Deb Goldberg

Deborah Beth Goldberg (born May 11, 1954) is an American politician, businesswoman, lawyer, and member of the Rabinovitz family. She is the Treasurer of Massachusetts, serving since January 2015. She was a member of the Board of Selectmen for the town of Brookline, Massachusetts from 1998 to 2004, serving the last two terms as chair. Goldberg was a candidate in the 2006 Massachusetts Democratic primary election for lieutenant governor. In 2018, Goldberg was re-elected as State Treasurer.

Early life and education Goldberg was raised in Brookline. She graduated from Boston University with a bachelor's degree in 1975, and then received her law degree from Boston College in 1983 and her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1985.

Goldberg's family immigrated to Massachusetts and opened a grocery store in Boston's North End in 1892. The family opened additional stores and their business grew into what eventually became Stop & Shop, the largest supermarket chain in New England. Goldberg helped run this family business when she was younger and attributes some of her stance on advocating for local issues to her upbringing with a family-run market. She relates to her constituents with rhetoric such as "I say my family is your family" in her speeches. Though she received an MBA, she states “my real MBA came from working in the business.” The strongly worded rebuke resulted in a vocal reader response and a separate endorsement from Stan Spiegel, a Brookline Tab columnist and Brookline Town Meeting member.

2014 campaign for treasurer

On February 27, 2014, Goldberg formally announced her candidacy for State Treasurer. At the Massachusetts Democratic Convention, she was the top vote-getter in the race for Treasurer, winning 38.9% of the vote. Goldberg was the first to release a televised advertisement in the race on August 4, 2014. Goldberg was seated as Treasurer January 21, 2015 after defeating Republican Mike Heffernan in the general election.

2018 re-election

In 2018, Goldberg was re-elected to her position as State Treasurer with 67.6% of the vote. She defeated State Representative and Republican National Committeewoman Keiko Orrall who was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

2022 re-election

Goldberg filed paperwork to run for the open congressional seat in the Massachusetts 4th congressional district in 2020, but decided against it in October 2019. The seat was ultimately won by Jake Auchincloss. In 2022, Goldberg defeated former software engineer and Libertarian nominee Cristina Crawford. With no Republican opponent, Goldberg was re-elected as State Treasurer with 76.6% of the vote.

Other work Prior to becoming Treasurer, Goldberg served as president of the board of directors of Adoptions with Love, was an Advisory Board member of the Greater Boston Food Bank, is a Commissioner on the Town of Brookline's Neighborhood Conservation District Commission, was Senate President Therese Murray's appointee to the Treasurer's Commonwealth Covenant Fund, and sat on the advisory board of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard Kennedy School.

Goldberg is involved with various events for Jewish organizations such as the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action and was the first Jewish woman elected to statewide office in Massachusetts.

Controversy In November 2014, it was reported that Goldberg had admonished an employee of Adoptions with Love for seeking employment with the State Treasurer's office without first informing her current employer of her job seeking plans. Goldberg came to this knowledge in her official capacity as Treasurer-elect, and her actions were seen as a breach of ethics.

Electoral history

Personal life She is married to Michael Winter, with whom she has two children.

Recognition Goldberg received the 2016 Excellence in Leadership Award from The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC) and the Massachusetts Association of Jewish Federations (MAJF)'s "Women in Leadership" reception.

In 2023, Goldberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boston Arts Academy, Boston's only public arts high school, honoring her deep-rooted connection to the arts.