“I believed in her that much,” Campbell recalled in a recent interview.
The years-long relationship between Campbell and Harris, who Campbell described as “a dear friend, a mentor, a colleague,” comes with shared history-making: Campbell in 2022 became the first Black woman elected Massachusetts’ attorney general, 12 years after Harris did the same in California.
Harris’s career as a prosecutor has been met with different responses during her two presidential runs, as conversations about criminal justice shifted among Democrats. During her first bid, Harris faced criticism from voters and activists over what they described as her “tough on crime” approach. Now, that background is seen as an asset, as Democrats urge her to “prosecute the case” against former president Donald Trump.
Campbell, however, argues the vice president has not changed in the intervening five years and that her work as attorney general will especially aid this year’s campaign.
“Kamala has always accepted her role as a prosecutor and expressed the honor and privilege it is to be a prosecutor as a Black woman,” she said. “She wants to roll up her sleeves and get the work done, which she’s always done, but what she’s learned as a prosecutor will be very informative and helpful in this moment in time.”
Harris and Campbell reconnected over the years, as the California Democrat attended fund-raisers and roundtables in Massachusetts. After Harris entered the crowded 2020 presidential field in January 2019 — Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would jump in the next month — Campbell, then president of the Boston City Council, was among the first in Massachusetts to back her.
Campbell said Harris’s record as attorney general particularly influenced her endorsement, pointing to Harris’s work advocating for “protecting the wellbeing of our kids” and “taking on racial disparities that exist in policing and legal reform.” Harris, she said, later inspired her to tackle issues beyond the attorney general’s typical scope, such as affordability.
“She used an office that traditionally is known for just public safety and turned it into a policy shop where she was helping elders, consumers, immigrants, in such a way where it’s a bottom-up approach to solving issues,” Campbell said. “AGs bring … an ability to be creative and think outside the box, and it was a lot more expansive than the other [2020 Democratic] candidates.”
Campbell was also drawn to Harris’s “optimism and joy about the future and possibility of this country,” now a theme in her 2024 campaign: “She was the whole package then, and she’s the whole package now.”
Conversations around policing and mass incarceration dominated the 2020 primary as candidates tried to win over voters on the left. Harris cast herself as a “progressive prosecutor,” proposing initiatives to target mass incarceration and police practices. But she tried to strike a balance, at one point saying: “I’m not trying to restructure society. I’m just trying to take care of the issues that wake people up in the middle of the night.”
Skeptical criminal justice reform advocates painted policies Harris supported, such as one penalizing parents of truant children, as overly harsh. One of her rivals, then-US Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, challenged aspects of Harris’s record at a debate. Harris ultimately dropped out two months before the Iowa caucuses amid lagging polls and fund-raising numbers.
Campbell said the public’s “assessment and review” of Harris “missed the mark,” arguing many people didn’t understand the nuances of her position.
The job of attorney general “requires not just balance, but a real thoughtfulness about how you protect [people] and how you reduce disparities at the same time,” Campbell said, adding she believed Harris was “mindful” of racial disparities and over-policing and worked to “prosecute folks equitably.” “It’s not easy to be the first to serve. You’re often held to a higher standard.”
This year, Republicans have highlighted Harris’s calls for police reform in 2020 to cast her as weak on crime.
Campbell often pushes back on descriptions of attorneys general as states’ “top cops,” a label Harris’s 2020 detractors invoked. Departing from her mentor, however, Campbell regularly speaks of “upending systems and dismantling systems.” Campbell said that involves incorporating diverse perspectives into her office.
She stressed the historic nature of Harris being the first woman of color atop a presidential ticket, something the vice president avoids centering. Campbell has said during her campaigns, Harris encouraged her to share her personal story, including her family members’ time in prison. She recently told CNN she experienced goosebumps and tears when Harris launched her second presidential bid in July.
“I love Kamala because she is absolutely strong and resilient, yet carries it with joy and optimism and a smile and doesn’t get distracted by the noise,” Campbell told the Globe, pointing to the “racism and sexism” she said Harris is “absolutely” facing.
Campbell acknowledged the race will be close and said if Trump were reelected, her office would be prepared, having “a blueprint of how we fought Donald Trump before.” Attorneys general in Democrat-controlled states regularly pushed back on Trump’s policies during his last term, including Governor Maura Healey, who, as Massachusetts’ attorney general, took part in more than 100 lawsuits against his administration.
Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
“I have a responsibility to always be planning and making sure our residents are protected,” Campbell said. “We will do what we did before, which was stand up against Donald Trump when he was elected, stand up against a government that was working against the interests of Massachusetts residents.”
But through November, Campbell says she’s all in — again — to ensure Harris wins. On Monday, she headlined a Harris Victory Fund event in Concord that raised over $200,000. On Saturday, she’ll door-knock for the campaign in New Hampshire.
“When Vice President Harris spoke at a rally for my campaign in 2022, she said to me backstage: ‘Be yourself. Remind folks why you do this work. Speak to your story and remind folks why government matters,’” she said. “That advice has stuck with me, and it’s what grounds my work as the people’s lawyer.”
Anjali Huynh can be reached at [email protected].
