Boston Herald Endorsement
Boston Herald Endorsement
Editorial: The Herald endorses Crimmins, Abboud for Governor’s Council
By BOSTON HERALD EDITORIAL STAFF
PUBLISHED: August 21, 2026 at 3:25 AM EDT
It can take a village to make a truly bad decision, and few better examples exist than the Massachusetts Parole Board and the nomination-confirming Governor’s Council.
The actions of both in championing criminals incarcerated for heinous crimes over their victims has elicited outrage with each parole release and denial of board candidates who support public safety.
Bay Staters have a chance to stand up for victims and our communities by voting for two Republican candidates to represent District 2 and District 7 on the Governor’s Council.
Francis T. Crimmins Jr. is running in the Republican primary on Sept. 1 for District 2. As his website states, the former Massachusetts District Court Judge and First Justice is running “to bring experience, independent judgment, accountability, and a commitment to public safety to one of the Commonwealth’s most important constitutional offices.”
It should be a logical assumption that Massachusetts officials would have a “commitment to public safety.” But recent events have sadly proven otherwise. When Gov. Maura Healey nominated former prosecutor Vincent DeMore to fill a Massachusetts Parole Board vacancy, he was given a thumb’s-down by the Council.
Councilor Mara Dolan, of Concord, explained that she cast a vote against DeMore out of fear that he may “go too far in ensuring public safety.”
In progressive circles it’s apparently preferable to release first-degree murderers from prison, as the Parole Board has done, including a man charged with a mass shooting in Cambridge this spring. He was granted early release by the Parole Board from an already light sentence for shooting at police officers.
The Council did approve Healey’s next nominee to the Parole Board, former prosecutor Kaitlyn O’Leary, but getting a voice for victims and the community shouldn’t be a nail-biter.
Margaret Abboud is running in the Sept.1 Republican primary for Governor’s Council to represent District 7. Abboud’s website explains that she’s “running for Massachusetts Governor’s Council District 7 because our Commonwealth deserves leadership that is fair, transparent, and deeply committed to justice.”
There’s that word again, justice. It used to mean making criminals pay their debts to society for the harm they caused their victims and their families. The progressive version is just watered-down verbiage.
Abboud posted on Facebook: “I believe our constitutional freedoms must be protected. I support the second amendment, ICE, and safe neighborhoods.”
Crimmins’ website notes that he “also understands how judicial decisions affect victims, defendants, families, law enforcement, businesses, and entire communities.”
Abboud and Crimmins: two Republican candidates who support justice, safe neighborhoods, and public safety. Victims, families and communities are top priorities. If elected, they’d be swimming upstream against a progressive current, but they seem determined to give a voice to the people of Massachusetts who’ve been sidelined for too long.
The Boston Herald endorses Francis T. Crimmins Jr. for Governor’s Council District 2, and Margaret Abboud for Governor’s Council, District 7.