The Worcester T&G reports that Daniel J. Shea, the Houston-based lawyer who has been representing Leominster mom Mary Jean in her fight with the State Police over the baby-cam video, is moving to Worcester to run for district attorney. Read the article here (sub. req.) or here.
He will face Joseph D. Early Jr. in the Democratic primary to succeed 30-year incumbent John J. Conte.
In the article Richard Nangle reports:
Through his work representing local victims of priest sexual abuse, Mr. Shea showed himself to be both dogged and glib, a style that placed him in sharp contrast to Mr. Conte, who rarely makes public appearances or statements. Mr. Shea accused Mr. Conte of working in tandem with the Catholic Diocese of Worcester to keep the local scandal under wraps…
As for the new candidate’s biography, Nangle reports:
While Mr. Shea, 62, has lived in Houston for many years, he has local roots. Both his grandfather and father were born in Worcester. He grew up in Providence, attending Boston University and Rhode Island College after serving on a nuclear submarine in the Navy during the Vietnam era and rising to the rank of petty officer 1st class. He entered Pope John Seminary in Weston in 1969 and completed his studies at Louvain, an American Catholic seminary in Belgium. He studied for a semester at Boston College before serving as a deacon in Providence for one year and then deciding against joining the priesthood.
It will be interesting to see whether Shea, an outsider/newcomer, will be able to turn his role in defending victims in the clergy abuse scandals into a winning strategy against Early, whose name is well known in Worcester politics.
is how fast he can get his signatures and come up with his money. I read he plans to go $4$ with JEjr, thats funny.
shouldn’t be such a big hurdle. As for money, my understanding is (and I don’t have the details just now) is that he recently won a big monetary settlement for a client in Texas (where those kinds of settlements are provided for in the law). My understanding is that it was against the Catholic Church regarding a priest that had been shuffled off from Worcester. BTW, I am not endorsing Shea or Early at this stage. I want to hear what each has to say on the key issues. But from what I understand, money should not be a big stumbling block for Shea. The question for him, I think, is whether he can turn public anger over the clergy sex abuse scandals into votes. The fact that he has studied theology and obviously cares about the church puts him in an interesting position to make arguments that might just resonate. It’s too early to tell. Both candidates seem to be saying the right things about community policing and getting at root causes of crime. It should be a fascinating race to follow.