Statehouse Spotlight: Leadership at DNC in Chicago

BOSTON (WWLP) – The state’s highest officials spent the week in the Windy City at the Democratic National Convention, where Massachusetts cast all 116 delegate votes to make Vice President Kamala Harris their party’s presidential nominee.

At the convention, Massachusetts women in politics took center stage with Thursday night speeches from Governor Maura Healey and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. Governor Healey, who was Massachusetts’ Attorney General while Harris was the Attorney General of California, delivered a speech focused on the contrast between former President Donald Trump’s criminal record and Harris’ record as a prosecutor.

Senator Warren delivered a speech focused on how Harris plans to help working-class families after a minute-and-a-half long standing ovation. “Groceries, gas, housing, health care, taxes, abortion,” said Warren. “We need to make life more affordable for working people.”

Back on Beacon Hill, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio held a news conference detailing a draft executive order her office wrote, which is meant to ban the use of taxpayer money to fund state government non-disclosure-agreements.

“How many more years are we going to allow victims of harassment, discrimination, and abuse to be silenced by the state government?” said DiZoglio at the news conference.

While the Governor was in Chicago, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll served as acting governor before leaving for the convention on Tuesday afternoon. Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin returned from the DNC to serve as acting governor on Tuesday. Both Healey and Driscoll are scheduled to fly home from Chicago on Friday afternoon to resume their roles in state government.

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