McKenna officially begins campaign for AG

Date: 10/5/2010

Oct. 6, 2010

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

HOLYOKE -- Although Republican candidate for attorney general James McKenna has hired staff members from Sen. Scott Brown's successful campaign, the former Worcester prosecutor said his campaign is different than Brown's -- even though McKenna's opponent is the same one whom Brown faced, Martha Coakley.

McKenna did a tour of three stops, the last one being Holyoke, on Sept. 29 to formally announce his candidacy. McKenna is on the November ballot after gathering almost three times the number of signatures he needed to meet that goal.

Speaking to the press and reporters at the law offices of Brunault Proulx and McGuinness, McKenna said government corruption would be a focus of his administration.

"I'm listening to the people and they say, 'No more!' And I agree. No more sitting by while Beacon Hill engages in criminal activity and the attorney general sits idly by making excuses about their hands getting tied. But we know, real leaders don't let their hands get tied . It is time to restore trust in government. The Beacon Hill Boys & Girls Club is a free-for-all of waste, fraud, corruption, where holier-than-thou attitudes prevail and the special interests run the show."

He continued, "When it comes to public corruption, I don't care what your political party may be. Honesty and integrity are what we need now, not politically calculated wheeling and dealing over bribes for liquor licenses. We need an attorney general who is independent of the machine."

McKenna said he would form a public corruption task force to address the issue.

He described himself as pro-life, but noted he was also for the death penalty in some situations such as the murder of police officers and children.

McKenna said he would also enforce the state's laws against illegal immigration.

McKenna has been the subject of discussion over whether or not he violated state campaign laws. When asked about the allegations, he noted there are some "very unhappy people" over the 27,000 signatures that placed him on the ballot. Those unnamed people "have brought forth a series of allegations."

"We've broken no law," he maintained.

Explaining why he took the route of gathering signatures at this time instead of seeking the nomination at the Republican state convention earlier this year, he said he had been busy working on the campaign of another candidate.

One supporter called him "the Millbury miracle" for having obtained so many signatures.

McKenna received the endorsement of Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott, who said, "I'm going to support Jim if he's going to do the job the taxpayers are sending him to Boston for -- I'm all for it."

Scott noted the corruption investigations that brought down two consecutive speakers of the House -- Thomas Finneran and Salvatore DiMasi -- were undertaken by the U.S. Attorney and not the attorney general.

State Sen. Michael Knapik said McKenna's election to the position would help restore "political balance to Beacon Hill." Knapik called political corruption in the state "an enormous issue" and that Coakley has been "missing in action."