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A showdown is okay with Cabral
BY ADAM REILLY
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Everyone knew it was coming, but now it’s official. On Tuesday morning, at a press conference in front of the Nashua Street Jail, Andrea Cabral announced that she will seek re-election as Suffolk County sheriff. Cabral, who became the first African-American to occupy that post when Jane Swift appointed her in 2002, spoke of her candidacy as a sort of nascent movement. "There is something different going on here," she said. "A change is occurring here. And many people want to be a part of it." As the incumbent, Cabral, who began her career as a staff attorney for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department in 1986 and was named 2002 Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, will be the odds-on favorite in the race. But her re-election isn’t a sure thing. There’s been longstanding speculation that at-large city councilor Stephen Murphy, who barely retained his seat by fending off newcomer Patricia White in last year’s city-council elections, will challenge Cabral in September’s Democratic primary. (A call to Murphy’s office seeking comment was not returned on Tuesday.) If Murphy does take on Cabral, expect him to challenge her Democratic Party bona fides. In 2002, when she was appointed by Swift, Cabral — who was then unenrolled — agreed to become a Republican. But after complaining that she’d been neglected by Governor Mitt Romney and the State Republican Committee, she went over to the party of Kennedy and Truman. Cabral, for her part, would probably hammer Murphy for his utter lack of law-enforcement experience. If she does make it past the primary, Cabral can expect to face Shawn Jenkins, a Charlestown Republican and former budget director of the Executive Office of Public Safety. Jenkins served under Republican governors from Weld to Romney, and he’s sure to receive strong support from the Romney administration and the Massachusetts Republican Party — especially since Cabral is, from the GOP point of view, a turncoat. But Cabral — as a charismatic African-American woman — is a rising star among Massachusetts Democrats, and is sure to receive help from powerful friends as well. In other words, expect an interesting race.
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