Keller @ Large: Will Andrea Campbell be able to keep her promises as Attorney General?
BOSTON - Attorney General Andrea Campbell made history Wednesday as she was sworn in as the first black woman to be elected to that - or any - statewide office in Massachusetts.
Campbell is a former Boston City councilor and mayoral candidate known for her advocacy of policing reform. But she has a tough road ahead in fulfilling that and other promises.
As inspirational life stories go it's hard to top the saga of Campbell, overcoming a chaotic family history to become the state's top law enforcement officer.
"At this moment in our political history, we have to stand together," she said in her inaugural address Wednesday.
Her speech was uplifting, and Campbell will need every bit of goodwill to deliver on her past political promises, like this one from 2020: "We have folks mobilizing across the entire city of Boston in every neighborhood to say 'Yes, we need policing reform. Yes, let's defund, let's reallocate resources."
And this, from 2021: "Elected officials are gonna close the racial wealth gap, move people out of poverty, make it less expensive to live in the city of Boston, root out the racial inequities in our policing model and so much more, and many of these promises have not been kept."
Keeping them now won't be easy. Boston police unions clashed bitterly with Campbell over many of her reform ideas. And progress on economic inequality will require support on Beacon Hill, where some may not appreciate this emphasis in her speech: "We can take on corruption, we can hold those who misuse positions of power or, frankly, your money....We can hold them accountable for all of those actions."
After the inauguration, Gov. Maura Healey was asked if she had any advice for her successor in the AG's office. "Just to be Andrea," she said.
As a veteran of rough-and-tumble Boston city elections, Campbell has as much or more political savvy as any statewide officeholder. With new police reform rules already in place and an aggressive U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins on the lookout for corruption, she has breathing room to build the political support she'll need to get stuff done.
And given her life story, any wagering against her success will most likely prove to be a sucker bet.
