Chang-Diaz move gives Healey a financial boost in bid for governor
The decision of state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz to drop out of the race for governor is an important gift to Maura Healey.
Not only will Healey, the twoterm attorney general, now run unopposed for the Democratic nomination, but she will be free from attacks coming from a progressive opponent who is to the left of her.
Ending her candidacy was a bitter pill for ChangDiaz, the veteran state senator from Jamaica Plain, to swallow.
Unlike Healey, ChangDiaz was willing to take on Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and announced her candidacy well before Baker said he would not seek re-election.
Healey had no plans to run against Baker, but only got in the race after Baker announced that he would not seek a third term.
So, Chang-Diaz’s hard feelings at being elbowed aside are understandable, even though the writing was on the wall. Healey, with two statewide campaigns under her belt, was better known, had a better organization and could raise more campaign money.
In addition, Healey built a national reputation by attacking Donald Trump when he was president, filing suit against the former president over 50 times, which endeared her to many Democrats and progressives.
How hard did ChangDiaz take it? Hard enough in that she did not endorse Healey and will not campaign for her. She said she would use her energy to campaign for fellow progressives running for lesser offices
She will not even vote for Healey, but will vote for herself since her name will still be on the Democrat primary ballot.
She said, “I am keeping my name on the ballot because I think the voters deserve to have options when deciding who to vote for and because it’s a historic step forward to have gotten the first woman of color on the ballot for governor of Massachusetts.”
Chang-Diaz is the first Latina elected to the state Senate. Her father was the first Hispanic-American astronaut.
Healey is the first openly gay woman running for governor in Massachusetts and, if elected, would be the state’s first lesbian chief executive.
When it comes down to it, though, the progressives who supported ChangDiaz will end up voting for Healey.
Not only will Healey reach out to them, they have no other gubernatorial candidate to vote for, unless they are whacked enough to vote Republican.
In an insipid statement, Healey praised Chang-Diaz for her “inspired leadership” and the inspiration she provided to “the young girls who finally saw themselves represented in a candidate for the highest office in the state.”
That aside, while ChangDiaz did not come out in support of Healey, her quitting the race nevertheless contributed to Healey’s campaign in a major way.
With no primary opponent, Healey’s record as attorney general will not come up as an issue in the primary as it naturally would have, given an opponent.
But it is a financial windfall as well. Healey, who has raised over $5 million in campaign funds so far, would have been forced to spend anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million in a primary campaign to defeat Chang-Diaz.
The money Healey is saving is in essence an unrecorded campaign contribution. It is money Healey can save for the general election in November
Healey’s $5 million is not only more money than Chang-Diaz could raise, it is even more money than the two Republican candidates running for governor combined have raised.
They are Trump-endorsed Geoff Diehl, who got the nod for candidate at the Republican convention, and Wrentham businessman Chris Doughty.
So, while Healey gets a pass, Diehl and Doughty will be going after each other in the GOP primary.
Whoever staggers out of that fight a winner will then face a well-financed, well-rested, well-organized Maura Healey in an overwhelmingly progressive and Democrat state. Good luck with that, boys.