Boston Globe, June 2026
Over the course of several weeks this spring, at least seven public employees working under Secretary of State William F. Galvin popped into city or town halls on weekdays to file paperwork to help get the eight-term incumbent back on the ballot. For House Speaker Ron Mariano, it was his chief of staff who helped handle the political task; for state Auditor Diana DiZoglio, an intern in her taxpayer-funded office chipped in. Four aides to Attorney General Andrea Campbell, including her office’s top communications official, submitted documents to help ensure she could run for reelection.
The campaign work, their offices said, was all within legal bounds: Their employees used their own vacation, personal, or comp time to help their elected bosses, oftentimes when they would otherwise be working their taxpayer-funded jobs. Several elected officials said they did not ask the employees to help, nor was the campaign work required as part of their official duties. But public employees’ decision to pitch in on their bosses’ reelection campaigns can create a delicate dance to avoid illegally mixing political and public work. And staff performing the campaign tasks can nonetheless create uncomfortable optics for the elected officials, according to political watchers.
