Andrea Campbell, former Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate, launched a campaign for Massachusetts Attorney General on Wednesday.
Campbell formally announced her bid for attorney general at 10 a.m. at Codman Square Park in Dorchester. After that, she was scheduled to make campaign stops in Worcester and Springfield.
“I’ve dedicated my life to fighting for greater equity and opportunity, and that’s what I’ll do as attorney general because the attorney general is not just the top law enforcement official of the commonwealth, she must be an advocate for fundamental change and progress,” Campbell said in a statement. “From Boston to Springfield, and Lawrence to the Cape & Islands, I will be an Attorney General for justice and opportunity for all -- no matter who you are, where you come from, or where you live.”
Campbell became the first woman to represent her district when elected to the Boston City Council in 2015. She was elected as City Council President in 2018 - the first Black woman to hold the title. She came up short in the preliminary Boston mayoral election last fall.
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"I firmly believe everyone should have access to justice and opportunity," she said Wednesday morning at her press conference in Dorchester. "I've dedicated my entire life to fighting for equity and opportunity, and that's exactly what I'll do as the next attorney general of Massachusetts."
Campbell also stressed that the attorney general is not just the state's top law enforcement official but also "an advocate for fundamental change and progress."
About Andrea Campbell
A Roxbury native, Campbell and her two brothers bounced between family and foster care until she was eight years old. That’s when she met her father for the first time when he was just out of prison. Campbell credits relatives and teachers for getting her through.
Campbell went on to Boston Latin School, Princeton University and law school. But it was a very different path for her twin brother Andre. When he started to act out in school, Campbell said he was disciplined in lieu of receiving mental health support or any kind of a social emotional response. By the time Campbell was in high school, both her twin Andre and their older brother Alvin were in prison.
Campbell‘s father died while she was at Princeton. A few years later, Campbell became frantic, unable to get information about Andre, who was suffering in prison from scleroderma. Officials wouldn’t tell her where her brother was.
To this day, Campbell said she still does not know how Andre died. Her other brother, Alvin, is currently in prison in Rhode Island accused of raping nine women. For Campbell, she said even on the hard days with all the pain, she turns that pain into purpose.
“I’m living proof that a girl who grew up in public housing in Roxbury, with a family torn apart by incarceration and poverty, with support from a community that believed in me, could turn pain into purpose, and become Legal Counsel for the Governor of Massachusetts, be elected the first Black woman President of the Boston City Council, and today announce my candidacy for Attorney General of Massachusetts,” Campbell said.
