Palfrey spoke with WAMC Monday fresh off a campaign jaunt through Western Massachusetts.
“Last week, I spent time in North Adams and Williamstown and Pittsfield, where we had great events," he said. "I was also out in Springfield, Chicopee, and South Hadley last week talking to voters. And what I'm hearing from folks is that they really want the attorney general to be focused on Western Mass, to be present, to understand the issues that people are concerned about. I've been listening to voters who are concerned about Wi Fi access, are concerned about transportation issues, are concerned about the opioid crisis and body cameras.”
Palfrey says he prioritizes police accountability.
“In the wake of the George Floyd murder, the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, we saw it with Breonna Taylor, I think that this is a moment where we need the AG and others to stand up for greater police accountability," he told WAMC. "We've seen a glaring need for more oversight over the state police. And, you know, I personally believe that we ought to move away from what's called qualified immunity, which is a circumstance where there's a special defense for police officers involved in a violent altercation with a civilian. I think under those circumstances, there should not be qualified immunity. I've also called for the creation of statewide database for the collection and public access to information about police officers who have been reported within their within their precincts for dishonesty or for evidence tampering.”
He told WAMC he supports expunging the records of those convicted of marijuana offenses in light of legalization in the state and the lucrative industry that has formed around it.
“There are enormous racial disparities in terms of who has criminal records associated with low level marijuana offenses, and those racial disparities continue long past the end of a sentence," said Palfrey. "And I think we ought to we ought to expunge those records. I think we ought to be thinking very seriously about how to address the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, both on a going forward basis and in terms of the legacy of what the failed war on drugs has done to some of those communities.”
As Palfrey competes with former Boston city councilor Andrea Campbell and labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, he says his experience distinguishes him from his fellow Democrats.
“I'm a former Assistant Attorney General," he said. "I was the chief of the health care division in the AG’s office. In the Biden administration, I led a team of about 400 lawyers. And I worked in the Obama White House.”
With Campbell emerging as the campaign’s frontrunner, Palfrey was eager to frame himself as a more progressive candidate for Massachusetts voters.
“I support single-payer health care, she opposes it," said Palfrey. "I support safe injection sites, she opposes them. I support keeping the cap on charter schools, and she'd like to expand charter schools.”
He also criticized Campbell for receiving support from the Better Boston super PAC during her unsuccessful bid for mayor of the city in 2021.
“I think it would be a very dangerous precedent to set if a PAC that had raised $1.6 million in the past year from people like Jim Walton of the Walmart fortune, $250,000 from Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, senior executives from Bain Capital- I think that that kind of support for a corporate super PAC supporting one of the candidates in the race would really undermine the independence of the Attorney General," said Palfrey. "We want the Attorney General to be able to stand up against some of those very same companies.”
Like Campbell’s failed mayoral bid in Boston and Liss-Riordan’s aborted run for US Senate in 2020, Palfrey is also coming off an electoral loss. In 2018, he lost the Lieutenant Governor race to incumbent Republican Karyn Polito. Palfrey ran on a ticket with fellow Democrat and gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez.
“I would say that I was very successful primary effort," he told WAMC. "I went from being a first time candidate to winning a statewide primary 58 to 42.”
The Massachusetts Democratic Party holds its convention the weekend of June 3rd. The Democratic primary is September 6th.
