Zoe Gast, Senior
On November 8th, our state will hold the election for our new governor. Tasked with filling the shoes of Governor Charlie Baker, our current governor since 2015, the two candidates have a challenging race ahead of them. Baker has been an outlier within the Massachusetts government as a Republican governor in one of the bluest states in the country. His party alliance is not rare, as all but one of the governors have also been Republican since 1990. However, none of their stances were particularly far right, keeping our state government center-left. Therefore Maura Healey, the Democratic candidate, has the edge over Republican candidate Geoff Diehl because Massachusetts is a starkly blue state, and Diehl has embraced a much farther right campaign than previous Republicans in his position.
Since Massachusetts was the only state to have every county go blue in the 2020 presidential election, it can be assumed that the Democratic candidate will have the upper hand. Therefore, the primary races are more vital because whoever won the Democratic primary is most likely to come out on top. After the primaries, Healey already amassed more than a 20-point lead over Republican candidate Diehl, polling over 52% of voters.
Also, she has been endorsed by both current senators, proving that she has qualities appreciated by politicians already chosen by the people. So, come November first, Maura Healey will likely be Massachusetts’s first elected and second female governor.