Maura Healey

Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as Massachusetts Attorney General from 2015 to 2023 and was elected governor in 2022, defeating the Republican nominee, former state representative Geoff Diehl.

Maura Healey
Official portrait, 2023
73rd Governor of Massachusetts
Assumed office
January 5, 2023
LieutenantKim Driscoll
Preceded byCharlie Baker
44th Attorney General of Massachusetts
In office
January 22, 2015  January 5, 2023
GovernorCharlie Baker
Preceded byMartha Coakley
Succeeded byAndrea Campbell
Personal details
Born
Maura Tracy Healey

(1971-02-08) February 8, 1971
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Domestic partnerJoanna Lydgate
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Northeastern University (JD)
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

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] She was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2022.[2]

As an openly lesbian woman, Healey has made history through her electoral success several times. In 2014, she became the first openly lesbian woman elected attorney general of a U.S. state and the first openly LGBT person elected to statewide office in Massachusetts.[3] In 2022, she became one of the first two openly lesbian women (alongside Tina Kotek) and the co-third openly LGBT person (alongside Tina Kotek and after Kate Brown and Jared Polis) elected governor of a U.S. state as well as the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts.[4][5]

Early life and education

Born at the Bethesda Naval Hospital ("over Massachusetts soil" her parents brought into the room),[6] 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.[7] 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. After divorcing, her mother sold her wedding ring to pay for a backyard basketball court.[6] Healey's stepfather, Edward Beattie, taught history and coached girls' sports at Winnacunnet High School. Her family roots are in Newburyport and the North Shore area, while several of her grandparents and great-grandparents were born in Ireland.[8]

Healey attended Winnacunnet High School,[9] and majored in government at Harvard College, graduating cum laude in 1992. She was co-captain of the Harvard Crimson women's basketball team.[10] After graduation, Healey spent two years playing as a starting point guard for a professional basketball team in Austria, UBBC Wustenrot Salzburg.[11] Upon returning to the United States, she earned a Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law in 1998.[12]

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.[13]

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.[13]

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.[14]

In 2012, Healey was promoted to chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau.[15] She was then appointed chief of the Business and Labor Bureau.[16]

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.[13][16]

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."[17][18]

Attorney General of Massachusetts (2015–2023)

Healey's official attorney general photo

2014

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%.[19]

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.[20][21] It was also endorsed by Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong, and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz.[22][23] Organizations that endorsed the campaign include the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, MassEquality, and the Victory Fund.[24][25][26] 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.[12] She also authored an op-ed in The Boston Globe outlining her plan to combat student loan predators.[27][28][29]

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.[30][31]

2018

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

Tenure

Healy (far right) in 2016 with (left to right): State Senator Karen Spilka, State Rep. Ken Gordon, Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, and State Rep. John Scibak

Healey's plan to reduce gun violence addresses what she perceives as its root causes. The program includes enhancing the background check system to include information regarding recent restraining orders, pending indictments, and any relations to domestic violence, parole, and probation information. The plan also seeks to track better stolen and missing guns. Healey advocates fingerprint trigger locks and firearm micro-stamping on all guns sold in Massachusetts.[32][33]

Healey's plan for criminal justice reform includes ending mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and focusing on treatment rather than incarceration.[34]

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 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.[35]

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.[36]

Gun control

On July 20, 2016, Healey announced her intention to ban the manufacturing of most assault rifles in Massachusetts.[37]

Trump administration

On January 31, 2017, Healey announced that her office was joining a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's Executive Order 13769,[38][39] commonly known as a "Muslim ban."[40][41] Healey condemned the order as "motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment and Islamophobia, not by a desire to further national security."[38] A federal court eventually struck the order down on similar grounds.[42]

On March 9, 2017, Healey announced that her office was joining a lawsuit challenging Trump's Executive Order 13780.[43][44] 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."[43] The order has been blocked in various federal courts on similar grounds.[44][45]

On May 11, 2017, after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, Healey led efforts calling for 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.[46] On May 17, Rosenstein appointed a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller.[47]

