New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Sutter addresses his decision to run for re-election
It is amazing to me that one month after Martha Coakley announced she was going to run for Governor, and not for a third term as Attorney General, no one has officially entered the race to become the next Attorney General of the Commonwealth—no district attorney, state legislator, mayor, or practicing lawyer. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer in Massachusetts and has responsibilities that extend from public safety to health care regulation, economic development and environmental protection. To fulfill these responsibilities, the Attorney General oversees a staff of 515 employees with offices in four different locations across the Commonwealth. I have said many times that, as much as I love the opportunity to serve as District Attorney of the county where I live, I hope to someday have the chance to serve the public in another elected position, so that I can make a contribution in other areas in addition to public safety. The position of Attorney General would give me just that opportunity. But I have decided to pass on this opportunity. I will not run for Attorney General next year. I will run for re-election as District Attorney. The reason is timing.
The more I thought about this decision over the past thirty days, the clearer it was to me that this is not the right time for me to be leaving the District Attorney’s Office. To begin with, we have just started the most highly publicized case since I started as District Attorney, a case that will likely define my administration. I have overseen the investigation from day one and intend to be part of the trial team, along with Bill McCauley and Pat Bomberg. Clearly I should not be leaving this responsibility at the outset of the case. In addition, there are other new initiatives at the District Attorney’s Office that I fervently believe in and want to see through to fruition. These initiatives have the potential to make major advances in critical areas such as gun violence, domestic violence and child abuse prevention and may eventually become state-wide models.
It is also not the right time for my family for me to make a state-wide run. Running for Attorney General would necessitate campaigning most nights after work and every weekend for the next year. And the distances I would have to travel are much greater than those involved in my races for District Attorney or Congress. From my home in Fall River to Pittsfield, for example, is five and a half hours round-trip; to Springfield, back and forth it is four hours; to Gloucester almost four hours. I have given a lot of thought over the last month to what my family needs from me right now and I have concluded firmly that I could not meet those needs while conducting a yearlong state-wide campaign.
So I will pass on this opportunity to run for another elective office. I do so with the hope that when I believe my work as District Attorney is complete, there will be another opportunity for public service on the horizon. In the meantime, I look forward to the great challenges ahead at the District Attorney’s Office and to earning your support in my campaign for re-election next year.
