Scott Harshbarger

Luther Scott Harshbarger (born December 1, 1941) is an American attorney and Democratic politician. He served as the 56th Massachusetts Attorney General from 1991 to 1999. In 1998, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts but lost a close race to acting Governor Paul Cellucci.

Scott Harshbarger
41st Attorney General of Massachusetts
In office
January 3, 1991 – January 7, 1999
GovernorBill Weld
Paul Cellucci
Preceded byJames Shannon
Succeeded byThomas Reilly
District Attorney of Middlesex County
In office
1983–1991
Preceded byJohn J. Droney
Succeeded byThomas Reilly
Personal details
Born
Luther Scott Harshbarger

(1941-12-01) December 1, 1941
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations		United Independent (2016–2017)
EducationHarvard University (AB, JD)

As of 2016, he served as senior counsel in the Boston law firm of Casner & Edwards, LLP.[1]

Early life and education

Harshbarger was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Harvard College, where he was a halfback on the varsity football team, and Harvard Law School.

Career

After law school, Harshbarger worked as a public defender and civil rights attorney.[2]

Middlesex District Attorney

He was first elected as district attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts in 1982, defeating incumbent DA John Droney in the Democratic primary. He was re-elected in 1986.

Harshbarger was elected President of the Massachusetts Association of District Attorneys and was awarded the Livingston Hall Award by the American Bar Association for Harshbarger's outstanding work in Juvenile Justice.

Attorney general

In 1990, he was elected attorney general of Massachusetts, defeating incumbent James Shannon in the Democratic primary. He was re-elected in 1994 with 70 percent of the vote.[3] Harshbarger was one of the first attorneys general in the nation to sue the tobacco industry for manufacturing a product, cigarettes, which causes disease and death when used as designed by the industry.[4] Harshbarger was elected president of the National Attorneys General Association.

Gubernatorial bid

He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts in the 1998 gubernatorial election. He lost in a close race to incumbent Republican Governor Cellucci.[5] Afterwards, Harshbarger served as president of the public interest organization Common Cause for three years, where he supported efforts to pass the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

Changing party

In June, 2016 Harshbarger announced that he would be leaving the Democratic Party to join the United Independent Party to assist them in reaching the voter enrollment necessary to remain a recognized party in Massachusetts.[6] After a year, he returned to the Democratic Party.[7]

Since 2003, Harshbarger has practiced law in the private sector, focusing on corporate governance and related issues. He is currently Senior Counsel in the Boston law firm of Casner & Edwards, LLP. Prior to joining Casner & Edwards, Harshbarger was Senior Counsel at Proskauer Rose LLP[8] in Boston, MA. Harshbarger has continued to serve the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a private practice attorney by accepting appointments by both Republican and Democratic Governors of MA . He has chaired the Probation Reform Commission and Correctional Reform Commission. He also serves as member of the MA Supreme Judicial Court Management Advisory Board.

Personal life

Harshbarger is married to Judith Stephenson. They have five children.

References
  1. "Former Mass. AG Joins Casner & Edwards - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  2. Scott Harshbarger Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "PD43+ » Search Elections". PD43+. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  4. "Massachusetts attorney general announces restrictions on tobacco sales, advertising". Freedom Forum. AP. January 15, 1999. Archived from the original on November 2, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  5. 1998 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Massachusetts
  6. "Former AG Harshbarger is leaving the Democratic Party". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  7. Schoenberg, Shira (August 20, 2018). "Mass. pols Evan Falchuk, Scott Harshbarger try to 'flip Congress' with online donor site". Mass Live. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  8. Proskauer Rose LLP Archived 2005-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
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