GOP HOPEFULS SQUARING OFF
Herald Radio to host Senate rivals
The three Republican contenders vying to challenge U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will face off for the first time tomorrow in a potentially pivotal debate on Boston Herald Radio.
The hourlong debate live on the “Battenfeld” show, set for noon in the Herald Radio studio, will be the first time all three GOP candidates sit down together and tangle over the issues — ranging from taxes to President Trump to foreign policy.
The showdown on Herald Radio comes less than one month before the Sept. 4 primary, when Republican voters decide which candidate will face Warren in the November general election.
State Rep. Geoff Diehl, businessman John Kingston and former state consumer affairs chief Beth Lindstrom have been campaigning largely out of the spotlight for most of the year, but that’s about to change.
Diehl won the endorsement of the state Republican Party in April and has been aggressively going after Warren on issues such as taxes and the Democratic incumbent’s fiery rhetoric, such as her claim over the weekend that the U.S. justice system is “racist.”
Kingston has spent several million dollars of his own money to raise his profile and get out his message, which is focused on ending the divisiveness in Washington.
Lindstrom, who owns a salon in Groton and once was the director of the state Republican Party, is hoping for an upset like the one she helped engineer in 2010. Lindstrom was the campaign manager for Scott Brown, who shocked the nation by winning a special election to replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Looming over the race is Trump, whom Democrats are expected to try to tie to the Republican candidates.
Diehl was the co-chairman of Trump’s 2016 campaign in Massachusetts and has been the most supportive of Trump’s policies on issues like immigration and tax reform.
Kingston left the Republican Party in 2016 to protest Trump and made an unsuccessful effort to recruit a third-party candidate into the race. But he rejoined the party to make his Senate run and has supported President Trump on some issues like tax reform. Kingston has sharply criticized Warren over what he calls her divisive rhetoric.
Lindstrom has been trying to position herself as the most electable candidate in the race. As the only woman in the field, she argues she has the best chance of beating Warren in November.
Both Lindstrom and Diehl have gone after Warren on the presidential front, claiming the Democratic incumbent is more focused on a 2020 White House race than representing her Massachusetts constituents.
The debate tomorrow could hinge on which candidate best positions himself or herself as a solid conservative.
While Trump is hugely unpopular among the Massachusetts electorate, he enjoys strong support among Republicans in the state, who will be most likely to vote in the primary. FIRST DEBATE: GOP U.S. Senate candidates Beth Lindstrom, top, John Kingston, far left, and Geoff Diehl will debate on Herald Radio’s ‘Battenfeld’ tomorrow.