Politicians in Fall River lined up today to endorse Maura Healey in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts governor.
Mayor Paul Coogan and State Representatives Carol Fiola, Alan Silvia, Paul Schmid and Patricia Haddad all pledged support for Healey, who currently serves as Massachusetts’ Attorney General. She launched her campaign in January after Gov. Charlie Baker announced he is not seeking re-election.
Healey kicked off Thursday’s campaign stop in Fall River with visits to a bakery and a Portuguese grocer, before meeting a delegation of local politicians at the City Pier.
During a short walk through a public park under construction at the pier, Ken Fiola, a local development consultant, introduced Healey to other redevelopment projects along the waterfront that will rely on hundreds of millions of dollars in state investment.
Those include a new branch of the commuter rail being extended to Fall River, which is scheduled to restore train service to the city next year, and an elevated state highway that officials want to redevelop as a waterfront boulevard lined with private homes and businesses.
Fiola directed the tour alongside his wife, State Representative Carol Fiola, who endorsed Healey in a speech shortly after.
“She understands the projects that we know are vital to our economic future,” Rep. Fiola said.
When Healey took the podium, she promised to direct more resources from the governor’s office to Fall River.
“The fact of the matter is Fall River and other places have not gotten the support and attention that they so deserve,” Healy said. “This is a place of tremendous, tremendous opportunity.”
Healey said she will advance efforts to redevelop port facilities in Fall River and New Bedford to create a regional hub for the emerging offshore wind industry.
She also affirmed her commitment to holding big pharma accountable for the widespread opioid addiction that’s turned Fall River into an epicenter of overdose deaths in the state.
Healey’s office won a major settlement from the Oxycontin producer Perdue Pharma last year, which Healey said she will direct portions of toward recovery centers in Fall River and other parts of Massachusetts.
Ben Berke is the South Coast Bureau Reporter for The Public’s Radio. He can be reached at bberke@thepublicsradio.org. Follow him on Twitter @BenBerke6.
