Diehl picks ‘running mate’
Danvers mom to to run for lieutenant governor
Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl’s “running mate” will be a 33year-old working mother from Danvers.
She is fellow conservative Leah Allen, a former state representative from Peabody who served briefly in the House with Diehl before giving up her seat to become a registered nurse.
She was just 24 when she was first elected in a district dominated by Democrats in a 2013 special election.
The mother of a 2-year-old and a 5-month-old, Allen is planning to bring a working mom’s perspective and experience to the campaign as well as to the governor’s office.
She will also bring her experience and views on health care, particularly in the area of mandated COVID-19 vaccinations, which she opposed while pregnant.
She now faces the looming possibility of losing her nursing position at a North Shore hospital because of her anti-vax stand, even though she treated COVID patients during the pandemic.
Diehl, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, is also a strong opponent of government COVID-19 mandated vaccinations.
Allen said, “I see myself supporting Geoff Diehl. He is a strong leader, and that is something we need.”
“‘We will be working together as a team,” said Diehl, who is expected to make the announcement shortly. “Leah will be more of a partner than anything else. She will not be window dressing,” he added, as other lieutenant governors have been in the past.
Diehl said he chose Allen over a half dozen other potential running mates because “she is a fighter for what she believes in” as well as for her experience in health care.
Allen loved her last campaign so much that she married the campaign treasurer, already her boyfriend. He is Ryan Allen, a licensed elevator mechanic and a union member who is obviously electrified with her candidacy.
Leah Allen, a conservative in the Diehl mold, worked with Diehl in the House when Diehl in 2014 fought to get the question of a Democrat-sponsored automatic gas tax hike on the ballot for over ratification. It was defeated.
In 2015, after being reelected, Allen, who had been working part time as a practical nurse in a nursing home, resigned to pursue her goal of becoming a registered nurse. She did this after earning a bachelor’s degree at Saint Anselm College.
While candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor are elected as a team in the November election, they run individually in the September primary.
However, it has become politically fashionable for candidates to team up in the primary and run as a unit, even though voters vote for them separately. The concept helps with messaging, fundraising and organization.
Outgoing Republican Gov. Charlie Baker was elected twice with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito as his chosen primary running mate.
Diehl is being opposed in the GOP primary by Wrentham businessman Chris Doughty, who has chosen former Leicester state Rep. Kate Campanale, 36, as his running mate.
So, while you will have Diehl, 52, and Doughty, 59, going after each other, the two women of another generation will be squaring off.
Of the four candidates, Diehl is the only one with statewide campaign experience. He was defeated for the U.S. Senate by Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2018. He is considered the front-runner in this primary.
The winners will run against whoever the Democrats nominate for governor and lieutenant governor.
As for Allen, former veteran Democrat Ted Speliotis of Danvers put it this way when Allen resigned from the House in 2015 to pursue her nursing career. He said, “She’s young enough that her future in politics might not be over.”
Apparently, he was right.