In the contest for governor of Massachusetts, the Republican nominee supported by Donald Trump defeated a rival who was seen as the more moderate contender.
In the latest high-profile triumph for a Trump supporter, Geoff Diehl, a former state lawmaker whom Trump lauded for using a “iron fist,” upset businessman Chris Doughty in Tuesday’s primary election.
Massachusetts has a strong left-leaning governor at the moment named Charlie Baker who is a moderate Republican and a fervent Trump opponent. Baker won his previous election handily but decided not to run for re-election this time due to primary concerns.
With his victory, Diehl will face Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey in the general election. If Healey prevails, she would become Massachusetts’ first out homosexual governor and the state’s first female governor.
Republican voters made Massachusetts the most recent blue state to select a Trump supporter in a prominent contest this election season, endangering the party’s hopes of winning in the general.
Trump-backed candidates were also chosen by primary voters in Connecticut and Maryland, liberal areas where moderate Republicans have had some success in recent elections. These candidates will face a Democrat in the general election.
Diehl, who has embraced the former president’s unsubstantiated assertions that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, had received a fervent Trump endorsement.
At a rally on Monday, Trump promised attendees that Diehl will “control your state with an iron hand.”
We’re going to run a campaign that is clearly focused on “We the people” – our liberties, our rights, and our wealth, Diehl said to supporters on Tuesday night.
Massachusetts is no longer the state where people swarm to safeguard their liberties and create better lives for their families. Nowadays, people are emigrating from there.
Congratulations to Geoff Diehl and all of our Republican candidates on their victory tonight in Massachusetts, said Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement to DailyMail.com.
She said, “Republicans in Massachusetts are prepared to clean up Democrats’ messes and halt Joe Biden’s failing plan.”
In November, Healey will face off against Diehl in one of the most liberal states in the country as the overwhelming favourite after her lone opponent for the nomination withdrew but remained on the ballot.
The Democratic nominee Healey said to jubilant fans at her victory celebration on Tuesday night before the GOP race for Diehl was called, “We know he’ll be out of touch with the ideals we stand for,” regardless of who emerged as her opponent.
She said, “They’ll bring Trumpism to Massachusetts,” in reference to both candidates.
Diehl has links to Trump dating back to 2016, when he worked as co-chair for Trump’s presidential campaign in Massachusetts. He is the favourite among state Republican Party delegates.
Doughty said that although he agreed with some of Trump’s policies, he preferred to concentrate on the problems confronting Massachusetts, which he claimed was becoming more and more costly.
Diehl has come to accept Trump’s erroneous assertions that he won the 2020 presidential election.
Even though several courts, municipal authorities, and Trump’s own attorney general stated the vote was lawful, Diehl subsequently claimed that the election was rigged, after admitting last year that he didn’t believe it was a “stolen election.”
Meanwhile, his GOP opponent Doughty has said that he thinks President Joe Biden was legally elected.
Diehl faces a challenge in the general election because, while backing Trump may be popular with the party’s conservative wing, it could be a political liability in a state where the percentage of voters who identify as Republicans is less than 10%, compared to 31% for Democrats and 57 percent for independents.
When he ran against Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2018, Diehl had a similar difficulty. He prevailed in a three-way Republican primary, but in the general election, he only received little more than a third of the vote.
In order to balance off lopsided Democratic legislative majorities, Massachusetts has a tradition of appointing financially conservative, socially moderate Republican governors, such as past governors William Weld and Mitt Romney.
Baker, another such Republican, has maintained a high level of support in the state.
Healey has said that she would try to increase the number of job training programmes, lower the cost of child care, and modernise schools.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Healey has further said that she would defend “access to safe and legal abortion in Massachusetts.”
Healey must overcome a peculiar obstacle in Massachusetts, known as the “curse of the attorney general.” Six previous Massachusetts attorneys general have run for governor since 1958. All failed.
Although she was appointed to the role, the state has previously had a female governor.
After Republican Paul Cellucci resigned as governor in 2001 to take a position as the United States’ ambassador to Canada, Republican Jane Swift filled in.
Democratic statewide primaries for the offices of attorney general and secretary of the commonwealth were also held on Tuesday.
Andrea Campbell, a former member of the Boston City Council, beat Shannon Liss-Riordan, a worker’s rights lawyer, in the Democratic primary for attorney general.
A week before the election, Quentin Palfrey, a third candidate, declared he was suspending his candidacy and supporting Campbell; he was still on the ballot.
If Campbell is elected in November, she will be the first black woman to occupy the position in Massachusetts. Republican trial lawyer Jay McMahon, who previously ran against Healey and was unsuccessful, will be her opponent.
Millions of dollars of Liss-personal Riordan’s money were invested in her campaign, including $6.3 million in August alone. As attorney general, Healey received a yearly salary of more than $185,000.
Tanisha Sullivan, head of the Boston chapter of the NAACP, lost to incumbent Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who is running for an eighth term in office.
In November, Galvin will compete against Campbell. If elected, Campbell would be the first Black person to hold the position.
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor against state Rep. Tami Gouveia of Acton and state Sen. Eric Lesser of Longmeadow.
State Senator Diana DiZoglio beat transportation advocate Chris Dempsey in the Democratic primary for state auditor in order to replace Suzanne Bump, a Democrat who decided not to run for reelection. Republican Anthony Amore will be DiZoglio’s opponent in November.
Both the Democratic and Republican primaries for auditor and lieutenant governor are hotly fought.
There are no primary opponents for any of the nine Democratic U.S. House incumbents in the state. The 8th and 9th congressional districts each had a competitive Republican primary.