This should be interesting. Gerry Leone will not seek another term as Middlesex DA.
Gerry made some thoughtful comments. I find it refreshing that he wants to give people enough time to mount an appropriate campaign.
“However, unlike my predecessor Middlesex District Attorneys, I am not running for another elective office, and in fact, I intend to leave Government service when I leave this office. I do not now know what I will do when I leave. But, I do know that anyone who is interested in competing to succeed me needs time to compete. I want that field of potential successors to be as rich and deep as the job deserves. And, therefore, I am expressing my intentions publicly now.”
I’m Worcester County myself, but it will be interesting to see. Is there any buzz about who’s in and who’s out?
I had the pleasure of meeting this man at a campaign event and came away quite impressed, awfully sad to see him leave electoral politics and government service so suddenly. I hope it is for the right reasons. I’d much rather him as our AG than the current occupant to be honest. Self-made, worked his way through Harvard, and made protecting worker families a key part of his campaign.
As for replacements, former Sen. Barrios ran hard for the job last time around in the primary before dropping out to take his current position in the private sector. He stayed fairly active with Mass Equality and the Clinton campaign and might have some campaign cash left over. Mike Sullivan was also interested at one point but I am sure he will stay safely on his side of the County building. Joe Curtatone has made quite the name for himself and is qualified for the job, not sure if its a big enough step up for him to pursue. I honestly think State Senator Will Brownsberger would also do a fantastic job, as he has had experience as a prosecutor and expressed frustration with the Legislature in the past.
Otherwise like the last few Middlezex DA’s it will likely be an insider coming forward.
He just won a full term to the Senate. My guess is that he doesn’t jump ship to DA.
I believe he will stay put, it would be great for him to get a leadership post or shoot for statewide down the line though. He does great work. North Cambridge got moved into Sen. Jehlen’s district, she’s awesome too, but I’ll miss seeing Will canvass our neighborhood and hold meetings locally.
Curtatone does a lot more good as mayor than he could (or anyone really does) as DA. I think Curtatone should be looking at something like Lt. Gov. perhaps.
I was just floating the name since he has county wide recognition, a law degree, and was able to use his base to get his sister in as Registrar of Deeds so he obviously has pull. Just an amazing Mayor, very policy oriented and incredibly approachable. He also seems to love his current job and does a great job at that too. My guess is if he feels Capuano is staying put he might shoot for LG or go straight for Gov. The Tim Murray path seems like a smart bet though.
That 2006 DA race was fun to cover before everyone but Leone dropped out. Jarrett Barrios was a candidate for a while, as were Mike Festa and Peter Koutoujian. Of those only Koutoujian is still an elected official and now that he’s won a full term as Sheriff it seems unlikely he’ll try for DA. My frozen-in-amber blog had Rep. David Linsky & Sen. Cynthia Creem also interested in the spot. Linksy is rumored to be eyeing Markey’s seat in Congress should he end up in the Senate, maybe DA would be a consolation prize.
Out of that list I could see Festa or Barrios giving it another guy. My gut tells me the other County officials stay put, so it will either be an insider at the DAs office or a leg official. Plenty of time to figure it out.
…it is a heck more interesting job, why not take a run for it, he just got elected to a full six year term and he’ll have 4 years to recover IF he loses.
No? He is not better positioned for a statewide office form that perch. I’d say as chief law enforcement official for the most populous county in the state he still can make the leap to AG, SoC, or LG down the line. Though now that you mention it he could challenge Coakley or Galvin and still keep his seat…