Attorney, former Suffolk County prosecutor, and longtime housing advocate Linda Champion has formally launched her campaign for Suffolk County District Attorney, promising a justice system she says will protect families, support victims, and rebuild public trust across Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop.
Champion opened her campaign at Florian Hall in Dorchester before a crowd that her campaign estimated at more than 120 residents, community leaders, families, and voters from across the county. She enters a competitive three-way Democratic primary — the contest that, in deep-blue Suffolk County, typically decides who holds the office.
At the heart of Champion’s pitch is a promise to weigh each case individually rather than apply blanket policies. “I’m running for District Attorney because every resident and visitor deserves to feel safe, every victim deserves to feel supported, and every community deserves a justice system they can trust,” Champion said. “This office belongs to the people, I work solely for them, and I’m ready to fight for them.”
She argued that a case-by-case philosophy is what public safety requires. “Each crime and offense deserves to be evaluated on its own merits, with careful consideration of the facts, the victims, and the circumstances of each case, rather than through a broad or blanket approach,” she said. “Only then will our communities be safer, stronger, and better positioned to thrive.”
Champion tied that message to her own history. “As someone who came to Boston at seventeen with no safety net, I know what it feels like to fall through the cracks,” she said. “My lived experience, from homelessness to the courtroom, taught me that justice must be both firm and fair.”
A background from homelessness to the courtroom
Champion is the daughter of a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran, now deceased, and an immigrant mother from South Korea. Her campaign highlights a personal story that runs from leaving home as a teenager and experiencing homelessness to working her way through school and becoming an attorney — a trajectory she says shapes her belief that justice must be accessible, transparent, and grounded in humanity.
She earned her law degree at Suffolk University and began her career as an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk District Attorney’s office. She has since worked as a private attorney, as an adjunct professor at New England Law, and as a lecturer at Suffolk University. She also served as legal counsel in the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, overseeing its municipal, district, and specialty courts, which she described as the busiest in the state.
Her campaign says her career has centered on protecting vulnerable residents and advocating for victims of domestic violence, elder financial abuse, and housing instability.
Champion announced that her campaign has been endorsed by the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and SEIU AFRAM. The backing of the city’s largest police union carries particular weight in this race, and community advocates rallied to her side at the launch.
“Linda Champion has the integrity, the backbone, and the lived experience we need in the District Attorney’s Office,” said Leslie Credle, founder of Justice for Housing and a lifelong Boston resident. “She understands our neighborhoods because she’s lived what so many families are going through.”
Retired U.S. Air Force veteran Hersinia Fidalgo praised Champion’s record. “Linda Champion has spent her career standing up for victims, seniors, and working families,” she said. “She understands service, sacrifice, and accountability.”
Helina Fontes, a former candidate for Governor’s Council, described Champion as a hands-on presence in the county’s neighborhoods. “She doesn’t just talk about the issues; she’s in Suffolk County neighborhoods every day, listening, serving, and finding solutions,” Fontes said.
A crowded and consequential primary
While the campaign’s announcement did not name her opponents, Champion is running in a three-way Democratic primary that has drawn considerable attention. The incumbent, District Attorney Kevin Hayden, is seeking another full term. Also in the race is Rachael Rollins, the former Suffolk District Attorney and former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, who is seeking to reclaim the office she left in 2022. All three candidates cleared the 1,000-signature threshold required to appear on the ballot.
The race has unfolded against the backdrop of Hayden’s decision to bring a manslaughter charge against a Boston police officer in connection with the fatal shooting of a carjacking suspect earlier this year — a decision that drew sharp criticism from the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, which publicly called for challengers to enter the race. Champion announced her candidacy in the wake of that call, and the union’s endorsement of her reflects the rupture between Hayden and a law enforcement community that had supported him four years ago.
In Suffolk County, where the Democratic primary is typically decisive, the September vote is expected to determine who leads the office that serves Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop.
Champion’s campaign lists six priorities: protecting victims and survivors with trauma-informed support; holding violent offenders accountable; aggressively prosecuting financial crimes that target seniors; strengthening partnerships with law enforcement and community organizations; expanding prevention and diversion programs, including for first responders; and increasing transparency to rebuild trust in the office.
Champion’s next community meet-and-greet is scheduled for Monday, July 20, 2026, at Murray’s Tavern in Revere, from 6 to 8 p.m. More information is available through her campaign at lindachampion.com.
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Editorial Disclaimer:
This article was originally written in English. The French and Haitian Creole versions are produced using AI translation, and errors are possible — the English version is authoritative. CTN also uses AI to convert text into audio. Readers and listeners should rely on the English text where any discrepancy arises.
