The candidate favored by Donald Trump has won the nomination for the Republican nominee in the Massachusetts governor’s race, defeating a more moderate opponent.
In the latest high-profile triumph for a Trump supporter, former state lawmaker Geoff Diehl defeated businessman Chris Doughty in Tuesday’s primary election. Diehl was complimented by Trump as having a “iron fist.”
Strongly left-leaning Massachusetts features a moderate Republican governor, Charlie Baker, a staunch Trump opponent who won his last election by a landslide but did not seek re-election this time out of fear of a primary challenge.
Diehl’s victory sets up a general election against Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey, who, if she wins in November, will be the first openly lesbian person and first woman to be elected governor of Massachusetts.
Geoff Diehl, a former state lawmaker whom Trump lauded for his ‘iron fist,’ won the Massachusetts Republican selection for governor on Tuesday.
Diehl defeated businessman Chris Doughty (above) in Tuesday’s primary, marking the latest prominent victory for a Trump supporter.
Massachusetts is the most recent blue state this midterm season to pick a Trump supporter in a prominent race, jeopardizing the party’s hopes of winning the general election.
Additionally, primary voters in the liberal states of Connecticut and Maryland, where centrist Republicans have had some success in previous years, selected Trump-backed candidates to face a Democrat in the general election.
Trump enthusiastically supported Diehl, who has embraced the baseless assertions of the former president that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.
Monday, during a telerally, Trump promised his supporters that Diehl would “control your state with an iron fist.”
Diehl told his supporters on Tuesday evening, “We’re going to run a campaign centered on ‘We the People’ – our liberties, rights, and prosperity.”
“Massachusetts is no longer the destination of choice for those seeking security for their liberties and a better life for their families. Now, people are abandoning the area.’
Diehl’s victory sets up a general election race against Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey (above), who, if she wins in November, will be the first openly lesbian person and first woman to be elected governor of Massachusetts.
In a message to DailyMail.com, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel expressed her support for Geoff Diehl, stating, “Congratulations to Geoff Diehl and all of our Republican nominees on their victories in Massachusetts tonight.”
She said, ‘Republicans in Massachusetts are prepared to clean up the Democrats’ mess and halt Joe Biden’s failed program’
In one of the most liberal states, Healey will be a huge favorite in November against Diehl, after her sole opponent for the nomination dropped out but remained on the ballot.
At her victory party Tuesday night, before the GOP race was called for Diehl, the Democratic contender Healey told ecstatic fans, ‘We know he’ll be out of touch with the principles we stand for,’ regardless of which Republican candidate emerged as her opponent.
She added, in reference to both candidates, “They will bring Trumpism to Massachusetts.”
Diehl, the favorite among state Republican Party delegates, has links to Trump dating back to 2016, when he served as the Massachusetts co-chair of Trump’s presidential campaign.
Tuesday in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl embraces a supporter during his primary night victory party.
Tuesday evening, Corey Lewandowski, senior campaign strategist for Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl, speaks with a reporter at a primary night event.
Doughty stated that he supported some of Trump’s policies, but wished to focus on the more costly difficulties facing Massachusetts.
Diehl now accepts Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that he won the 2020 election.
Last year, Diehl stated that he did not believe it was a’stolen election,’ but later claimed that the vote was manipulated, despite dozens of courts, municipal officials, and Trump’s own attorney general stating that the vote was genuine.
His Republican primary opponent, Doughty, has stated that he believes President Joe Biden was duly elected.
Diehl’s challenge in the general election is that his support for Trump may play well among the party’s conservative wing, but could be a political albatross in a state where registered Republicans make up less than 10 percent of the electorate, compared to approximately 31 percent for Democrats and approximately 57 percent for independents.
In 2018, Diehl faced a similar battle when he ran against Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. He garnered slightly over a third of the vote in the general election, despite winning a three-way Republican primary.
Massachusetts has a tradition of electing financially conservative and socially moderate Republican governors, such as previous Governors William Weld and Mitt Romney, to serve as a check on overwhelming Democratic legislative majorities.
Strongly left-leaning Massachusetts features a moderate Republican governor, Charlie Baker (above), a staunch Trump opponent who won his previous election by a landslide.
Baker, another Republican in this type, continues to have widespread support in the state.
Healey has stated that she will try to improve job training programs, reduce the cost of child care, and modernize schools.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision reversing Roe v. Wade, Healey has also pledged to maintain ‘access to safe and legal abortion in Massachusetts.’
However, Healey faces an unusual obstacle in Massachusetts: the so-called attorney general’s curse. Six former Massachusetts attorneys general have run for governor since 1958. All failed.
The state has had a female governor in the past, however she was appointed to the role.
After Governor Paul Cellucci resigned in 2001 to become U.S. ambassador to Canada, the Republican Jane Swift served as interim governor.
Several statewide Democratic primaries, including those for attorney general and secretary of the commonwealth, were also fought on Tuesday.
Former Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell won the Democratic primary for attorney general over Shannon Liss-Riordan, an advocate for workers’ rights.
Former assistant attorney general Quentin Palfrey declared one week before the election that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Campbell; he remained on the ballot.
If elected in November, Campbell would be the first black woman to hold the office in Massachusetts. She will face trial attorney and Republican opponent Jay McMahon, who previously ran against Healey and lost.
Liss-Riordan invested millions of dollars in her own campaign, including $6,3 million in August alone. As attorney general, Healey earned more than $185,000 annually.
The incumbent Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Galvin, who is seeking an eighth term in office, defeated NAACP Boston chapter president Tanisha Sullivan.
In November, Galvin will face Republican Rayla Campbell. If elected, Campbell would be the first Black person to hold the position.
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor over Acton State Representative Tami Gouveia and Longmeadow State Senator Eric Lesser.
State Senator Diana DiZoglio defeated transportation advocate Chris Dempsey in the Democratic primary for state auditor to succeed Suzanne Bump, a Democrat who chose not to seek re-election. In November, DiZoglio will face Republican Anthony Amore.
There are also fought Democratic and Republican primaries for auditor and lieutenant governor, respectively.
None of the nine Democratic incumbents in the state’s congressional delegation face a primary challenge. In the 8th and 9th congressional districts, two contentious Republican primaries occurred.
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