Andrea Campbell

Andrea Campbell
Born	Andrea Joy Campbell
Birthplace	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Lawyer, politician
Title	45th Attorney General of Massachusetts
Known for	45th Attorney General of Massachusetts; first Black woman elected to statewide office in Massachusetts
Education	Princeton University (BA) University of California, Los Angeles (JD)
Spouse(s)	Matthew Scheier
Children	2

Andrea Joy Campbell was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and now serves as the 45th Attorney General of Massachusetts, a position she's held since January 2023. She's a Democrat and a lawyer. Before that, she spent six years on the Boston City Council representing the 4th District, from 2016 to 2022. She even led the council as president from 2018 to 2020. When she ran for mayor in 2021, she came in third in the preliminary election and didn't advance. Her 2022 campaign for attorney general proved far more successful. She made history by becoming the first Black woman to qualify for statewide ballot access in Massachusetts, then became the first Black woman to serve as the state's attorney general. Only Edward Brooke, who held the position from 1963 to 1967, preceded her as a Black person in that office. Since taking office, Campbell has focused on housing compliance, consumer protection, and government oversight, which has involved some major legal confrontations with other state officials.

Early Life

Campbell was born and raised in Boston. Her childhood wasn't easy. She grew up in a family deeply affected by the criminal justice system and lost close family members while still young. Her twin brother, Andre, died while under the care of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services. That tragedy fundamentally changed how she sees government accountability and the institutions meant to protect vulnerable people.

But she found her way forward. Academic achievement and professional success became her path despite the hardships. She's talked about how education and mentoring made all the difference. Those opportunities pushed her toward public service. Her experiences in Boston shaped what she'd later fight for as a politician: criminal justice reform, better youth services, and real opportunity for people in underserved neighborhoods.

Dorchester and Mattapan are where she grew up. Both neighborhoods have struggled with poverty, crime, and decades of neglect. Campbell's story of rising above these challenges became central to how she presented herself politically. It shaped her public identity in important ways.

Education

She went to Princeton University for her undergraduate degree, earning a Bachelor of Arts. Then she headed to the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, where she got her Juris Doctor. Her legal training prepared her for work in both private practice and the public sector before she jumped into electoral politics. She held legal and policy positions earlier in her career, drawing on what she'd learned at both schools.

Career

Boston City Council (2016–2022)

Campbell won a Boston City Council seat in November 2015, taking over the 4th District that covers Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roslindale. She beat Charles Yancey, who'd been on the council for more than 30 years. It felt like a changing of the guard in Boston politics. She took office on January 4, 2016, replacing Yancey.

She got re-elected in 2017. Her colleagues then picked her to be council president in December 2017, taking over from Michelle Wu. She held that role from January 2018 until January 2020, when Kim Janey succeeded her.

Education, public safety, and government transparency dominated her council work. She pushed hard to strengthen the Boston Inspector General's office, pressing for a council vote even when then-Mayor Marty Walsh opposed it. By 2021, police reform was everywhere in the news. The Boston City Council passed an ordinance that limited the Boston Police Department's access to tear gas, rubber bullets, and other crowd-control weapons. Campbell backed the measure, and Acting Mayor Kim Janey signed it.

2021 Mayoral Campaign

She announced her run for mayor in September 2020, jumping in early before the field got crowded. The race became crowded fast. Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, both city councilors, also ran. Acting Mayor Kim Janey got in the race too, after Marty Walsh moved to the federal government as United States Secretary of Labor under Joe Biden.

Her campaign centered on equity, opportunity, and accountability. She drew on her own story of rising above tough circumstances in Boston's neighborhoods to argue the city needed a leader who actually knew what those struggles looked like. The Boston Globe editorial board backed her, citing her policy ideas and her personal history.

She went after Acting Mayor Janey hard, calling out what she saw as failures and inaction on major city crises. The Delta variant threw everything into question too, making public health a hot topic among all the candidates. Charter schools also became a campaign flashpoint. Attack ads resurfaced her past stances on the issue, turning it into a real political weapon in the race.

She finished third in the September 2021 nonpartisan preliminary election, behind Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, which knocked her out of the race. Wu won the general election in November.

Attorney General of Massachusetts (2023–present)

After leaving the City Council in January 2022, Campbell announced she was running for Attorney General of Massachusetts in 2022. The office opened up when Maura Healey, the sitting attorney general, ran for governor and won.

Her campaign made history. She was the first Black woman to get on the ballot for any statewide office in Massachusetts. She won the Democratic primary by a huge margin. In the November 2022 general election, she won big again, and she was sworn in on January 18, 2023, as the 45th Attorney General of Massachusetts. That made her the first Black woman to hold the attorney general job in Massachusetts and only the second Black person ever, after Edward Brooke, who served from 1963 to 1967.

Housing Enforcement

Campbell's office has gone after cities and towns for breaking state housing laws. In January 2026, she sued nine Massachusetts communities for not following the MBTA Communities Act, a 2021 law that requires towns served by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to allow multifamily housing near transit stations. It was a major show of the attorney general's power to force local compliance with state zoning rules.

DiZoglio Audit Dispute

Things got messy in February 2026. Campbell clashed with Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio. DiZoglio had filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Judicial Court seeking the power to audit the state legislature. Campbell's office tried to kill the lawsuit, arguing that the attorney general alone controls who can bring cases directly to the state's highest court. She moved to intervene as a defendant, saying DiZoglio had skipped the proper channels by going straight to the Supreme Judicial Court without permission from the attorney general's office.

The whole thing raised real questions about power-sharing among Massachusetts officials and how much authority the auditor actually has to look into the legislature.

Social Media and Public Engagement

In February 2026, Campbell announced she was leaving X, formerly Twitter, saying the platform "promotes hate, disinformation, and the exploitation of our kids." It got attention across Massachusetts politics and in the local media.

2026 Re-election

It looks like Campbell will run for re-election as attorney general in 2026. Republicans seem interested in putting up a challenger against her.

Personal Life

She's married to Matthew Scheier. They have two children. The death of her twin brother Andre while in state custody shaped her entire approach to public service and government accountability. She's spoken about it publicly many times. Her family's broader experiences with the criminal justice system also drove her career choices.

She lives in Boston.

Recognition

What Campbell accomplished in 2022 was historic. She became the first Black woman elected to any statewide office in Massachusetts, a fact that got plenty of coverage from local and national media. It broke a major barrier in a state that likes to think of itself as progressive but had never sent a Black woman to statewide office before.

During her 2021 mayoral run, The Boston Globe editorial board endorsed her, praising both her policy ideas and her story of perseverance.

Her time as city council president from 2018 to 2020 raised her profile considerably. She used the position to push for changes in education, public safety, and how government operates.