Healey and Driscoll Back Heroux Against Hodgson For Bristol Sheriff

In a Friday evening appearance on WBSM's SouthCoast Tonight to clear up a mishandled debate challenge by his campaign, Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux also revealed that he received a major endorsement in his bid to unseat Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson.

Attorney General Maura Healey and Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, the Democratic nominees for Massachusetts governor and lieutenant governor respectively, have put their support behind Heroux against the longtime Republican incumbent Sheriff Hodgson.

Healey, during her time as attorney general, has publicly clashed with Hodgson over his administration of the correctional facilities in Bristol County. Most notably, Healey's office issued a scathing report on an incident that occurred on May 1, 2020, in the Bristol County Sheriff's ICE Detention Center. The report alleged that the sheriff and his office used excessive force and violated the detainees' human rights.

This report by Healey's office was followed by the Biden administration cancelling the sheriff's agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, the closure of the ICE Detention Facility, and a lawsuit filed against him and his office by the detainees involved in the May 1st, 2020 incident.

Hodgson has repeatedly called Healey's investigation and report a "politically motivated stunt" and has accused Healey of being dishonest in her investigatory effort,  specifically alleging that he was purposefully not interviewed by her office during the course of her investigation into the incident. He also said the lawsuit filed against him by the detainees was "frivolous" and confidently assured, "We will prevail."

With the endorsement of Healey for Heroux, and Hodgson's endorsement from Gov. Charlie Baker, both the outgoing and expected-to-be incoming occupant of the corner office on Beacon Hill have thrown their hat into the ring in what is shaping up to be one of the most watched elections in the Commonwealth.

Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson and Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux are scheduled to debate on WBSM's SouthCoast Tonight Wednesday, Oct. 19, 7 to 9 p.m. The debate will be moderated by WBSM's Chris McCarthy and Marcus Ferro. The debate can be heard on 1420AM, 99.5FM, wbsm.com and the WBSM app.