Former Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell announced her bid for mayor on Sept. 24. She is the second candidate to officially enter the race. Campbell is using her background of growing up in Boston to shed light on the environmental, legal, and health gaps facing communities of color in Boston.
She attributes the death of her twin brother Andre Campbell—who did not receive proper healthcare for scleroderma while he was detained by the Department of Corrections—as her motivation for her run for mayor, and her past run for city council. Campbell also lost her mother in a car accident as an eight-month-old, and her father was incarcerated up until she was eight years old.
Campbell’s objective in public health is to eliminate existing disparities in the city. To address the current pressing issues of the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism, Campbell plans to create partnerships between community members and health centers, and to strengthen mobile health options to allow for accessible care during the pandemic.
Campbell also aims to change policies and budgets to remove the disproportionate effects black people face in Boston regarding healthcare. She cites the differences in life expectancy, higher rates of pregnancy complications for Black women, and higher rates of gun-related deaths for black men in the city.
In regards to Mayor Marty Walsh’s response to the pandemic, Campbell believes that the mayor has not focused on the impact the pandemic has had on the city’s communities of color. Campbell wants to push the topic of BIPOC communities into the conversation surrounding the pandemic to address their higher rates of infection and death.
Campbell is a staunch advocate for criminal justice reform. She wants to address the root causes of crime and violence by reallocating police funding to mental health care, youth development, and other community-led programs. Campbell also wants people to be able to access police data by creating an interactive dashboard to increase transparency in Boston Police and to reduce policing disparities.
As mayor, Campbell hopes to emphasize the fight against climate change. Her policies include accelerating decarbonization and changing the MBTA to an electric transportation system in order to reduce Boston’s carbon footprint and to lower emissions. Campbell is planning to prioritize investing in new and sustainable infrastructure that is prepared to endure extreme heat and flooding, along with investing in energy efficiency.
Environmental racism is also a concern for Campbell. Her goal of investing in BIPOC communities intends to reduce pollution in such areas, as they lead to unequal rates of asthma and other health issues.
Campbell was born and raised in Boston, and attended Boston Latin School. She graduated from Princeton University and from the UCLA School of Law. Campbell worked as a deputy legal counsel for former Governor Deval Patrick. She ran for the District Four Boston City Councilor and was elected in 2015. She represented Dorchester, Mattapan, and parts of Roslindale and Jamaica Plain. In 2018, she became the first African-American woman to be the council’s president.
Campbell is the second woman of color to enter the mayoral race. Michelle Wu, who has also served as Boston City Council President, announced her bid in early September. Walsh has not officially stated whether or not he is seeking re-election, however, he is expected to run in the 2021 election.