Speaker DeLeo Leads Growing Coalition of Support Behind Evandro Carvalho for Suffolk DA

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo endorsed Democratic State Representative Evandro C. Carvalho for Suffolk County District Attorney, citing Carvalho’s strong progressive record and prosecutorial experience.

Speaker DeLeo, a lifelong Democrat and Winthrop resident, said Carvalho has distinguished himself as a leader on progressive issues during his tenure in the House, and singled out his role as a chief author of this year’s criminal justice reform law, the most comprehensive in state history.

“Representative Carvalho is a proven leader who will make an outstanding district attorney and is the best choice to implement the progressive reforms that we passed last month,” Speaker DeLeo said. “The House has benefited from his experience as an assistant district attorney in Roxbury District Court and in gun court. As an immigrant who came to Boston, launched a successful career, and is choosing to live in the city and raise his family here, he is truly one of our state’s bright young leaders. Living in Suffolk County, I am grateful that we have an opportunity to vote for such a leader and could not be more enthusiastic in giving him my full endorsement in both the Democratic primary and general election.”

Representative Carvalho said, “I am honored by Speaker DeLeo’s endorsement and his confidence that I would draw on my work as a prosecutor to lead Suffolk County forward. Under his leadership, the House has taken bold progressive steps, from this year’s criminal justice reform to the landmark law two years ago to fight the opioid and heroin epidemic, and I was proud to vote for both. One of my first votes in the House was for a wide-ranging anti-gun bill that toughened background checks and gun tracking. As District Attorney, I would instill in the Suffolk County criminal justice system the same spirit of integrity, compassion and commonsense Speaker DeLeo has brought to the House.”

Speaker DeLeo has led the House since 2009, bringing a consensus-driven approach that has kept Massachusetts in the vanguard of state legislatures, on issues from equal protection for people of all genders and orientations, to climate change, to guaranteeing women access to birth control. Last month, with Representative Carvalho’s support, the House passed a “red flag” gun bill, taking on the NRA with legislation that would authorize courts to temporarily block people from gun ownership if they pose a risk to themselves or others.

DeLeo joins a diverse roster of elected Suffolk County Democrats who have backed Representative Carvalho’s campaign, including Assistant House Majority Leader Byron Rushing of the South End, House Ways and Means Chairman Jeffrey Sanchez of Jamaica Plain, Representative Liz Malia of Jamaica Plain, Representative Chynah Tyler of Roxbury, Representative Michael Moran of Brighton, Representative Russell Holmes of Mattapan, Representative RoseLee Vincent of Revere, Representative Dan Ryan of Charlestown, and Representative Jay Livingstone of Beacon Hill.

Evandro Carvalho was born in Cape Verde and worked on his grandparents’ farm before moving to Boston with his sister and brother at age 15, joining their mother who worked cleaning office buildings. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts and Howard University School of Law, Carvalho worked for a law firm under the tutelage of Ron Machen, who was later appointed U.S. Attorney by President Obama.

Wanting to give back to the community where he grew up, Carvalho moved back to Dorchester and was elected State Representative for the Fifth Suffolk District in 2014. His wife, Ashley, is legal counsel at the Massachusetts Port Authority, and has worked as assistant corporation counsel for the City of Boston and as a staff attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services. The Carvalhos are raising their daughter, Eliana, in Dorchester.

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