Mayor Martin J. Walsh endorsed Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins during the opening of the incumbent’s Dudley Square campaign office.
At the new office last week, Walsh praised Tompkins for his reduction of recidivism and expansion of addiction treatment among Suffolk County jail inmates. The mayor urged Tompkins’ supporters to work hard in a race where the sheriff appears an early frontrunner.
“Don’t believe the polls,” Walsh said. “We need to work hard.”
Walsh’s endorsement of Tompkins is the mayor’s third endorsement. He also endorses his former staffer, state Rep. Dan Cullinane, and Warren Tolman in his bid for state treasurer.
Promising to continue his efforts on behalf of the inmates, Tompkins said, “We will reduce recidivism,” adding, “We will make families whole.”
Veteran campaign worker Clifton Braithwaite heads Tompkins’ campaign office, which Tompkins says will run from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. every day.
At the endorsement were several elected officials and political operatives from Boston’s black and Latino community. City councilors Tito Jackson and Frank Baker, former state Sen. and candidate for attorney general Warren Tolman, former at-large City Councilor and candidate for Suffolk County Register of Probate and Family Court Felix D. Arroyo, former Democratic National Convention CEO and candidate for lieutenant governor Steve Kerrigan, and Ward 12 Democratic Committee co-Chairwoman Victoria Williams were among those attending.
-Banner report
