Ricardo Arroyo (politician)

Ricardo N. Arroyo is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Massachusetts. He is currently a member of the Boston City Council.[2]

Ricardo Arroyo
Member of the Boston City Council
from the 5th district
Assumed office
January 2020
Preceded byTimothy McCarthy
Personal details
Born1987/1988 (age 35–36)[1]
Boston, Massachusetts
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceHyde Park, Boston[1]
Alma materMassachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Loyola University Chicago[1]
Websitevotearroyo.com

Biography

Arroyo first ran for a seat on the Boston City Council in 2019; at the time, he was working as a public defender.[3] He successfully won the District 5 (Hyde Park and Roslindale) seat on the council in the November 2019 election,[4] took office in January 2020, and was re-elected in the November 2021 election.[5]

In early February 2022, Arroyo announced his candidacy for the position of district attorney (DA) of Suffolk County (Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop), Massachusetts.[6] The position had previously been held by Rachael Rollins, prior to her appointment as United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.[6] Kevin Hayden, appointed by Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker as interim DA, declared his candidacy shortly afterwards.[7] Arroyo and Hayden both gained spots on the Democratic ballot in the primary election scheduled for September 6, 2022.[8]

On August 23, 2022, The Boston Globe published an article regarding two instances of sexual assault reports involving Arroyo that were investigated by police in 2005 and 2007. Arroyo was not charged in either instance, and he denied the allegations reported by the Globe.[9] An attorney, speaking at a news conference on behalf of the 2007 complainant, stated that Arroyo never assaulted her client. Further that the her client thought the Globe twisted her words.[10] Arroyo stated that he was unaware of allegations until being informed by the Globe. He was required to disclose being the subject of any criminal investigation that he may have been aware of when applying for his law license in 2014.[9] The report led to the withdrawal of some endorsements in his run for the Suffolk DA position.[11] The president of the Boston City Council, Ed Flynn, also removed Arroyo from two committee chairmanships and from his position as vice president of the council.[12] On August 30, the Globe published comments from an August 29 interview with the woman who accused Arroyo of assault in 2005—she stood by her accusations of coerced sex by Arroyo.[13] The following day, Arroyo lost the support of senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Boston mayor Michelle Wu, as they withdrew their endorsements of him for Suffolk DA.[14]

Following the Democratic primary election held on September 6, and with results showing Hayden with a lead of approximately seven points (53.8% to 46.2%), Arroyo conceded the race via Twitter the following morning.[15]

After the past sexual assault accusations surfaced, City Council President Ed Flynn suspended Arroyo from his city council committee chairmanships.[16]

Personal life

Arroyo's father, Felix D. Arroyo, and brother, Felix G. Arroyo, both previously served on the Boston City Council as at-large members.[1]

References
  1. McDonald, Danny; Alanez, Tonya (February 8, 2022). "City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo to run for Suffolk district attorney". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  2. "Ricardo Arroyo points to public defender background in his case for Suffolk DA". News. 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  3. Fox, Jeremy C.; Hilliard, John (November 1, 2019). "Meet the candidates for Boston City Council district seats". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  4. "City of Boston - Unofficial Results - UPDATED" (PDF). boston.gov. November 13, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  5. Waller, John (November 2, 2021). "2021 Boston City Council election results". Boston.Com. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  6. Mitchell, Jack (February 8, 2022). "Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo is running for Suffolk County DA". WBUR-FM. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  7. Wintersmith, Saraya (16 February 2022). "Interim Suffolk Co. DA Kevin Hayden is running for a full term". GBH. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  8. "2022 State Primary Candidates: Democratic Candidates For Nomination". MA.us. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  9. Ryan, Andrew; Estes, Andrea; Allen, Evan (August 23, 2022). "Suffolk DA candidate Ricardo Arroyo was twice investigated in possible sexual assaults. He says he was never informed". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  10. "DA candidate responds to resurfacing of old sexual assault allegations". WCVB. 2022-08-25. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  11. McDonald, Danny; Allen, Evan; Estes, Andrea; Ryan, Andrew (August 24, 2022). "Amid criticism and dropped endorsements, DA candidate Arroyo pushes back on revelation of past sex assault investigations". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  12. McDonald, Danny (August 29, 2022). "In wake of allegations, Ed Flynn strips Ricardo Arroyo of council vice presidency, chairmanships". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  13. Estes, Andrea; Allen, Evan (August 30, 2022). "Woman who accused Suffolk DA candidate Ricardo Arroyo of sexual assault breaks silence: 'The lies. ... It makes me sick'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  14. Katcher, Will (August 31, 2022). "Ricardo Arroyo loses endorsements from Michelle Wu, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey after sexual assault developments". Boston.com. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  15. Fieldman, Luis (September 7, 2022). "Suffolk County DA race: Ricardo Arroyo concedes to Kevin Hayden in scandal-heavy primary". masslive.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  16. Wintersmith, Saraya (29 August 2022). "Boston City Council president suspends Arroyo's committee chairmanships". WGBH. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
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