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Mayor Wu endorses City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo for Suffolk County district attorney
"This is a campaign about possibility, this is a campaign about justice, this is a campaign about the people."
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is officially endorsing City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo in the race for the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, she announced Saturday.
Arroyo is up against current Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden in the Democratic primary this September. Arroyo is a second-term councilor who has teamed up with Wu in the past. Both Arroyo and his father Felix, Suffolk County Register of Probate, endorsed Wu during her mayoral campaign last fall.
During her press conference, Wu praised Arroyo’s leadership of the council’s Government Operations committee and his service as a former public defender, The Boston Globe reported.
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“In this moment of tremendous challenge, as we are still trying to pick up the pieces from the pandemic, let us use those pieces to reimagine something bolder, brighter, more equitable, more prosperous for all of us,” Wu said. “This is a campaign about possibility, this is a campaign about justice, this is a campaign about the people.”
Hayden was chosen by Governor Charlie Baker to finish the term of former Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins. Late last year, Rollins was narrowly confirmed by the US Senate as the new US Attorney for Massachusetts. She assumed office in January.
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Adam Webster, a spokesperson for Hayden’s campaign, said Arroyo is underqualified for the job, according to the Globe.
“If Mayor Wu believes a novice attorney with zero public safety experience should be the top law enforcement officer in the county, that’s her choice. We’re confident voters will disagree,” Webster said in a statement.
Arroyo has also been endorsed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, former Boston Mayor Kim Janey, and State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz.
A native of Hyde Park, Arroyo was elected City Councilor for District 5 in 2019. In his current race, Arroyo’s platform centers on accountability, addressing class and racial disparities, and opposing mass incarceration, according to his website. He favors ending qualified immunity, arguing that the doctrine “has protected the very people charged with upholding and enforcing the law from any consequence for breaking it.”
Arroyo also supports the continuation of Rachael Rollins’s Do Not Charge list, which creates a rebuttable presumption that certain listed offenses will not be charged. Instead of prosecuting people for most non-violent offenses, officials should instead provide them with supportive services and offer restorative justice options like community service.
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Arroyo said he would continue Rollins’ work if elected, the Globe reported.
“We have made more progress in three years than we have ever made in this district attorney’s office on the issues of making sure people get the services and resources that they need,” Arroyo said.
I am not willing to allow us to lose a single step of progress that we have made,” Arroyo added.
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