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Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, one of the first Democratic governors to suggest that President Joe Biden should withdraw his re-election effort, will address the DNC in Chicago on Thursday night.
Healey is scheduled to speak shortly before Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the party’s presidential nomination.
Healey was elected governor in 2022, as the first female governor of Massachusetts and the first openly lesbian governor in the country. Like Harris, she is a former two-term attorney general. Her office initiated or participated in dozens of legal challenges against the Trump administration.
Healey is expected to highlight her experience working with Harris and talk about “the tough decision in this election between a convicted felon and a prosecutor who stands up for the people,” her office said.
In July, shortly after President Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Healey, a Biden campaign representative, released a statement urging the president to “listen to the American people and carefully consider whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.” Shortly thereafter, Healey, along with his fellow Democratic governors, called the White House and told Chief of Staff Jeff Zients that Biden’s policy position was “irrevocable.” according to the New York Times.
Healey, 53, grew up on the coast of New Hampshire and excelled in sports. At Harvard University, she was co-captain of the women’s basketball team and later played professionally in Austria. Healey, a 5-foot-4 point guard, said she always felt comfortable on the court despite her size.
“I never realized how small I was,” Healey told WBUR. “When you’re that small and you play this game, I think you learn a little bit about toughness. You learn to take on bigger people and bigger interests.”
After playing in Austria for two years, Healey returned to Massachusetts to study law at Northeastern University.
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