Maura Tracy Healey Bio
Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since January 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as Massachusetts Attorney General from 2015 to 2023. Healey gained national attention as a state civil rights lawyer who led Massachusetts’ successful challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In 2014 she became the first openly lesbian woman elected state attorney general in the United States, and in 2022 she became the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts and one of the first openly lesbian governors in U.S. history. Her public service record includes consumer protection, civil rights enforcement, and criminal justice and climate initiatives.
Early Life and Background
Healey was born on February 8, 1971, at Walter Reed Hospital, in Bethesda, Maryland. When she was nine months old, her family moved to Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, where she was raised. Healey has four younger siblings. Her mother was a nurse at Lincoln Akerman School in Hampton Falls; her father was a captain in the United States Public Health Service and an engineer. After divorcing, her mother sold her wedding ring to pay for a backyard basketball court. Healey attended Winnacunnet High School, where she was exposed to early political and social influences that would shape her future career.
Path to US Politics
Healey attended Harvard College, graduating cum laude in 1992 with a degree in government. She was co-captain of the Harvard Crimson women’s basketball team. After graduation, Healey spent two years playing as a starting point guard for a professional basketball team in Austria, UBBC Wüstenrot Salzburg, now called BBU Salzburg. This experience abroad exposed her to different perspectives and systems, which would later inform her political approach. Upon returning to the United States, she earned a Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law in 1998.
Maura Tracy Healey Career
Early Career (1998-2007)
Healey began her legal career by clerking for Judge A. David Mazzone of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where she prepared monthly compliance reports on the cleanup of the Boston Harbor and assisted the judge with trials, hearings, and case conferences. She subsequently spent more than seven years at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where she worked as an associate and then junior partner and focused on commercial and securities litigation. She also served as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County, where she tried drug, assault, domestic violence, and motor vehicle cases in bench and jury sessions and argued bail hearings, motions to suppress, and probation violations and surrenders.
Attorney General Breakthrough (2007-2023)
Hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007, Healey served as chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state’s challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She led the winning arguments for Massachusetts in the country’s first lawsuit striking down the law. In 2012, Healey was promoted to chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau. She was then appointed chief of the Business and Labor Bureau. As a division chief and bureau head in the Attorney General’s Office, Healey oversaw 250 lawyers and staff members and supervised the areas of consumer protection, fair labor, ratepayer advocacy, environmental protection, health care, insurance and financial services, civil rights, antitrust, Medicaid fraud, nonprofit organizations and charities, and business, technology, and economic development.
Governor Era (2023-Present)
The day after being sworn in, Healey signed an Executive Order establishing the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience and creating a cabinet-level position of Climate Chief to head the office. According to Healey, the office will be tasked with working with state and local leaders to help the Commonwealth reach its climate goals and help coordinate the efforts. The Climate Chief will also be the governor’s primary advisor on climate issues. Healey appointed Melissa Hoffer to the role. In February 2023, the Healey administration announced a $742 million tax cut package to be filed, as an addition to its proposed fiscal year 2024 budget. Among the proposals included was an increase in the child and family tax credit from $240 to $600 per child or dependent. The plans would also increase the rental deduction cap from 50% of rent up to $3,000 to 50% of $4,000. Under the proposal, the state’s short-term capital gains tax would be reduced from 12% to 5% and the estate tax threshold would be raised from $1 million to $3 million. At a news conference held at Bunker Hill Community College in March 2023, Healey announced a $20 million appropriation to her 2024 fiscal year state budget proposal to create a free community college program, “MassReconnect”, for Massachusetts residents 25 or older with a secondary school degree or post-secondary course credits, to address the skills gap in the state workforce.
Notable Events and Milestones
In 2014, Healey became the first openly lesbian woman elected attorney general of a U.S. state and the first openly LGBTQ person elected to statewide office in Massachusetts. In 2022, she became one of the first two openly lesbian women and the joint-third openly LGBT person elected governor of a U.S. state, as well as the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts. In August 2023, Healey declared a state of emergency due to an increase in migrants seeking shelter in the state. Massachusetts is the only U.S. state that must provide emergency housing to families who qualify. At the time of the emergency declaration, the shelter system was housing over 20,000 people. Healey set a limit of 7,500 on the number of families that could be housed in the state’s emergency shelter system. The state exceeded this limit in November 2023. On November 9, Healey announced that families would be placed on a waiting list and would enter the shelter system as housing units became available.
Maura Tracy Healey Career Wins
Healey’s political career has been marked by significant victories that have broken barriers and advanced progressive policies. Her electoral successes have consistently demonstrated strong support from Massachusetts voters, with landslide victories in both her attorney general and gubernatorial campaigns.
Attorney General Highlights
Healey was elected Attorney General in 2014, defeating Republican nominee John Miller with 62.5% of the vote. Upon taking office, she became the United States’ first openly lesbian state attorney general. She was reelected in 2018 with 69.9% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee James McMahon. During her tenure, she led significant legal challenges against federal policies, including the defense of marriage act and executive orders later termed as “Muslim ban.” Her office successfully secured a $4.3 billion settlement against the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma to address the opioid epidemic.
Governor Wins & Achievements
In her 2022 gubernatorial campaign, Healey defeated Republican nominee Geoff Diehl, receiving 64% of the vote in the general election to Diehl’s 35%. This made her the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts and one of the first two openly lesbian governors in the U.S., along with Tina Kotek of Oregon. In February 2025, Healey announced her intention to run for reelection in 2026. Her governorship has been characterized by significant policy initiatives including climate action, tax reforms, and addressing migrant housing challenges.
Maura Tracy Healey Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Healey was born to parents who were public servants—her mother was a nurse and her father was a captain in the United States Public Health Service and an engineer. After her parents’ divorce, her mother sold her wedding ring to pay for a backyard basketball court, demonstrating her family’s emphasis on education and opportunity. Her stepfather, Edward Beattie, taught history and coached girls’ sports at Winnacunnet High School. Several of her grandparents and great-grandparents were born in Ireland, reflecting her Irish-American heritage.
Personal Life
In July 2022, Healey moved from Boston to Cambridge, Massachusetts. She plays basketball recreationally. On January 9, 2023, shortly after being inaugurated as governor, Healey announced that she is in a relationship with attorney Joanna Lydgate, her former chief deputy. She clarified that their relationship did not begin until Lydgate had departed the role to co-found the States United Democracy Center, a voting rights advocacy organization. Healey is Catholic.