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The power of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement will be put to the test again next week when Massachusetts Republicans choose their nominee for governor.
Trump endorsed former state Rep. Geoff Diehl back in October of 2021, when it was still not clear whether GOP Gov. Charlie Baker would run for re-election. Baker announced his retirement two months later, citing ongoing efforts to combat the Covid pandemic and saying a run for a third term would be a “distraction.”
Diehl co-chaired Trump’s Massachusetts campaign in 2016 and he ran unsuccessfully against Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2018, losing to Warren by 24 percentage points. He has has echoed Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged.”
Despite having support from Trump and the state party, Diehl is facing a well-funded opponent in the primary in businessman Chris Doughty, who co-owns a manufacturing company.
Doughty has contributed or loaned his campaign nearly $2.1 million, and has vastly outspent Diehl on the airwaves, per AdImpact. Doughty has spent more than $1 million on ads through Tuesday’s primary, while Diehl has spent just $26,000 on radio spots.
Doughty hasn’t gone directly after Diehl in his TV ads tracked by AdImpact, instead targeting Attorney General Maura Healey, the only Democrat running for governor.
Healey became the lone Democrat in the race after state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz ended her campaign in June, although her name will still be on the primary ballot. As attorney general, Healey built a national profile suing the Trump administration over a wide range of issues and has proven to be a strong fundraiser.
Healey would become the first elected female governor (former GOP Gov. Jane Swift served as governor but was not elected; she took office in 2001 after the then-governor resigned to become an ambassador). Healey would also be the state’s first openly lesbian governor.
The Cook Political Report rates the Massachusetts governor’s race Solidly Democratic.