In January of this year, then-state rep. Carlos Henriquez went to jail after he was convicted of assaulting an ex-girlfriend. Before his colleagues expelled him from the legislature, Henriquez took to the floor and insisted that he’d been unjustly accused and convicted.
“Much has been said about me since I was accused 18 months ago,” Henriquez said. “But knowing the truth, I continue to work hard and focus on my duties. My only true solace has been my love of service and the truth of my innocence.”
Now Henriquez is back home in Dorchester. He continues to assert his innocence, and is seeking to have his conviction overturned. And he’s weighing a political comeback — even though attorney Evandro Carvalho was recently elected to his old House seat.
On WGBH News’ Greater Boston Tuesday, Henriquez said he’d been asked to run a write-in campaign against Carvalho this fall, but is leaning against it.
“I probably would not consider it,” Henriquez told Greater Boston host Emily Rooney. “Evandro Carvalho holds the seat of the Fifth Suffolk. I’ve never felt like it was my seat. It’s the seat of the people.”
But while Henriquez stressed that he can serve the public without holding elected office, he didn’t sound like someone whose political career is over.
“I’m 37 years old,” Henriquez said at one point. “I think I have a bright future ahead of me, God willing. So I’ll look at [the possibility of seeking higher office once again] in a year, two years, or maybe five or ten.”
Whether Henriquez’ former constituents want him to jump back into electoral politics is unclear. In Dorchester’s Uphams Corner neighborhood on Monday, questions about Henriquez’s future didn’t spark much interest. In fact, many of the people we attempted to interview seemed not to know who Henriquez is.
But in Grove Hall, on the southern edge of the district he used to represent, Henriquez had plenty of supporters. And many of them were passionate about his right to re-enter public life.
“I guess all I would say is, as someone who’s lived and worked in this community a long time, people make mistakes,” one woman said as she headed into Flames, a Jamaican restaurant on Blue Hill Avenue. “And everybody deserves a second chance. We’re not perfect.”
A middle-aged man exiting Flames offered a similar take.
“There’s punishment — and when you’ve paid your price, our society says you can come out and act in a legal way,” he said. “Seems reasonable to me.”
And if Carlos Henriquez decides to re-enter the political fray, sentiments like those could be invaluable.
Watch Henriquez on Greater Boston:
