Following a contentious battle, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden has won the Democratic primary, according to the Associated Press.
Hayden was up against Linda Champion, an attorney backed by the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association who ran for the seat in 2018; as well as Rachael Rollins, the county’s former district attorney who resigned under the shadow of ethical violations when she was the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts — the commonwealth’s top prosecutor — in 2023.
The Associated Press called the race at 11:52 p.m., with 51% of the votes counted. As of 5:55 a.m. Wednesday, with 94% of the votes counted, Hayden had 49.9%, while Champion had 25.8% and Rollins had 24.3%.
With no Republican running in the general election, Hayden is all but guaranteed to win a second full term Suffolk County’s chief law enforcement officer.
Hayden walked into his watch party at Stockyard Restaurant in Brighton and declared victory just before 10 p.m.
“What the voters said is that they want four more years of results, strategies and concepts that deliver real results,” Hayden said to a room of cheering supporters. “Real results like historically low crime rates. Real results where we are unapologetically and constantly and unwaveringly supporting victims and witnesses, survivors and communities that are impacted by crime and violent crime in particular.“
Champion thanked her supporters in a social media post Wednesday morning, writing, “Thank you to the hard working volunteers who gave up evenings and weekends to help prioritize public safety.”
On Wednesday, Rollins posted on X that she is grateful following the primary election, saying that “trying is the most important part.” She added that every new registered voter and volunteer that came out for her campaign “is a win.”
Hayden was first appointed interim district attorney in January 2022 after Rollins stepped down from the position she held for three years. That September, he defeated then-Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo to win his first full term in the role.
Hayden went into this race against Rollins touting his 30 years of experience in the criminal legal system.
He started his career in the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, serving as an assistant district attorney for more than a decade. He also spent five years as a criminal defense attorney — and, before becoming district attorney, he was chairman of the Sex Offender Registry Board.
Tamisha Civil is a member of the Governor’s Council, an elected state board that approves judicial appointments and pardons.
Civil said that Hayden’s commitment to ensuring a fair and honest review process is what lead to her support of him.
”I’m a former victim witness advocate at the DA’s office ... and it’s very important for us to have leaders that represent not only the culture but the constituents in all aspects of our community,“ Civil told GBH News.
Sandy Zamor Calixte is a former candidate for Suffolk County sheriff in 2022 and worked with Hayden during her time with the department. She said that she’s seen firsthand that Hayden prioritizes community.
”Although Rachael Rollins had created the Integrity Review Bureau, he is currently growing that so that he can make sure that they continue to look at wrongful convictions. So that’s very important to me,“ Zamor Calixte said.
In March, Hayden charged a Boston police officer with manslaughter for the shooting death of an unarmed Black man in Roxbury. Many have accused Hayden’s decision as ”political“ during an election year and others have demanded the release of body camera footage of the incident.
Zamor Calixte believes that Hayden handled the situation correctly.
”I felt like he did the right thing. I know a lot of people are complaining about him not releasing the video, but ... he says that releasing that video could also make it harder for him to prosecute and it could be moved to another district,“ she told GBH News. ”So to allow him the ability to be able to prosecute this here in our community, county, I think it’s the right decision.“
Hayden tenure has not been without controversy. He was fined $5,000 for an ethics violation regarding his 2022 campaign. The state ethics commission found that Hayden used his position as district attorney to influence his race against Arroyo.
Rollins, a trailblazer in the progressive prosecutor movement, was elected Suffolk County district attorney in 2018 becoming the first Black woman to hold the position. She stepped down from the role after she was nominated by President Joe Biden to become U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, and Hayden filled her place in 2022.
Rollins only held that title for a little more than a year. She resigned the same day twin federal ethics investigations were released, alleging that she had used her position to influence the race between Hayden and Arroyo in Arroyo’s favor.
Hayden came into the race with a major financial advantage. By the end of August, he had raised nearly $190,000 from the beginning of the year, Champion had pulled in more than $90,000 and Rollins had raised just under $22,000.
