Massachusetts Attorney General

The **Massachusetts attorney general** is an elected constitutionally executive officer of the Massachusetts government. The state attorney general is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The current attorney general is Andrea Campbell.

## List of Attorneys General of the Commonwealth

|No.|Portrait|Name|Prior experience|Municipality of residence|Term of service|Political party|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1||Robert Treat Paine|||1780–1790|Independent|
|2||James Sullivan|||1790–1807|Democratic–Republican|
|3||Barnabas Bidwell|||1807–1810|Democratic–Republican|
|4||Perez Morton|||1810–1832|Democratic–Republican|
|5||James T. Austin|||1832–1843|National Republican|
|–||_Office abolished_|||1843–1849||
|6||John H. Clifford|||1849–1853|Whig|
|7||Rufus Choate|||1853–1854|Whig|
|8||John H. Clifford|||1854–1858|Whig|
|9||Stephen Henry Phillips|||1858–1861|Republican|
|10||Dwight Foster|||1861–1864|Republican|
|11||Chester I. Reed|||1864–1867|Republican|
|12||Charles Allen|||1867–1872|Republican|
|13||Charles R. Train|||1872–1879|Republican|
|14||George Marston|||1879–1883|Republican|
|15||Edgar J. Sherman|||1883–1887|Republican|
|16||Andrew J. Waterman|||1887–1891|Republican|
|17||Albert E. Pillsbury|||1891–1894|Republican|
|18||Hosea M. Knowlton|||1894–1902|Republican|
|19||Herbert Parker|||1902–1906|Republican|
|20||Dana Malone|||1906–1911|Republican|
|21||James M. Swift|||1911–1914|Republican|
|22||Thomas J. Boynton|||1914–1915|Democratic|
|23||Henry Converse Atwill|||1915–1919|Republican|
|24||Henry A. Wyman|||1919–1920|Republican|
|25||J. Weston Allen|House 1915 to 1918, Attorney-at-Law|Newton|1920–1923|Republican|
|26||Jay R. Benton|Mass. House 1917, '18; Ass't Atty. Gen'l 1918-'22|Belmont|1923–1927|Republican|
|27||Arthur K. Reading|Mass House 1919 to 1922, Middlesex County District Attorney, 1923-'26, Lawyer|Cambridge|1927–1928|Republican|
|28||Joseph E. Warner|Taunton Municipal Council 1907-'11, Trust. Pub. Library, Mass. House 1913-'20, Speaker 1919-'20, Delegate to Rep. National Convention 1920, Asst. Atty. Gen. 1923-'28, Attorney-at-Law|Taunton|1928–1935|Republican|
|29||Paul A. Dever|Middlesex County Public Administrator, Mass. House 1929-'34, Lawyer|Cambridge|1935–1941|Democratic|
|30||Robert T. Bushnell|Middlesex County District Attorney, Lawyer|West Newton|1941–1945|Republican|
|31||Clarence A. Barnes|Mansfield Town Moderator and Counsel, Mass. House 1912-'13, Constitutional Convention, Governor's Council 1943-'44, Lawyer|Mansfield|1945–1949|Republican|
|32||Francis E. Kelly|Boston City Council, Lieutenant Governor, Fall River Finance Commissioner, Attorney at law|Dorchester, Boston|1949–1953|Democratic|
|33||George Fingold|Asst. Attorney General, Asst. District Attorney, City Council, Lawyer|Concord|1953–1958|Republican|
|34||Edward J. McCormack Jr.|Boston City Council, Lawyer|Dorchester, Boston|1958–1963|Democratic|
|35||Edward W. Brooke|Boston Finance Commission (chairman), Mass. Advisory Committee, U.S. Civil Rights Commission (chairman), Lawyer|Newton Centre|1963–1967|Republican|
|36||Edward T. Martin|||1967|Republican|
|37||Elliot Richardson|Lieutenant Governor, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Brookline Town Meeting member, Lawyer|Brookline|1967–1969|Republican|
|38||Robert H. Quinn|Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Lawyer|Dorchester, Boston|1969–1975|Democratic|
|39||Francis X. Bellotti|Lieutenant Governor, Attorney|Quincy|1975–1987|Democratic|
|40||James Shannon|Representative in Congress, Lawyer|Lawrence|1987–1991|Democratic|
|41||L. Scott Harshbarger|Middlesex County District Attorney; General Counsel, State Ethics Commission; Chief, Public Protection Bureau, Department of Attorney General; Deputy Chief Counsel, Massachusetts Defenders Committee|Westwood|1991–1999|Democratic|
|42||Thomas Reilly|Middlesex County District Attorney|Watertown|1999–2007|Democratic|
|43||Martha Coakley|Middlesex County District Attorney|Medford|2007–2015|Democratic|
|44||Maura Healey|Massachusetts Attorney General's Office as the Chief of the Civil Rights Division, Chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau, Chief of the Business and Labor Bureau, litigator and junior partner at the international law firm WilmerHale, Special Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County, clerk for Judge David Mazzone in the United States District Court in Massachusetts, former professional basketball player|Boston|2015–2023|Democratic|
|Acting||Kate R. Cook|First Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts from January 2022 until January 5, 2023|Boston|January 5, 2023|Independent|
|Acting||Bessie Dewar|State Solicitor of Massachusetts since January 2016|Boston|January 5–18, 2023|Democratic|
|45||Andrea Campbell|Member of the Boston City Council, President of the Boston City Council, 2021 Boston mayoral candidate, Lawyer|Boston|2023–present|Democratic|

## Infobox (official post)

- **post**: Attorney General
- **body**: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- **insignia**: Seal of Massachusetts.svg
- **insigniasize**: 110px
- **insigniacaption**: Seal of Massachusetts
- **insigniaalt**: Seal of Massachusetts
- **image**: File:Andrea Campbell official attorney general headshot, 2023 (3x4).jpg
- **alt**: Portrait
- **incumbent**: Andrea Campbell
- **incumbentsince**: January 18, 2023
- **department**: Government of Massachusetts
- **style**: The Honorable
- **type**: Attorney general, Chief legal officer
Government of Massachusetts#Constitutional officers, Constitutional officer
- **residence**: None official
- **seat**: McCormack Building, One Ashburton Place, Boston, Massachusetts
- **nominator**: Nominating petition,
Political parties and political designations in Massachusetts, Political parties
- **appointer**: Direct election, Popular vote
- **termlength**: 4 years, no limit
- **constituting instrument**: Constitution of Massachusetts
- **first**: Paul Dudley (jurist), Paul Dudley