There’s a new governor in town!
Harvard professor Danielle Allen recently announced her historic run for governor, the Boston Herald reports.
Allen is a political adviser, nonprofit leader and a Harvard professor. She has served as chair of the Mellon Foundation’s board and chair of the coalition responsible for the Biden/Harris Coronavirus Response Plan. Formerly, Allen made history as the youngest ever Dean of Humanities appointed at the University of Chicago. She currently heads the Edmund J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard and has now announced her run for governor of the state of Massachusetts. Allen is the first Black woman to run for governor in a major political party in the state’s 233-year history.
“Imagine one commonwealth where those who are in power recognize their responsibility for the greater good, and for those who feel powerless are reconnected to their own agency for communal action. That’s what democracy is about,” Allen said during her campaign speech.
She announced her candidacy in front of the Massachusetts State House this week, with “ReiMAgine,” signs surrounding her. As of now, the only other candidate making a 2022 gubernatorial run is former state Sen. Ben Downing. Other candidates include state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Attorney General Maura Healey, who has already raised more than $3 million in donations.
Allen will be looking to replace Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who has not yet announced whether he intends to run again. While she has never held office before, neither had former Gov. Deval Patrick or U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren before they were elected.
The 49-year-old is running a pretty progressive campaign, focused on helping those who feel they have been “abandoned” by the government, inspired by her interactions with her own family members. Allen plans to focus on creating affordable housing, green and efficient transportation, a “healthy and supportive” school model, all while re-examining the state’s criminal justice system, even looking into the use of school resource officers.
She has already garnered a ton of community support from a number of community leaders including Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui. The Mighty Project Tammy Darling project founder credits Allen with helping reopen Cambridge Public Schools during the pandemic.
Allen plans to begin her campaign run in 2022.
Congratulations!
Photo Courtesy of Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald