Massachusetts State House
HEALEY MAKES HISTORY
TRAVEL & CULTURE MAGAZINE
FALL/WINTER 2022-'23
Congratulations to Maura Healey, newly elected governor of Massachusetts, who won convincingly on November 8 with 63% of the votes. On election night, she received a congratulatory call from US President Joe Biden, according to Politico.
Healey is making history as the first woman to win election as Massachusetts governor and also the first openly-gay governor. She is being sworn in as the 73rd governor of the Commonwealth on Thursday, January 5, 2023, along with Kim Driscoll, the new lieutenant governor.
The state’s Attorney General since 2014, Healey gained a national profile through her strong positions on gun violence, criminal justice reform and prescription drug abuse. As the nation’s first openly-gay AG, Healey was involved in the state’s challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which had refused to recognize same-sex marriage. She created an Advisory Council on New Americans and is a leading advocate of immigrant rights.
The oldest of five children in a close-knit Irish-American family, Healey grew up in New Hampshire and has family roots in Newburyport. A gifted athlete and scholar, Healey graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1992 and was co-captain of Harvard’s women’s basketball team. After college she played professional basketball in Europe for several years.
She traces her Irish ancestry on her mother’s side to Ballinasloe, County Galway; her maternal great-grandmother Katherine Tracy emigrated to America at age 15 in 1850. On the paternal side, her father’s family roots are in Kilgarvan, County Kerry and Macroom, County Cork.
Maura is proud of her Irish heritage and credits her success to the traditions imparted to her by her family. "It was their principles and their values I was raised with, and I learned a lot growing up about taking care of family, taking care of those who need an advocate, those who need help,” she said.
Healey has had a great working relationship with Governor Charlie Baker, the popular Republican governor who declined to run for a third term.