BOSTON — Republicans Mike Minogue and Brian Shortsleeve will face off in the upcoming GOP primary for a chance to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Maura Healey in the general election.
Minogue, the former CEO of a biomedical device company and a top Republican donor, cinched the state Republican Party’s endorsement with a landslide win at the GOP’s convention in April, picking up 70% of the votes from about 1,800 party delegates.
He argues that Massachusetts is falling behind economically because of regulations, high taxes and Democratic policies that have hurt the middle class and businesses.
“Massachusetts isn’t working for everyone,” Minogue says in a 30-second campaign ad. “The political elite are doing fine, but families struggle to pay their energy bills, healthcare, childcare, and their jobs are leaving.”
On the campaign trail, the former combat veteran has focused largely on Healey’s tenure in the governor’s office, and argues that the one-party system in Massachusetts is “over-spending, over-taxing, over-regulating and forcing businesses elsewhere” as rising costs squeeze household budgets.
Minogue has vowed if elected governor to repeal the MBTA Communities Act, which requires cities and towns on the transit system to provide more zoning for multifamily housing, rollback the state’s ‘sanctuary’ protections that limit cooperation with federal immigration agents and overhaul clean energy policies that he says are driving up energy costs.
Shortsleeve, a venture capitalist and former MBTA official, launched his campaign last year pledging to “bring common-sense conservative leadership to Beacon Hill” and prioritize cutting “wasteful” government spending and taxes to help make Massachusetts more affordable.
“Everything is more expensive with Maura Healey in the Corner Office,” he said in a recent campaign statement. “We’ve spent hundreds of millions on emergency housing for migrants, while homeless veterans sleep on the streets. And we’re dead last in job growth nationwide. That’s not leadership — it’s failure.”
On the campaign trail, Shortsleeve has criticized Minogue as a political newcomer, arguing that his experience on Beacon Hill gives him a better chance of defeating Healey.
In a recent op-ed, Shortsleeve pointed out that Massachusetts has one of the highest SNAP payment error rates in the country — with taxpayers possibly on the hook for $300 million a year in penalties from the federal government — and pointed to his efforts to root out fraud during the Baker administration.
“When Governor Baker called me to turn around a government in crisis, I audited everything, cut the waste, and put fraudsters in jail,” he said. “As governor, I will bring that same approach to every agency on Beacon Hill.”
At the party’s convention, Shortsleeve picked up 16% of the vote from delegates, placing second and earning him a spot on the primary ballot. He had previously qualified for the ballot by submitting the required number of signatures.
A University of Massachusetts poll released this week showed Minogue leading Shortsleeve 53% to 36% among likely GOP voters, with about 18% of those surveys still undecided.
The winner of the GOP gubernatorial primary will face Healey, a first-term Democrat, in the Nov. 3 election. Healey, who is seeking another four-year term, isn’t facing a primary challenger.
A former prosecutor and state attorney general, she made history in 2022 as she became Massachusetts’ first woman and openly lesbian governor, and returned the office to Democratic hands for the first time in a decade.
Healey launched her reelection bid in January with a video and a new campaign website that touted her accomplishments over the past three years and laid out her plans for a second term.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Shortsleeve’s running mate New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver is the only candidate on the Republican ticket.
That’s because several other GOP hopefuls running for the second-in-command post were knocked off the primary ballot after failing to submit the required number of signatures to qualify.
The GOP candidates, including Peabody at-large councilwoman Anne Manning Martin, say they were duped by a hired signature gatherer who turned in fraudulent petitions. Manning Martin is running as a write-in candidate.
Oliver will face incumbent Democratic Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll in the November elections. Like Healey, Driscoll faces no opposition on the Democratic primary ballot.
Even though candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in party primaries, winners are matched on the general election ballot.
Overall, Republicans face long odds winning control of Beacon Hill, with Democrats holding the governor’s office, attorney general and other constitutional offices, and a super majority in the state House of Representatives and Senate. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 3-1 margin.
Recent polls have shown Healey with a double digit advantage over her Republican challengers, with many voters not familiar with the challengers.
Despite that, the state’s voters have a tradition of sending GOP candidates to the governor’s office, with five of the state’s last six chief executives being Republicans.
The Democratic Party has criticized both of our challengers, seeking to align them with Republican President Donald Trump who remains unpopular in the deep blue state.
Christian M. Wade covers Massachusetts state government and politics for CNHI News and North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.