Trump-Backed Republican to Take on Massachusetts AG in Longshot Race for Governor
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Massachusetts’ Democratic attorney general Maura Healey will face off against Geoff Diehl, a Trump-backed former state legislator, in the state’s gubernatorial election in November, according to projections by the Associated Press.
Healey is seen as likely to win in the heavily blue state that has often been receptive to Republican gubernatorial candidates. The race is one of Democrats best opportunities to flip a seat; incumbent Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican and Trump critic, has chosen not to run for a third term.
Healey, who was the country’s first openly gay attorney general, was expected to win given that her only opponent, state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, suspended her campaign, despite her name still appearing on the ballot.
Diehl defeated political newcomer Chris Doughty to receive the Republican nomination. Diehl is seen as a far more conservative figure than Baker, who is more moderate.
Healey has far out-fundraised Diehl so far, with more than $4.7 million in her campaign war chest, according to the Boston Globe. Diehl, meanwhile, began September with less than $17,000 on hand.
“Geoff is a proven fighter who successfully pushes back on the ultraliberal extremists,” Trump said of Diehl during a tele-rally on Monday. “He’ll rule your state with an iron fist, and he’ll do what has to be done.”
Diehl has parroted Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, despite initially acknowledging President Biden’s win.
Meanwhile, Healey sued the Trump administration nearly 100 times, according to the Boston Globe.
Diehl ran for U.S. Senate against Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) in 2018, who won the race by 24 percentage points. Biden won the state by more than 33 percentage points in 2020.
Former state representative Leah Cole Allen, who paired up with Diehl in the primary, won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Allen previously left politics to focus on her nursing career, according to the Boston Globe, but was pushed to return after losing her job because she refused to get a Covid-19 vaccine after working on a Covid floor during the pandemic.
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll won the three-way Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
Andrea Campbell, who was the first black woman to be president of the Boston City Council and was endorsed by U.S. Senator Ed Markey, emerged as the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, defeating labor lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan, who had been backed by Senator Elizabeth Warren.
