Andrea Campbell: Difference between revisions

| website = {{urlURL|andreacampbell.org|Campaign website}}

'''Andrea Joy Campbell''' is an American lawyer and politician who is serving as the [[Attorney General of Massachusetts|attorney general]] of [[Massachusetts]]. Campbell is a former member of the [[Boston City Council]]. On the city council, she represented District 4, which includes parts of Boston's [[Dorchester, Boston|Dorchester]], [[Mattapan]], [[Jamaica Plain]], and [[Roslindale]] neighborhoods. A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], she was first elected to the council in November 2015 and assumed office in January 2016. She served as president of the council from January 2018 until January 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Boston edges toward historic shift as mayoral field narrows |last=LeBlanc |first=Steve |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/boston-edges-historic-shift-mayoral-field-narrows-79496224 |website=ABC News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=17 August 2021 |language=en |date=17 August 2021}}</ref> Campbell unsuccessfully ran for [[mayor of Boston]] in [[2021 Boston mayoral election|2021]], placing third in the nonpartisan [[primary election]] behind [[Annissa Essaibi George]] and [[Michelle Wu]], the latter of whom would go on to win the general election.

[[2022 Massachusetts Attorney General election|In 2022]], Campbell announced her candidacy in that year’syear's election for attorney general of Massachusetts. Campbell was the first black woman to qualify for ballot access for statewide office in Massachusetts. Winning the Democratic Party’sParty's nomination with a sizable winvictory in the Democratic primary, Campbell won the general election by a large margin. In January 2023, she was sworn- in as attorney general, becoming the first black woman to hold the office and only the second black person to hold it, preceded only by [[Edward Brooke]].

Campbell and her twin brother, Andre, were born in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="City Council"/><ref name="INC1">{{cite web |last1=Jonas |first1=Michael |title=The life (and death) stories that drive Andrea Campbell |url=https://massinc.org/2019/02/04/the-codcast-the-life-and-death-stories-that-drive-andrea-campbell/ |website=MassINC |access-date=9 April 2023 |date=4 February 2019}}</ref> She has an older brother named Alvin Jr.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Becker |first1=Deborah |title=Andrea Campbell sworn in as the state's attorney general |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/01/18/campbell-ag-healey-top-law-enforcer-ceremony |website=WBUIR |access-date=12 July 2023 |language=en |date=January 18, 2023}}</ref> Soon after she was born, her birth father, [[Alvin Campbell Sr.]], was sentenced to an eight -year prison term. When Campbell was only eight-months-old, her birth mother, Roberta, was killed in a [[car accident]] while driving to visit Campbell's birth father in prison.<ref name="INC1"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=English |first1=Bella |title=Looney lawsuits leave justice up a tree |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/428835412 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Boston Globe |access-date=9 April 2023 |language=en |date=July 30, 2000}}</ref> This forced Campbell and her brothers to spend time residing in [[foster care]] and with various relatives.<ref name="INC1"/><ref name="Weathered">{{cite web |title=Massachusetts AG hopeful weathered traumatic family history |url=https://www.wcvb.com/amp/article/massachusetts-ag-hopeful-andrea-campbell-weathered-traumatic-family-history/41890156 |website=WCVB |access-date=7 April 2023 |date=7 November 2022}}</ref> Campbell refers to Lois and Ron Savage, an aunt and uncle who played a major role in her upbringing, as being her parents.<ref name="City Council"/><ref name="WGBHswearingin"/> Campbell did not know her birth father until she was eight, at which time he was released from prison.<ref name="AnnouncesNBC1"/>

Campbell was raised in the [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]] and [[South End, Boston|South End]] neighborhoods of Boston in an area that is a key [[Black people|black]] population and cultural center of the city.<ref name="Weathered"/> Over the course of her youth, Campbell attended five different schools within the [[Boston Public Schools]] system.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McNerney |first1=Kathleen |last2=Brenner |first2=Sara-Rose |title=City Council President Releases Her Own Plan To Make Schools More Equitable |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/06/24/andrea-campbell-boston-schools-equity |website=WBUR |access-date=30 July 2023 |language=en |date=June 24, 2019}}</ref> Campbell graduated from [[Boston Latin School]].<ref name="New Look" /><ref name="Weathered" /> While Campbell performed well academically, by the time she was a high school student, both of her brothers had served prison sentences.<ref name="AnnouncesNBC1" />

