Mary Moriarty is a 31 year public servant who has never run for office before. After serving as a public defender for 25 years, and the Chief Hennepin County Public Defender for another 6 years, Mary is now running to bring transformative change to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The first women to serve as Hennepin County Chief Public Defender, Mary was also the first openly queer person in that role. Moriarty led the office in the fight against the racially disparate impacts of the criminal system and independent observers like the National Center for State Courts determined that her office was one of the best public defender offices in the country. Despite the support of the staff at her office the Board of Public Defense made the wildly controversial decision not to renew Mary’s appointment in 2020 because of the discomfort she caused actors in the system by speaking boldly about the racism within our system- prompting a public outcry and demands for an investigation by Attorney General Keith Ellison.