In AG debate, Dems play their hands
By 
SHANNON LISS-RIORDAN is the only practicing lawyer who has won settlements for working people. Andrea Campbell brings a “lived experience” to the issues that her rivals don’t and now has the backing of outgoing AG and gubernatorial front-runner Maura Healey. Quentin Palfrey is the endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party and stands on the progressive side of a list of issues that separate him from Campbell.
If you weren’t familiar with those top-line pitches from the three Democrats vying for attorney general, you knew it by the end of a fast-paced 25-minute debate Monday night on GBH. Each candidate came with a message, and seemed primed with the knowledge that repetition is often key to getting something to sink in with voters.
Liss-Riordan, who has made a name as a lawyer winning huge class-action settlements for workers in the gig economy and other low-wage sectors, emphasized that the office needs a leader who has been in the legal trenches, something she said neither of her rivals can claim.
“This is a very important job, leading hundreds of lawyers. It requires a seasoned attorney,” she said. “I have spent more than 20 years fighting and winning for working people.” When she pointed out that some states even require an attorney general to have 10 years of experience practicing law, something that Liss-Riordan said would leave her alone in the Democratic race if it were true of Massachusetts, Palfrey had heard enough.
He and Campbell also both pounced on the millions of dollars Liss-Riordan has reaped from litigation, saying a judge in one case ordered her to reduce her fees – a claim Liss-Riordan disputed.
Campbell, as she did in her Boston mayoral race last year, cited her twin brother’s death as a pretrial detainee in state custody as a driving factor behind her quest to reform the criminal justice system and part of the “lived experience” that puts her closer than her rivals to the issues the office deals with.
That said, when asked about the recent debate over extending the charges for which defendants could be held without bail based on their “dangerousness,” Campbell offered a more balanced take than Palfrey or Liss-Riordan, who both said they opposed Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal. “You need to couple both conversations,” she said of the need for bail reform and to “keep people who are indeed dangerous from harming people.”
Palfrey sought to distinguish himself from Campbell on everything from charter schools to safe injection sites, pointing to her support for the former and opposition to the latter as issues where there are clear differences in the race. He also tagged her for support an independent super PAC provided to her mayoral run. That group has not been active in the AG’s race, but Campbell has been supported by a super PAC affiliated with the Environmental League of Massachusetts.
With five weeks to go until the September 6 Democratic primary, the candidates are trying to draw attention to a race where lots of voters have not made up their minds. In a late June poll by the University of Massachusetts and WCVB-TV, 65 percent of Democratic primary voters said they were undecided in the AG’s race. Of those with a preference, Campbell led with 17 percent, followed by Liss-Riordan with 9 percent, and Palfrey with 8 percent.
“Down ballot races are very hard for voters to decide,” Raymond La Raja, a UMass political science professor and associate director of the poll, said at the time. “This is where endorsements from well-known politicians in the weeks leading up to the election could make a big difference.”
Which explains why Campbell made sure to mention several times Healey’s endorsement of her candidacy, a nod the outgoing AG announced just hours before the debate.
FROM COMMONWEALTH
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OPINION
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FROM AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Lawmakers send Gov. Baker a bill prohibiting first responders from taking and transmitting photographs outside of their official duties and without consent. The bill is named for Amanda Plasse, a Chicopee murder victim, after two police officers took photographs of her body with their personal phones and shared them. (MassLive)
MassLive looks at what’s next now that lawmakers passed a bill legalizing sports betting. The president of the Encore casino in Everett, where millions of dollars will now be wagered on games, said she “cannot be more grateful to the Legislature.” (Boston Globe)
The cannabis reform passed by the Legislature includes a provision to study the use of medical marijuana in public school students. (Boston Herald)
Business leaders expressed frustration at the Legislature’s failure to pass a $4 billion economic development bill. (Boston Globe)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
A national protest group that opposes male circumcision, the Bloodstained Men, is planning protests in New Bedford and Fall River. (Herald News)
Town leaders in Longmeadow, Hampden, and Monson try to recoup $7.5 million citing “fraudulent” actions by the Hampden County regional retirement board. (MassLive)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
A US drone strike in Kabul killed Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over as leader of Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was killed and who was a key planner of the 9/11 attacks. (New York Times)
ELECTIONS
Maura Healey, the Democratic candidate for governor, endorses Andrea Campbell for attorney general and discusses the MBTA and the state’s housing crisis. (GBH)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
The area around the JFK/UMass Station is going through an economic transformation. (Dorchester Reporter)
A network of indoor cannabis farms is planned for what had been the anchor stores at the Berkshire Mall. (Berkshire Eagle)
ARTS/CULTURE
Nikki Greene of Wellesley College recounts the staggering cost of unpaid internships at arts institutions. (WBUR)
Beyonce is dropping the words “spaz” and “spazzin” from her latest release after complaints from disability rights advocates. (New York Times)
New Bedford gets a grant to create a new Abolition Row Park, with a statue of civil rights leader Frederick Douglass. (Standard-Times)
TRANSPORTATION
