This year’s Democratic primary race for Suffolk County District Attorney is shaping up to be a bruising battle between three Black candidates with tangled histories.
The incumbent, Kevin Hayden, was appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker as the county’s chief prosecutor in 2022 after Rachel Rollins, the first Black woman to hold the job, resigned to become U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts. Rollins in 2023 left the federal post after being accused of several ethical violations, including leaking information to the press about Hayden during his bitter but successful DA campaign against Rollins ally Ricardo Arroyo, then a progressive Boston City Councilor. Rollins is now running to reclaim her old job. Hayden, the second Black man to lead the office, has faced his own ethical dilemma, paying a $5,000 fine for a conflict-of-interest charge after releasing information and a press release just before the 2022 primary about allegations of sexual misconduct by Arroyo. The third candidate in the primary, Linda Champion, unsuccessfully ran for D.A. in 2018 and was appointed by Hayden to his leadership team. She left the office for private practice and will now be on the ballot facing one candidate she already lost to and another she used to work for.
Kevin Hayden, running for his second full term, oversees the state’s busiest county prosecutor’s office, which serves Boston, Chelsea, Winthrop and Revere. Four years ago, he disagreed with Arroyo’s pledge to carry on Rollins’ policies to not prosecute non-violent misdemeanors like shoplifting, trespassing and drug possession – earning in the process the support of politically powerful police unions. That support, however, has all but vanished in the wake of his decision to seek manslaughter charges against a white Boston police officer who fatally shot a Black carjacking suspect accused of using the vehicle to run over a colleague. Hayden’s decision to prosecute Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley for shooting Stephenson King during the deadly confrontation in March has sparked a Thin Blue Line political backlash. Linda Champion announced her candidacy in the wake of the Boston Police Patrolman’s Association publicly calling for challengers to enter the primary against Hayden. Hayden has also taken criticism from advocates for police transparency after refusing to release body-cam footage that would shed more light on what happened at the scene of the fatal conflict.
Hayden, the son of the late Black historian and civil rights activist Robert Hayden, showed courage and respect for his family history in bucking the long tradition of giving Boston cops a pass when it comes to shooting Black men under questionable circumstances. His decision comes at a time when many in our country want to regress to an era when Black civil rights were a fiction and law enforcement could act with impunity against African Americans.
The loss of police support for Hayden in his re-election campaign has left a vacuum on the right for Linda Champion to fill in her quest for the DA’s office.
As a long-time staffer in the DA’s office, going back to service before Hayden’s appointment, she clearly has the experience to be a serious challenger. It’s also going to be hard for Hayden to paint Champion as an unqualified candidate based on his support of her and acknowledgment of her legal skills in the past.
But it is Rollins who poses the greatest threat to Hayden. Never afraid of combat, she stood up to fierce criticism from conservatives for her community-first approach to prosecution. She implemented anti-recidivism, social support and education programs instead of incarceration for low-level offenses. Her actions angered many on the right who tried to paint her as soft on crime. Rollins’ approach was controversial but crime rates dropped in Boston during her tenure, suggesting there was something to her efforts to shut down the prison pipeline.
Rollins’ nomination as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts by President Biden drew criticism, leading to a five-month delay before her appointment and requiring two tie-breaking votes by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Senate to confirm her. She operated under greater scrutiny than most in her job and ultimately resigned after in engaging in prohibited partisan politicking and was accused of misleading investigators. It will be up to Democratic primary voters in Suffolk County – who trend liberal – to decide whether Rollins’ admitted missteps outweigh her efforts to dismantle systems of systemic injustice for people of color in the criminal courts.
All three candidates have long records of public service. The voting public will hopefully have many opportunities to hear their differing takes on their approach to the job between now and the Sept. 1 primary election. Seeing three very qualified candidates vying to become the next Suffolk County District Attorney is a win for democracy. It’s especially encouraging to see such a vigorous race for a position that affects our Black community so profoundly.
Ronald Mitchell
Editor and Publisher, Bay State Banner
