Trump-backed Diehl wins Mass. GOP primary
Democratic opponent heavily favored to win
BOSTON — Geoff Diehl, a former state representative endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has won the Republican nomination for Massachusetts governor over businessman Chris Doughty.
The victory for Diehl sets up a general election contest against Democratic Attorney General
Maura Healey, who would be the first openly gay person and the first woman elected governor if she wins in November.
The state’s current governor, Republican Charlie Baker, decided against seeking a third term.
Healey, whose only rival for the nomination dropped out of the race but remained on the ballot, will be the heavy favorite in November against Diehl in one of the most liberal states in the nation.
Diehl, the favorite among state Republican Party delegates in Massachusetts, has ties to Trump stretching to 2016, when he served as co-chair for Trump’s presidential campaign in the state.
Diehl has also opposed COVID-19 protocols and hailed the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Doughty said he supported some of Trump’s initiatives but wanted to focus on challenges facing Massachusetts,
which he said is increasingly unaffordable.
Registered Republicans make up less than 10 percent of the electorate compared to about 31 percent for Democrats and about 57 percent for independents in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has a history of electing fiscally conservative, socially moderate Republican governors — including former Govs. William Weld and Mitt Romney — to provide a check on overwhelming Democratic legislative majorities.
Baker, another Republican in that mold, has remained popular.
Healey has said she would work to expand job training programs, make child care more affordable and modernize schools.
Healey has also said she would protect “access to safe and legal abortion in Massachusetts” in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
But Healey does face an oddball hurdle in Massachusetts — the socalled curse of the attorney general. Since 1958, six former Massachusetts attorneys general have sought the governor’s office. All failed.
The state has previously had a female governor, though she was appointed to the position. Republican Jane Swift served as acting governor after Gov. Paul Cellucci stepped down in 2001 to become U.S. ambassador to Canada.
Tuesday’s election also features several statewide contested Democratic primaries, including for attorney general and secretary of the commonwealth. None of the state’s nine incumbent Democratic U.S. House members is facing primary challengers.
There are two contested Republican primaries in the 8th and 9th congressional districts.