Purdue Pharma

In 2021, Healey announced a resolution against the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma. The resolution requires a payment of more than $4.3 billion for prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts in communities across the country. It will also require Purdue Pharma to be wound down or sold by 2024 and ensure that the Sacklers are banned from the opioid business and required to turn over control of family foundations to an independent trustee to be used to address the opioid epidemic.[48]

Governor of Massachusetts

2022

Final results by county
Final results by county in 2022
  Maura Healey
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%

On January 20, 2022, Healey announced her candidacy in the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election.[49] Her announcement came after the incumbent governor, Charlie Baker, a Republican, announced he would not seek reelection. On September 6, 2022, Healey won the Democratic primary election. She defeated Sonia Chang-Diaz, who withdrew from the primary. Healey was endorsed by Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

On November 8, 2022, she defeated Geoff Diehl, the Republican nominee, in the general election, which made her the nation's first openly lesbian governor. She was inaugurated on January 5, 2023.

Tenure

Healey taking oath as governor

The day after being sworn in, Healey signed an Executive Order establishing the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience and creating a cabinet-level position of Climate Chief to head the office. According to Healey, the office will be tasked with working with state and local leaders to help the Commonwealth reach its climate goals and help coordinate the efforts. The Climate Chief will also be the governor's primary advisor on climate issues. Healey appointed Melissa Hoffer to the role.[50][51]

In February 2023, the Healey administration announced a $742 million tax cut package to be filed as an addition to its proposed fiscal year 2024 budget. Among the proposals included was an increase in the child and family tax credit from $240 to $600 per child or dependent. The plans also increase the rental deduction cap from 50% of rent up to $3,000 to 50% of $4,000. Under the proposal, the state's short-term capital gains tax is reduced from 12% to 5% and the estate tax threshold is raised from $1 million to $3 million.[52][53] The state legislature passed a scaled-back version of this proposal that increased the child and dependent tax credit to $310 for the 2023 tax year and $440 for following years. The short-term capital gains tax was reduced to 8.5% and the estate tax was eliminated for all estates under $2 million. Healey signed these changes into law on October 4, 2023.[54]

At a news conference held at Bunker Hill Community College in March 2023, Healey announced a $20 million appropriation to her 2024 fiscal year state budget proposal to create a free community college program, "MassReconnect", for Massachusetts residents 25 or older with a secondary school degree or post-secondary course credits, to address the skills gap in the state workforce.[55][56] The state legislature approved the plan as part of the 2024 fiscal year state budget, which Healey signed into law in August.[57][58]

Personal life

In July 2022, Healey moved from Boston to Cambridge, Massachusetts.[59] She plays basketball recreationally.[60][61][62][63] On January 9, 2023, shortly after being inaugurated as governor, Healey announced that she is in a relationship with attorney Joanna Lydgate, her former chief deputy. She clarified that their relationship did not begin until Lydgate had departed the role to co-found the States United Democracy Center, a voting rights advocacy organization.[64]

Electoral history

Governor Healey taking questions at the Boston Public Library in 2023.

Attorney General of Massachusetts

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

Governor of Massachusetts

Massachusetts gubernatorial Democratic primary election, 2022[65]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Maura Healey 642,092 85.3
Democratic Sonia Chang-Diaz 108,574 14.4
Write-in 1,972 0.3
Total votes 777,226 100.0
Massachusetts gubernatorial general election, 2022[66]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Maura Healey 1,584,403 63.7% +30.6%
Republican Geoff Diehl 859,343 34.6% -32%
Libertarian Kevin Reed 39,205 1.6% +1.6%
Turnout 2,508,298 100%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

