Millis DTC Endorses Tamisha Civil for Governor's Council

Why Millis DTC Endorses Tamisha Civil for Governor's Council

The Millis Democratic Town Committee endorses Tamisha Civil for re-election to the Massachusetts Governor's Council, District 2. Millis is in District 2. The general election is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

This is a down-ballot race. It is also one of the most consequential seats on the ballot for anyone who cares about the courts.

What the Governor's Council does

The Governor's Council is an eight-member elected body. It confirms or rejects the governor's nominees for judgeships, clerk magistrates, and the Parole Board. It also votes on pardons and commutations.

Judges in Massachusetts serve until age 70. A single confirmation vote can shape a courtroom for decades. Most voters skip this line on the ballot because they do not know what it is. That is the reason to pay attention to it.

Her record

Councillor Civil has held the District 2 seat since January 2025. She was elected in 2024 with 57 percent of the vote. She and District 5 Councillor Eunice Zeigler, both daughters of Haitian immigrants, were the first women of color elected to the Council.

Her career has been spent inside the system the Council oversees:

• About four years as a victim witness advocate in the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, helping crime victims navigate the courts
• About six years as a Massachusetts probation officer
• Work in a domestic violence homeless shelter
• A master's degree in criminal justice and leadership from Northeastern University

She has been endorsed in past campaigns by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, and Progressive Massachusetts.

Why it matters

Civil knows the courts from both sides. She has sat with crime victims, and she has supervised people on probation. That is the range of experience a Council member needs when deciding who belongs on the bench.

She also knows what a wrongful conviction costs. Her cousin spent 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before he was exonerated. She has said that experience is part of why she ran. The Council votes on pardons and commutations. Firsthand knowledge of how the system can fail is not an abstraction in that role.

Civil does not have a law degree, and some voters will ask about that. Most councillors have been lawyers, and the Council has long reflected one profession. The job is to judge whether a nominee is fit to sit in judgment over others. Ten years working inside the courts, alongside the people who appear in them, is direct preparation for that.

How to vote

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Tamisha Civil is on the Democratic line for Governor's Council, District 2. Vote the whole ballot.

Find your polling place at wheredoivotema.com. Learn more about the candidate at tamishacivil.com.

Sources

• Boston Haitian Reporter: Two women with Haitian roots elected to Governor's Council
• Canton Citizen: Life, work experience propel Civil into political arena
• Influential Women: Tamisha Civil
• Access Framingham: Four Democrats race for District 2 nomination
• Progressive Massachusetts: District 2 endorsement and town list
• WBUR: Governor's Council incumbents sweep primary challenges

Millis Democracy Endorses Djuna Perkins

Why Millis Democracy Endorses Djuna Perkins for Norfolk County DA

Our endorsement

Millis Democracy endorses Djuna Perkins for Norfolk County District Attorney on November 3.

The DA race rarely gets the attention of the top of the ballot, but few offices touch daily life in Millis more directly. The Norfolk DA's office handles criminal prosecutions in 27 cities and towns south and west of Boston, ours included. It decides which cases get brought, how victims are treated, and whether the law applies the same way to everyone.

A trust problem we can't ignore

Outgoing DA Michael Morrissey came under heavy criticism for his office's handling of two cases: the Karen Read prosecution and the investigation into the death of Sandra Birchmore, a 23-year-old pregnant woman authorities allege was killed by a Stoughton police officer.

After two Read trials ended with only an OUI conviction, the office offered the public no statement. Whatever anyone thinks of the verdict, silence from the county's top prosecutor is not how public trust gets rebuilt.

Djuna Perkins saw this early. She launched her campaign in 2024, shortly after federal agents arrested former Stoughton detective Matthew Farwell in the Birchmore case, and well before Morrissey announced his retirement. Challenging an entrenched incumbent was not the safe move. She made it anyway.

Experience for the job

Perkins, a Dedham resident, has 34 years as a Massachusetts lawyer. Nearly 10 of those were as a prosecutor, serving as an Assistant Attorney General and as an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County, where she supervised dozens of attorneys and thousands of cases. She has spent 20 more years representing crime victims and investigating abuse in schools and workplaces.

She has tried cases in District and Superior Court and argued before the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court. That is the daily work of a DA's office, and she has done it.

The people who supervised her vouch for her. She is endorsed by former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, former Suffolk DA Ralph Martin, and Progressive Massachusetts. In September, Norfolk County Democrats chose her from a field of seven in the primary.

What she stands for

Perkins has put her mission plainly: no one should be treated differently under the law because of political connections, money, or privilege. Protect victims. Prosecute those who harm others. Keep every resident safe.

Her plan follows from that. She has committed to rebuilding the office around professionalism and high ethical standards, investigating the Stoughton Police Department's youth programs in light of the Birchmore case, and working directly with Norfolk County's communities to earn back trust.

At Millis Democracy, we talk often about what happens when power escapes accountability. Equal justice under law is one of the oldest checks we have. Djuna Perkins wants to restore it in Norfolk County, and we want to help her do it.

Vote November 3

Djuna Perkins faces former state prosecutor Joe Pagliarulo in the general election. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Check your polling place and early voting options at sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA, and bring a neighbor.

Learn more, volunteer, or donate at djunaperkins.com.

Millis backed Djuna in September. Let's finish the job.

Sources

• Djuna Perkins wins Norfolk DA Democratic primary, Boston.com
• Djuna Perkins claims victory in Norfolk DA Democratic primary, Boston Globe
• Djuna Perkins is best prepared to lead Norfolk DA's office, Boston Globe letters
• Opponents criticize Norfolk DA's silence after Karen Read verdict, NBC Boston
• The Martin Institute Welcomes Djuna Perkins, Stonehill College

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