation’s constitutionality and affirmed her authority to convey such lawsuits.
She confronted pushback from native officers in Milton and elsewhere who argue her housing enforcement technique overreaches the intent of MBTA zoning regulation. Campbell maintains that the regulation is a binding obligation and has sought courtroom orders to make sure compliance.
The lawyer normal careworn her shopper safety work throughout her announcement on Tuesday. She mentioned her workplace returned $32 million to staff who have been underpaid or denied wages and greater than $400 million to households by efforts to cease utility charge hikes.
“We will continue to do that work, especially as the federal government is walking away,” she mentioned.
In 2024, Campbell filed a lawsuit in opposition to TikTok, alleging the platform was intentionally designed to be addictive and dangerous to younger customers, violating state shopper safety legal guidelines.
Campbell has confronted criticism associated to her enforcement of the MBTA Communities regulation and State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, Republicans and authorities transparency teams have accused her of failing to implement a voter-approved audit of the Legislature. They’ve referred to as on her to sue lawmakers to compel compliance.
Campbell has argued there could also be constitutional limits on her authority and that the auditor has not offered ample data to justify authorized motion.
Campbell’s workplace additionally defended Treasurer Deb Goldberg within the lawsuit introduced by former Hashish Management Fee Chair Shannon O’Brien, who challenged Goldberg’s choice to take away her over allegations of “gross misconduct.” The case centered on allegations that O’Brien had bullied colleagues and made racially insensitive remarks. Earlier this month, a Suffolk Superior Court docket choose dominated that Goldberg’s firing of O’Brien was improper, resulting in O’Brien’s reinstatement as head of the state’s hashish regulatory company.
In her announcement Tuesday morning, Campbell additionally emphasised the private story of her household — recounting her tough upbringing in Boston when her mom died younger in a automobile crash, her father and brother cycled out and in of the jail system, and her twin brother died in Division of Correction custody.
“I didn’t run for office because I thought it would be easy,” Campbell mentioned in a marketing campaign advert launched Tuesday morning. “That’s okay — life hasn’t been easy. My own story is proof of what’s possible.”
Campbell beforehand served as a Boston metropolis councilor and deputy authorized counsel to then-Gov. Deval Patrick. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Boston in 2021 earlier than profitable the lawyer normal’s race the next yr, defeating Republican Jay McMahon 63% to 37%. She succeeded Maura Healey, who was elected governor.
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