Djuna Perkins has declared victory among a field of six other Democrats in the Tuesday primary to replace outgoing Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey as leader of an office that has drawn national attention and scrutiny.
“We did it!” Perkins wrote in a statement. “I am so grateful for the countless volunteers, tens of thousands of voters who supported us, my dedicated campaign team and endorsers, and my family who supported me every step of the way in this 23-month long campaign.”
The Associated Press had not called the race at the time Perkins issued her statement at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, but Perkins had maintained her lead over nearest competitor Adam Deitch, a federal prosecutor, as the tally crawled overnight. The AP called the race a little before 11 a.m.
At 10:25 a.m. Perkins, a private practitioner and Suffolk DA prosecutor, led with 28,067 votes, or a 29% share, over Deitch’s 25,473 votes, or 26.3% share, with 97% of precincts reporting.
Perkins, of Dedham, began her legal career in 1993 as an assistant attorney general in Massachusetts before moving on four years later to the Suffolk DA’s office for five years, leaving as the chief of the domestic violence unit in December 2002. She has taught law in an adjunct capacity at Northeastern University, has been a girls crew coach and is the founder of the Association of Sexual Misconduct and Discrimination Investigators of New England.
“This campaign has never been about me. It has always been about restoring justice and integrity to a broken criminal justice system here in Norfolk County; ensuring that no one is treated differently under the law due to political connections, money or privilege; protecting victims of crime; prosecuting those who prey upon or harm others; and keeping every resident of Norfolk County safe,” Perkins wrote.
“First, however, we must center our focus on winning the November General Election. Today, we celebrate this historic win for justice, but we will immediately get back to work on the campaign trail,” she continued. “Thank you!”
The next highest vote getter was former federal prosecutor and Quincy resident Deitch, of Quincy.
He was the lead prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office’s review of the Karen Read case and was also one of the prosecutors in the successful corruption case against BLM activist and fraudster Monica Cannon-Grant. He left the office last November to run for Norfolk DA.
“While I am deeply disappointed that we fell short in this election, I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished and of the message voters sent: change is coming to Norfolk County,” Deitch said.
Deitch said that he called Perkins early Wednesday morning to concede and congratulate her on her victory.
“She and I got into this race for many of the same reasons and because we share a belief that the people of Norfolk County deserve so much better from our District Attorney’s office,” he said, adding that voters “rejected the two-tiered system of justice that has been allowed to exist in Norfolk County over the past few years.”
In third was Greg Connor, of Milton, who has worked a quarter century and became chief trial counsel in the office he sought to lead. He secured around 15% of the vote.
The job
Norfolk County has been the home of some of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent commonwealth memory — and the office of the county’s chief law enforcement officer has experienced an onslaught of criticism in how some of it has been handled.
Among those are the two Karen Read murder trials and scrutiny over the office declining to pursue a murder investigation into the death of Canton resident Sandra Birchmore. Both cases were further highlighted by involvement by federal prosecutors.
Read was ultimately acquitted last year of the murder of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
Read’s defense benefitted from explosive testimony from Michael Proctor, the case officer of the investigation that led to Read’s murder charge. The now-fired former Massachusetts State Police trooper’s time on the stand exposed not only his own ethical misconduct that cost him his job but raised deeper concerns at the agency still reeling from the fallout.
The MSP and the Norfolk DA’s office suffered even more scrutiny and criticism when the U.S. Attorney’s office ran its own review into the O’Keefe murder investigation. That uncovered problems that Read’s defense ran with. The same office later filed charges against then-Stoughton cop Matthew Farwell for the death of Canton resident Sandra Birchmore.
Federal prosecutors say the married Farwell groomed Birchmore as a child, repeatedly raped her while she was underage and continued a sexual relationship with into her early 20s before ultimately murdering her in her apartment and staging it as a suicide. The Norfolk DA’s office did not pursue murder charges in the case.
The Birchmore case was also a wellspring for those seeking the Norfolk DA job, with a review of the Stoughton Police Explorers youth program, and others like it, being a significant part of Perkins’ platform.
Outgoing DA Morrissey had spent decades in public office, first in the state legislature from 1977 to 2010, when he was first elected DA, but following intense criticism over the last several years announced in January he was bowing out of the $233,000 a year job.
Other candidates
Also in the Tuesday’s primary were Jim Barakat, of Braintree, a public defender; Robert Jubinville, of Milton, clerk-magistrate and longtime member of Governor’s Council; Macy Lee, of Milton, longtime Suffolk DA prosecutor and Craig MacLellan, a private practitioner and Cohasset School Committee member and former Suffolk DA prosecutor.