See also

Notes

    References

    1. "Massachusetts Election Results". The New York Times. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    2. "It's Official: Maura Healey Announces Run for Massachusetts Governor". NECN.com.
    3. Johnson, Akilah (November 12, 2014). "Maura Healey setting her course as attorney general". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
    4. Epstein, Reid J. (November 11, 2022). "Tina Kotek, a Progressive, Will Be Oregon's Next Governor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
    5. 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.
    6. Anthony Brooks (June 9, 2022). "Maura Healey could be the next governor. Her ties to Mass. begin with a surprising backstory".
    7. Minow, Martha; Putnam, Tom (November 23, 2015). "A Conversation With Maura Healey". www.jfklibrary.org. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
    8. O'Regan, Ellen (November 9, 2022). "Granddaughter of Cork emigrant becomes first openly lesbian governor in US". echolive.ie. The Echo. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
    9. Murphy, Matt (September 12, 2019). "Maura Healey Endorses Elizabeth Warren Ahead Of Democratic Debate". WBUR. State House News Service. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
    10. Ingersoll, Justin R.P. (March 14, 1992). "Star Still Rising for W. Cagers' Captain Maura Healey". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
    11. Levenson, Eric (August 26, 2014). "Pro Basketball Star-Turned-Attorney General Hopeful Maura Healey Can Still Ball". Boston.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
    12. 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.
    13. "Martha Coakley aide seeks her post". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
    14. "Massachusetts: Maura Healey Could Be Top LGBT Attorney In The Country". Advocate.com. September 7, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
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    17. 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.
    18. 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
    19. Scharfenberg, David. "Healey defeats Tolman in Democratic AG primary". The Boston Globe. No. September 9, 2014. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
    20. Rizzuto, Robert (March 4, 2014). "Attorney general hopeful Maura Healey lands endorsements from Rosenberg, Dan Wolf, Jamie Eldridge". MassLive. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
    21. 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.
    22. "Fitchburg mayor endorses Maura Healey for attorney general (video)". May 12, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
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    26. "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.
    27. Healey, Maura. "Stopping student loan predators". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
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    29. "Mass. AG hopeful: Crack down on for-profit schools". The Washington Times. Associated Press. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
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    33. "AG candidate outlines approach to gun violence". Retrieved April 8, 2014.
    34. "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.
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    37. "Assault Weapons Ban Enforcement". July 19, 2016.
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    40. Savransky, Rebecca (January 29, 2017). "Giuliani: Trump asked me how to do a Muslim ban 'legally'". The Hill. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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    42. 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.
    43. "Maura Healey says Massachusetts will join new lawsuit against Trump's revised travel ban". Boston.com. March 9, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
    44. 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
    45. "Federal judge in Hawaii freezes President Trump's new entry ban". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
    46. "Healey leads coalition of attorneys general calling for special prosecutor to oversee Russia probe". Boston.com. May 11, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
    47. "Appointment of Special Counsel". www.justice.gov. May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
    48. "AG Healey Announces Resolution With Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family for Their Role in the Opioid Crisis | Mass.gov". www.mass.gov. July 8, 2021.
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    50. LeBlanc, Steve (January 6, 2023). "On first day, Massachusetts Gov. Healey names climate chief". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
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    52. "Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll Unveil $750 Million Tax Relief Package". February 27, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
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    54. Kazakiewich, Todd; Sacchetti, Sharman; Tenser, Phil. "Gov. Maura Healey signs Massachusetts' first tax cuts in more than 20 years". WCVB.
    55. Nanos, Janelle; Alanez, Tonya (March 1, 2023). "Free community college for Mass. adults is a key part of Governor Healey's budget proposal". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
    56. Fortin, Matt (March 1, 2023). "Gov. Healey Proposes Free Community College for Mass. Residents 25 and Up Ahead of Budget Filing". WBTS. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
    57. Cullen, Xavier (September 6, 2023). "Gov. Healey launches MassReconnect free community college program". The Bay State Banner. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
    58. Weyman, Ted; Tenser, Phil (August 24, 2023). "Gov. Healey celebrates launch of MassReconnect, offering free community college to students over age 25". WCVB. Archived from the original on August 26, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
    59. Stout, Matt (November 15, 2022). "Healey has said she lives in Boston. In reality, the governor-elect moved out of the city months ago". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
    60. Maura Healey for Attorney General (August 9, 2014), Maura Healey's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, retrieved May 26, 2017
    61. "WATCH: Mass. AG Candidate Shows Her Basketball Skills". NECN. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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