Gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey picked up a big endorsement from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to kick-start her “weekend of action” campaign push.
A day after announcing she endorsed the attorney general for governor, Wu joined Healey at the Roslindale Substation for a canvas kickoff on Saturday morning.
“There is so much at stake in this moment,” Wu said. “(We’re) fighting for a vision of Boston that includes everyone — affordability, access, support for our residents, education and transportation and childcare.
“We need a strong partner at the state (level) and I have worked alongside Maura for many, many years,” Wu added. “I know her approach. We share a grit to get things done.”
“It’s huge to me,” Healey said of Wu’s endorsement. “I’ve had such respect and regard for Mayor Wu for so long. We’ve had an opportunity to work together in government and I see and believe in her vision, and it is my goal to have an opportunity to partner with her. A relationship between the state and the city of Boston is very important.”
Both women talked about building upon their shared vision for Boston and the commonwealth, which they said includes an investment in education, transportation, and the workforce; providing for affordable housing and childcare; and building a strong climate.
“We’ve got to use the funds that are coming our way strategically to make the investments that frankly, have not been made in adequate sufficiency for so, so long, but now is the time,” said Healey, the Democratic candidate for governor. “This is the moment, and I know this team brings the urgency.”
The Roslindale stop was one of 19 canvas kickoffs the Healey campaign planned to hold across the state this weekend, as part of what was dubbed the “Team Healey Weekend of Action.”
Healey, who has the endorsement of her party, is the only Democrat running for governor; state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Boston, dropped out of the race last month, after failing to gain much traction with voters.
She will face either former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, the Massachusetts Republican Party and Trump-backed candidate, or Wrentham businessman Chris Doughty. Gov. Charlie Baker is not seeking re-election.
Healey also picked up an endorsement from American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, which was announced at the AFT Convention in Boston on Saturday; the attorney general spoke at the convention prior to attending her campaign event in Roslindale.
At both events, Healey boasted about her past college and professional basketball experience — at Harvard and for a team in Austria — saying that her position as point guard instilled in her the value of teamwork and leadership, and left her unafraid to take on “big opponents.”
“We want to build momentum and energy for change, up and down the ballot, for delivering for people, for investing in people, in a time where there’s been a lot of hope lost,” Healey said. “This is the chance to restore and this is the chance at a place — remember Massachusetts, bedrock, revolution, this is where things started — this is a chance to lead our nation forward.”
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