After graduating from UCLA School of Law, Campbell began her legal career by spending a year working as a staff attorney at EdLaw, a [[nonprofit]] in Roxbury that provided students and parents with free legal services pertaining to education rights and access to education.<ref name="BU1"/><ref name="WGBHprofile1"/><ref name="WGBHfivekey">{{cite web |last1=Wintersmith |first1=Saraya |title=Andrea Campbell: Five key things to know as she starts to campaign for Attorney General |url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2022/02/02/andrea-campbell-five-key-things-to-know-as-she-starts-to-campaign-for-attorney-general |website=wgbh.org |publisher=WGBH |access-date=8 April 2023 |language=en |date=2 February 2022}}</ref> After this, Campbell spendspent two years at the [[Proskauer Rose]] legal firm where she provided advice to companies located in Boston and [[New York City]] on matters related to employment law and labor relations.<ref name="WGBHprofile1"/><ref name="WGBHfivekey"/>

Campbell spendspent three months working as the interim general counsel for Boston's [[Metropolitan Area Planning Council]].<ref name="WGBHprofile1"/><ref name="WGBHfivekey"/> She later worked as deputy legal counsel to Governor [[Deval Patrick]].<ref name="New Look">{{cite news|title=A look at new District 4 councilor Andrea Joy Campbell|work=The Boston Globe|date=November 4, 2015|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/11/04/look-new-district-councilor-andrea-joy-campbell/b3FYrQedasq3JtMU5PtrXL/story.html|accessdateaccess-date=January 28, 2018}}</ref><ref name="BU1"/><ref name="WGBHprofile1"/><ref name="WGBHfivekey"/>

Campbell was reelected in [[2017 Boston City Council election|November 2017]], having run unopposed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Boston City Council|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/elections/2017/boston/city-council|access-date=January 28, 2018}}</ref> Campbell was one of two members of the Boston City Council not to give an endorsement in the coinciding [[2017 Boston mayoral election]]. Besides Campbell, Ayanna Pressley remained neutral (citing her husband's employment by Mayor Walsh),[[Tito Jackson (politician)|Tito Jackson]] was running against Walsh, and the other ten city councilors endorsed Walsh's reelection campaign.<ref>{{cite news |last=Irons |first=Meghan E. |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/10/03/candidate-jackson-gets-cold-shoulder-from-boston-political-establishment/1b8Trm5R0F8GYAyvRdMOiL/story.html |title=Mayoral candidate Tito Jackson gets a cold shoulder from political establishment |work=The Boston Globe |date=October 4, 2017 |access-date=October 4, 2017 }}</ref>

{{asofas of|2020|1}}, Campbell served on several council committees, including Community Preservation Act, Public Safety & Criminal Justice, Rules and Administration, and [[Committee of the whole|Whole]].<ref name="City Council">{{cite web |title=Andrea Campbell |website=Boston.gov |date=7 March 2016 |url=https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/andrea-campbell |access-date=January 8, 2020}}</ref>

Campbell delivered a [[Concession (politics)|concession]] speech on the night of the nonpartisan mayoral [[Primary election|primary]], despite extremely little of the vote having yet been officially reported.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wallack |first1=Todd |last2=Scalese |first2=Roberto |title=Wu, Essaibi George Express Confidence They'll Advance In Historic Race For Boston Mayor |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/09/14/boston-mayoral-city-council-preliminary-election |website=www.wbur.org |access-date=15 September 2021 |language=en |date=September 15, 2021}}</ref> Once the votes were fully reported, Campbell had finished third in the primary, meaning that she did not advance to the general election.<ref name="Unofficial Election Results">{{cite web |url=https://www.boston.gov/departments/elections/unofficial-election-results |title=Unofficial Election Results |website=Boston.gov |date=3 October 2016 |accessdateaccess-date=September 15, 2021}}</ref>

On April 4, 2023, Campbell spoke to the state legislature to request that the state's upcoming budget fund the creation of four new departments under the Office of the Attorney General: a Reproductive Justice Unit, an [[Old age|Elder]] Justice Unit, a [[Gun Violence]] Prevention Unit and a [[Police Accountability]] Unit.<ref name="MassLiveApril182023"/> The creation of a reproductive health unit had been a campaign promise of her'shers.<ref name="kuznitz1"/> By the start of 2024, Campbell had established the first three units,<ref>Multiple sources:

