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Attorney General Maura Healey won the Democratic primary for Massachusetts governor on Tuesday, bringing her one step closer to becoming the first openly gay candidate and first woman elected to the state’s top political office — eight years after she was elected the nation’s first openly gay attorney general.
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 the winner of the Republican primary. Former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and businessman Chris Doughty, who is considered more moderate, are running for the GOP nomination.
The current officeholder, centrist Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, decided against seeking a third term. He did not endorse either Republican candidate.
The 51-year-old Healey has touted her efforts as the state’s top law enforcement official to protect students and homeowners from predatory lenders. Healey also sued Exxon Mobil Corp. over whether the oil giant misled investors and the public about its knowledge of climate change — a case still winding its way through the courts — and targeted OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family over allegations they deceived patients and doctors about the risks of opioids. In 2021, Healey announced a resolution to that case.
Her most frequent target, however, was Trump. Healey led or joined scores of lawsuits against Trump while he was president. One of her first challenged Trump’s travel ban, which would have barred teachers and students from seven majority-Muslim countries, including Iran, Iraq and Syria, from coming to Massachusetts, which attracts students from around the world.
Republican voters in the state on Tuesday will become just the latest to decide whether the party will further embrace Trumpism or is ready to move back toward the center. In recent primaries in other blue states like Maryland and Connecticut, GOP voters have nominated Trump loyalists, hurting the party’s chances of winning against a Democrat in the November general election.
