On Wednesday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey nominated an appeals court judge to the state’s highest court. Healey picked her ex-girlfriend, Appeals Court Associate Justice Gabrielle Wolohojian, for the powerful position.
In Massachusetts, the Governor’s Council decides whether to confirm nominees to the courts. The council contains eight members elected from districts every two years. All eight of the sitting members are Democrats.
Critics blasted the decision of the governor to elevate a former romatic partner to a high position.
“It is highly inappropriate for the Governor to nominate to Massachusetts’ highest court an individual with whom she had a long-term romantic relationship in the past,” Massachussets GOP chairwoman Amy Carnevale said in a statement.
“This nomination clearly demonstrates a lack of accountability inherent in one-party rule,” the statement said. “We urge the Governor to immediately withdraw her nominee and, if not withdrawn, we urge the Governor’s Council to reject this nominee.”
According to local media, Healey and Wolohojian both worked at the powerful law firm WilmerHale, where they met sometime around the early 2000s.
Wolohojian joined the appeals court in 2008, reportedly one year after beginning her relationship with Healey.
The two politicos reportedly shared a townhouse doubling as a campaign headquarters for Healey. They were profiled as a political power couple in 2015, during Healey’s first year as attorney general.
Since then, Wolohojian has chaired the high court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure, and she’s parted ways from Healey.
The governor is currently in a relationship with her former chief deputy, Joanna Lydgate. She says that she began dating Lydgate only after Lydgate’s departure from the public sector.
One Boston Herald columnist accused Healey of cronyism and compared her to Fani Willis, the Fulton County prosecutor accused of appointing a romantic interest to manage the case against former President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the far Left has criticized Wolohojian for her career as a partner at Big Law.
Healey says that she nominated Wolohojian because of her qualifications alone.
“There is no one more qualified or better prepared to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court than Justice Wolohojian. She will bring over three decades of broad trial and appellate experience, including sixteen years on the Appeals Court,” Healey said in a statement. “Justice Wolohojian has served on the Appeals Court with distinction and her work is widely respected by members of the bench and bar. She has an exceptional understanding of the law and a strong commitment to the administration of justice.”
In her statement, Healey failed to mention her personal history with Wolohojian and the potential for conflict-of-interest.
Healey has now nominated two judges to the Supreme Judicial Court. The council has already confirmed her other nominee, former state solicitor Bessie Dewar.
Supreme Judicial Court justices must retire at the age of 70, as per Massachusetts law.
Wolohojian, 63, would fill the seat vacated by retiring Justice David Lowy.
The Horn editorial team