In a June 2023 filing with the [[Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities]], Campbell advised that it would be wiser to grant only a much smaller procurement of [[offshore wind power]] than Governor Healey had requested approval from the Departmentdepartment to procure. Campbell argued that the a 20-year contract to procure energy should be for a smaller amount of power than Healey was proposing, arguing that it was unwise to make an agreement for larger purchase at a time when prices for offshore wind power had increased.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mohl |first1=Bruce |title=Campbell at odds with Healey on offshore wind |url=https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/campbell-at-odds-with-healey-on-offshore-wind/ |website=CommonWealth Magazine |access-date=11 July 2023 |date=25 June 2023}}</ref>

In October 2023, months after the the [[United States Supreme Court]]'s ''[[Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard]]'' decision declared race-based college admissions [[affirmative action]] programs to be unconstitutional, Campbell and Governor Healey jointly released new statewide guidelines for colleges and university's to promote campus diversity.<ref name="Buyinzaaffirmative">{{cite web |last1=Buyinza |first1=Alvin |title=Here's Massachusetts' game plan for increasing diversity on college campuses |url=https://www.masslive.com/politics/2023/10/gov-healey-ag-campbell-announce-new-state-guidelines-for-colleges-to-foster-diversity-after-scotus-ruling.html |website=MassLive |access-date=4 April 2024 |language=en |date=23 October 2023}}</ref> The guidelines allow the institutions to consider life experiences have shaped the lives of applicants, which can include race-related life experiences. This is in keeping with new federal recommendations on the matter.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Solis |first1=Steph |title=New college admissions guidance for Massachusetts in post-affirmative action landscape |url=https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2023/10/23/college-admissions-affirmative-action-massachusetts |website=Axios |access-date=4 April 2024 |date=October 23, 2023}}</ref>

In December 2023, Campbell launched civil rights litigation against the National Socialist Club 131, a regional [[neo-Nazi]] organization. This made her the second states attorney to sue the organization, as New Hampshire Attorney GenrealGeneral [[John Formella]] had earlier that year filed a civil rights lawsuit against the group.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Katcher |first1=Will |title=Andrea Campbell is 2nd AG to target neo-Nazi group. A NH case has struggled |url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/12/in-lawsuit-andrea-campbell-is-2nd-attorney-general-to-target-neo-nazi-group.html |website=Masslive |access-date=4 April 2024 |language=en |date=8 December 2023}}</ref> The suit Campbell filed alleges that the group has committed "violent" and "coercive" actions that amount to harassment and civil rights violations, including targeted disrupting of [[drag queen story hour]] events and intimidation actions towards hotels that are allowing their facilities to be used as shelters for migrants.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wiggins |first1=Christopher |title=Massachusetts Sues Neo-Nazis After They Target Drag Events |url=https://www.advocate.com/law/massachusetts-sues-neo-nazis-drag |website=The Advocate |language=en |date=December 12, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=Nick |title=White nationalist group accused of civil rights violations in Massachusetts |url=https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4350040-white-nationalist-group-civil-rights-violations-massachusetts |website=The Hill |access-date=4 April 2024 |date=8 December 2023}}</ref>

Campbell is regarded to be a [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] member of the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Deehan |first1=Mike |title=Massachussetts [sic] Voters Opt for a Shade of Purple |url=https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2022/09/08/massachussetts-progressives-moderates-primaries |website=Axios |access-date=4 April 2024 |date=September 8, 2022}}</ref>

*{{cite web |title=With Abortion on the Ballot, Reproductive Equity Now Endorses Kim Driscoll and Andrea Campbell for Statewide Office |url=https://reproequitynow.org/press/mtbsatkiwb5r0tu7flkky2a86vmx72 |website=Reproductive Equity Now |access-date=4 April 2024 |date=2022}}*{{cite web |title=NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Reproductive Freedom Champions and Leaders for Statewide Office in Three Key States |url=https://reproductivefreedomforall.org/news/naral-endorses-three-swing-state-candidates |website=Reproductive Freedom for All.org |access-date=4 April 2024 |date=29 September 2022}}</ref> EMILY's List had previously endorsed her 2019 re-election as city councilor.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Valencia |first1=Milton J. |title=EMILY’s List endorses five female Boston City Council incumbents |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/09/19/emily-list-endorses-five-boston-incumbents/YolHXAjMFCzCFJ0KF10OEL/story.html |website=The Boston Globe |access-date=4 April 2024 |date=September 19, 2019}}</ref>

