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Martha Coakley Massachusetts Senate

Attorney General Martha Coakley has dedicated the last 20 years of her life to a career in public service. Coakley has a strong history as an advocate for individuals and communities, and will bring to the U.S. Senate a proven track record of bringing people to the table to find effective solutions to the issues that face the nation.

As she is running to assume Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate, Coakley cites health care reform as a major prerogative, arguing that we must expand coverage, reduce costs, and improve quality. As district attorney and attorney general, Coakley has a long history of fighting to keep insurance companies honest.

The attorney general also ranks the economy at the top of her agenda, with plans to reduce middle-class and small-business taxes in order to create job, fight for financial regulatory reform with teeth, and put an end to predatory lending.

Coakley is also a champion for civil rights (supporting the repeal of DOMA and DADT), as well as a woman's right to choose. And she believes we must protect our environment and fight global warming by passing cap-and-trade legislation and investing in renewable, green energy alternatives.

Attorney General Coakley began her legal career in private practice in 1979, gaining extensive experience in such areas as insurance defense, criminal defense, and large-scale construction litigation. She has served in the Middlesex District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lowell District Court; in the U.S. Justice Department; and as the elected Middlesex District Attorney.

During her eight years as District Attorney, Coakley established herself as a passionate advocate for public safety, not only bringing justice to crime victims and their families, but also emphasizing the importance of working with community leaders, schools, and law enforcement in a variety of diverse and multi-faceted prevention efforts. Under her leadership, the office's Child Abuse Prosecution Unit continued to serve as a national model for victim-centered prosecution of crimes against children. Coakley was also responsible for extending that model to sexual crimes against adults, establishing the office's Adult Sexual Assault Division in 2002.

In January 2002, Attorney General Coakley completed a one-year term as the President of the Massachusetts District Attorney's Association, where she was at the forefront of statewide public policy discussion and initiatives to improve the criminal justice system and enhance overall public safety. In recent years, she has continued to play an active role in advocating for legislative change on a variety of issues. Coakley joined with her fellow District Attorneys and other members of the public safety community in urging the Legislature to provide additional funding for the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab for enhanced DNA analysis capabilities. She also joined Senate President Robert Travaglini in advocating for changes in the law to streamline the approval process for academic and research institutions to conduct stem cell research.

Both during and prior to her tenure in public office, Attorney General Coakley has been involved in a number of community and professional organizations and boards. She is a former president of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, and has served on the Board of Directors at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. During her tenure as Middlesex District Attorney, Coakley served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to providing prevention and intervention resources and training to Middlesex school districts and communities.

Throughout her career, Attorney General Coakley has been honored for her work by organizations such as the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and the Victim Rights Law Center. In 1998, she was named Woman of the Year by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and in November 2000, the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts honored Coakley with its coveted Leila J. Robinson Award for her contributions to the field of law. In June 2002, the YWCA Boston selected Coakley as a member of its Academy of Women Achievers Class of 2002. In January 2004, District Attorney Coakley received the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Pinnacle Award for Excellence in Management in Government. And in May 2006, the Massachusetts Democratic Party with its prestigious Eleanor Roosevelt Award honored Coakley. Coakley has also served as a guest lecturer at several area colleges and universities.

Martha Coakley received a B.A. degree, cum laude, from Williams College in 1975, and a J.D. degree from the Boston University School of Law in 1979. Coakley resides in Medford, Massachusetts, with her husband, Thomas F. O'Connor, Jr.

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