Incumbent District Attorney Kevin Hayden will go on to serve a second elected term for Suffolk County, having won the democratic primary against challengers Rachael Rollins and Linda Champion.

“I’m humbled and overwhelmed by all of this,” Hayden, endorsed by Mayor Michelle Wu, said to a crowd of supporters in Brighton on election night.

Having received roughly 49% of votes in the primary and facing no republican challenger for the general election, Hayden will continue representing Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. He ran on a campaign to reduce recidivism by bolstering support for those re-entering the work force and those facing mental health and substance use disorders.

In a much closer race in bordering Norfolk County, Djuna Perkins has won the Democratic primary election for district attorney over six other candidates, securing about 29% of the vote, with heaviest support in Brookline. The county’s police and district attorney’s office, which also represents Newton, Cambridge, and Dedham, has been criticized for mishandling investigations and cases including those of Sandra Birchmore and Karen Read.

“I believe the key to our successful campaign rested on two things: our message of reform, integrity and justice combined with relevant experience resonated with voters; and we built relationships with thousands of voters all over the county,” Djuna Perkins told the Banner. She will now face independent Joe Pagliarulo, former state prosecutor, in the general election.

Norfolk challenger and federal prosecutor Adam Deitch, endorsed by both the Birchmore and Read families, secured 26% of votes according to the Associated Press.

As district attorneys, the chief law enforcement officers will decide what cases, juvenile proceedings or recidivism policies are pursued. They will also impact sentencing and hold police accountable for misconduct, illegal searches, or coerced confessions.

Hayden was first appointed by former republican governor Charlie Baker, when former Suffolk DA and challenger Rollins was named U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. He was previously fined $5,000 by the State Ethics Commission for violating conflict of interest law. His office leaked sealed, alleged juvenile sexual assault investigations involving Ricardo Arroyo, his opponent in the 2022 DA race - the leak was not investigated or stopped, which could have given Hayden an advantage in the 2022 election, the commission found.

This year, he became the first DA in three decades to charge a Boston police officer for an on-duty killing.

His decision to charge Nicholas O’Malley with manslaughter for the killing of Stephenson King during an alleged carjacking cost him the support of the Boston Police Patrolmen, who endorsed Champion.

However, Hayden has refused community calls to release related body camera footage, citing a desire to ensure a fair trial. In August, Lawyers for Civil Rights sued the DA’s office and police department to try to force release of the footage.

Hayden’s office and the Boston Police Department are currently being sued by Lawyers for Civil Rights to release the footage.

The decision to sue, said senior attorney Victoria Miranda, was not political, but rather one to protect the rights of the public, ensuring transparency and residents’ ability “to trust the law enforcement that controls their areas and their home.”

There have already been several instances of high profile officer shootings where body camera footage was released and fair trials were secured, she said.

“Allowing the public to have access to a video shouldn’t interfere with that,” she added, alluding to the voir dire process that would ensure jurors are impartial.

“Lawyers for Civil Rights is going to continue to fight for the people. We’re going to continue to make sure that the police are accountable, that our district attorneys are accountable, and that we have the access that is guaranteed to us by law,” Miranda said.

Both Hayden and Perkins support bolstering mental health training for their staff and police. Perkins in particular advocated for training on child development, neurodivergence, and the impact of trauma on the brain, “so that these factors will be considered in making charging decisions and sentencing recommendations and in all interactions with the public.”

In her first term as Norfolk DA, Perkins said she will prioritize an Emerging Adults court, healthy relationship programming. She will also establish a high-risk domestic violence team, and pointed to her life experience when asked what felt ignored by prior coverage of her campaign.

Her mother died by suicide when she was just two weeks old, facing severe postpartum depression. Four months later, her father was stabbed in a riot. “I have spent my professional life fighting for those without a voice because I know what injustice feels like,” she said, adding that her childhood was marked by poverty and chaos as her relatives navigated incarceration, substance use and mental health disorders.

“...Often those who were supposed to take care of me were causing the most harm. I know that we are not all dealt the same deck of cards at birth, and that life can be very hard no matter how hard we try. My life experience will bring an important perspective to the work of District Attorney.”