Campbell supports access to [[gender-affirming care]].<ref name="Kuznitzabortion">{{cite web |last1=Kuznitz |first1=Alison |title=Democratic Mass. AG candidates outline strategies to protect abortion access, care |url=https://www.masslive.com/politics/2022/07/abortion-after-roe-massachusetts-ag-candidates-outline-strategies-to-protect-abortion-reproductive-health-care.html |website=Masslive |access-date=4 April 2024 |language=en |date=7 July 2022}}</ref> She also supports the participation of [[transgender]] student athletes in sports on teams consistent with their preferred gender identity.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fieldman |first1=Luis |title=Mass. attorney general wants stronger protections for transgender athletes in schools |url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/05/ag-andrea-campbell-wants-stronger-protections-for-transgender-student-athletes.html |website=Masslive |access-date=4 April 2024 |language=en |date=18 May 2023}}</ref>

{{quoteblockquote|Race at the outset was used to marginalize and exclude Black residents, for example, from accessing all types of benefits, some of that perpetuated by the Supreme Court itself. This history, this context is critically important because it explains the racial disparities that exist in our health care system today, in our criminal legal system today, in our housing system and our economy and so much more.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lisinski |first1=Chris |title=Supreme Court strikes down use of race in admissions |url=https://commonwealthbeacon.org/courts/supreme-court-strikes-down-use-of-race-in-admissions |website=CommonWealth Beacon |access-date=4 April 2024 |date=30 June 2023}}</ref>}}

After the case, Campbell partnered with Governor Healey to create new state guidelines for colleges and university's promotion of diversity.<ref name="Buyinzaaffirmative"/>

Campbell was born in Boston. Her mother and father died when she was very young; she refers to an aunt and uncle as her parents.<ref name="City Council"/> By the time Campbell was a high school student, both of Campbell's brothers had served prison sentences.<ref name="AnnouncesNBC1"/> When she was 29, her twin brother, who suffered from [[scleroderma]], died while in state custody awaiting trial.<ref name="City Council"/> Her other brother, Alvin, is an accused serial rapist currently awaiting trial on nine sexual assault charges.<ref>{{Cite web|first=John R. |last=Ellement|date=April 1, 2021|title=Video of additional victim of alleged serial rapist discovered in cloud storage, Suffolk DA says |work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/04/01/metro/video-9th-victim-alleged-serial-rapist-discovered-cloud-storage-suffolk-da-says/|access-date=2021-08-04|language=en-US}}</ref> Campbell, in 2022, stated that she had not visited her brother Alvin since he was arrested, remarking, "I view my older brother's charges and what is happening there as just another brother lost, which is sad and tragic for me. So now I have two brothers who are lost."<ref name="Weathered"/>

Campbell has often discussed traumas such as the death of her mother, childhood absence of her father, and her experience in foster care, as well as her twin brother's life story.<ref name="WCVB7nov"/> Campbell once remarked to a reporter from ''[[The Associated Press]]'', {{QuoteBlockquote|One thing I do frequently is share my story because I think there are so many who carry their story with a sense of shame and don’t want to talk about it, including the criminal aspects of my family. But there is no shame in one sharing their story. There is power in it.<ref name="WCVB7nov"/>}}

|candidate = [[Shannon Liss-Riordan]]

*[https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/06/04/george-floyd-racial-equity-trainingandrea-campbell "We Can't Make Sweeping Structural Change If Our Leaders Don't Understand Racial Equity"], WBUR, June 4, 2020, by

* {{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/12/metro/andrea-campbell-gained-success-despite-early-tragedies-mayor-she-wants-give-all-bostonians-same-opportunities-that-helped-her/ |title=Andrea Campbell gained success despite early tragedies. As mayor, she wants to give all Bostonians the same opportunities that helped her |first=Stephanie |last=Ebbert |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |url-access=limited |date=July 12, 2021 |accessdateaccess-date=July 19, 2021}}