Massachusetts Attorney General Candidate Palfrey Says Experience Sets Him Apart

With two-term Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey setting her sights on the governor's office, the race to become the Commonwealth's top lawyer is in full swing with candidates declaring on both sides of the aisle.

One of the candidates in the Democratic primary, Quentin Palfrey, joined me on-air over the weekend to talk about why he's running for Massachusetts Attorney General and what sets him apart from the other candidates in the race.

Palfrey worked in the MA Attorney General's Office as the first Chief of the Healthcare Division while Massachusetts was implementing the healthcare reform law, then went on to serve in the Obama Administration as Senior Advisor for Jobs and Competitiveness. He was the 2018 Democratic nominee for Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor and recently served as the Acting General Counsel of Commerce in the Biden Administration.

Palfrey said this extensive experience is what distinguishes him from the other candidates in the race.

"If you look at typically the kind of experience that people bring to the Attorney General's Office, we've often had senior government lawyers either in the District Attorney's Office or the AG Office," Palfrey said. "So as a former leader in the AG's Office, I've seen firsthand how the office works and I think I can use that effectively. I also led a team of several hundred lawyers in the Biden Administration which gave me some real insight into how to lead an office like the AG office and I think that distinguishes me from the other candidates in this race."

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Palfrey also said his experience in consumer protection, one of the primary areas of focus for the attorney general, is also a point of distinction for him as a candidate. He cited key victories against predatory health insurance companies while he worked as Chief of the Healthcare Division and a multi-state investigation he led that eventually secured $175 million recovery against major insurance companies.

Having worked with Maura Healey when she Chief of the Civil Rights Division, Palfrey had high praise for his former colleague's performance over her two terms in the Attorney General's Office.

"I think she's used the office very effectively to fight back against the corrupt and immoral Trump Administration," lauded Palfrey. "I think that she's done a really good job of using multi-state actions to bring important consumer protections and environmental protection cases. I think she's been a great AG, so I think her vision for using the office as the 'People's Lawyer' is exactly the right way to go."

Palfrey added, however, that with Trump out of office there is now a greater opportunity for the Attorney General's Office to refocus more of its resources in the Commonwealth. With President Biden now in office, Palfrey believes the Attorney General's Office can expand its influence in consumer protection for Commonwealth residents and also serve in a "watch dog role" to bring more oversight and transparency in state and municipal government.

We also discussed his opposition to the expansion to charter schools as well as how he will work to dismantle systems of racial inequity in the Commonwealth, and what can be done to combat the anti-LGBTQ policies that conservatives are working to implement in public schools.

You can listen to the full conversation here: