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Maura Healey to become state's first elected woman governor
By adamg on Thu, 06/23/2022 - 11:22am
State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz of Jamaica Plain today ended her campaign for governor, meaning Attorney General Maura Healey is basically now the Democratic candidate for governor in November (although technically there's still a primary), which means that, barring a meteor strike or coup or something, she will take office as governor in January.
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Comments
Did Jane Swift not happen on this timeline?
The original timeline I lived through saw a woman governor 2001-2003
Jane Swift was never governor
She was lieutenant governor. In Massachusetts, when a governor leaves office, the lieutenant governor takes over, but does not ascend to the office of governor, they remain lieutenant governor.
From Part the Second, Chapter II Section II of the Massachusetts Constitution:
Edited to add: Evelyn Murphy was probably the first woman to act as governor.
Jane Swift sighs deeply
first woman to be *elected* governor. Or to serve as *non-acting* governor.
True
Headline changed to reflect that Healey would be the first woman elected as governor. Swift might have gotten that honor, but she was kneecapped by Mitt Romney.
Even if Romney hadn't swooped
Even if Romney hadn't swooped in, "not so Swift" was an underdog for Governor.
Evelyn Murphy sighs even more deeply
As lieutenant governor during Michael Dukakis's final term, she took the reins of the governor's office at least a decade before Jane Swift.
As recall...
Jane Swift had resting sigh face permanently etched on her mug
that’s super disappointing
yea she had a long shot at actually winning the primary, but it seems like Chang-Diaz has legitimate support and could push Healy to actually articulate her policy proposals.
Down ballot is important, and it may end up being more important to get a more progressive state legislature. Healy will certainly be an improvement over Baker and does have the right view on a lot of issues facing Massachusetts.
Don't count Jeff Diehl out yet.
Maybe you noticed even Joe Biden has come around to Jeff Diehl's position on the gas tax. It ain't over until it's over.
If I had any money, and it were legal, I'd offer to bet you
That a Trump asskisser will not be elected governor of Massachusetts.
Could be a fun legal discussion
Betting is illegal if the outcome depends primarily on chance, right? You could argue that elections are based on skill (not necessarily in skills relevant to holding office, but certainly on marketing skills), and predicting the results of an election is certainly based on skill.
(Yes, I know there are laws specifically regarding betting on elections.)
Is it illegal though?
I would be tempted to direct some of my dwindling retirement fund toward that bet.
Baker is an elected trump ass kissing governor
Baker kisses Susan Collins ass. Susan Collins kisses trumps ass ergo baker kisses trumps ass.
Ah
The human centipede paradox...Nice.
Whatever drugs you're huffing, you might want to
dial back on them a bit before they damage your brain further. Bucky Dent could beat Diehl for Governor.
Ulf Sammuelson
Could beat Jeff Diehl.
As could Ben Dreith.
.
Well
He's so remarkable that you haven't even spelled his first name correctly.
True
It's like Bush senior mispronouncing Saddam Hussein's name. You do it out of purposeful spite.
Tempting the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing
This post seems a bit premature... Last I checked there's still a (batshit crazy) Republican candidate to beat, and this state has quite the history of electing Republican governors.
I think Maura will win, but let's not put the cart before the horse.
Fair, but...
...that chucklefuck Diehl isn't winning.
I thought we agreed
Not to mention the meteor.
I hope she beats up the MBTA
I hope she beats up the MBTA if she gets elected.
Not so quick
At one point in 2002 Shannon O’Brien was anointed the first woman to be elected Governor of Massachusetts.
Not that I don’t think Healey won’t win, but I felt the same way about Hillary Clinton in early November of 2016.
And let's not forget
Juul's hire, Martha Coakley.
When they did that, the FTC ban became inevitable.
Wait, really?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
(Expletive), were they trying to get ruled out of existence?
They're really dumb
This is not the first time Juul has gotten themselves regulated out of existence.
Are you going to vote of for Deihl?
Geoff Deihl is a racist POS. Are you going to vote for him?
Of for whom?
There are probably a lot more ways to misspell Jefe Deal, too.
Considering misspelling his name…
…until November, tbh.
It's not who I am voting for
It's who the majority of voters come November vote for. Again, most people had O'Brien beating Romney, until she lost to him. Most people (myself included) didn't see how Trump was going to beat Clinton, until we realized in mid-November that he did what he needed to do to get elected, as opposed to what Clinton did, which was to assume that she was going to be elected, so she could ignore states that cost her the race. To bring this full circle, even though I'll probably vote for Maura Healey and would probably wager a few bucks that she'll win, there's a chance that she screws this up or headwinds work against her, which will make Adam's headline here the worst he did since he mocked people buying face masks.
The point:
If Diehl can’t get people like you, there is no path to victory.
Conversely
If Healey somehow alienates people like me, she'll be in a lot of trouble. Either I blank the race or, if Diehl can position himself as more moderate than people are making him out to be, maybe.
Look, I worked the polls for O'Brien on Election Day 2002. This was a woman who after the first debate was cruising to victory, then she screwed up afterwards. Meanwhile, let's not forget that Healey's predecessor both as Attorney General and Middlesex County DA was none other than Martha Coakley, who famously was defeated for US Senate by the little known State Senator from the Norfolk, Bristol, and Middlesex District.
Also, I'm not assuming that Diehl gets the nomination on the GOP side. Some summer scandal or a tide of moderate voters in the race could lead to Chris Doughty getting the nod, then all bets are off.
O’Brien also from Whitman
Let’s make Whitman gubernatorial candidates 0-2!
I do think that people you blanking the vote, as I did when I could not stomach voting for Coakley, helps Healy more than Diehl. Blanking the vote usually helps the incumbent or default (in MA Dems are the default) candidates.
Interesting
I'm curious. What's the demographic of "people like me" that Maura Healey risks alienating? And what is the evidence that she runs such a risk for this group?
I'm a Democrat, but an independent one
This means that whoever the Democrat on the ballot has my vote to lose. This is what happened to Coakley against Brown. She felt that campaigning was beneath her, so she got the result she deserved. I worked for the O'Brien campaign, but even I saw the writing on the wall.
Again, I don't know what Healey could do to lose my vote, but we've got 4+ months for something to happen.
That's a lot of people
A lot of people would describe themselves that way, it sounds very nice. What's not necessarily a lot of people is "people like me". When you talk about "alienating me", the message is basically "don't you get out of line or make me uncomfortable or you'll lose my vote". Which is certainly your prerogative, but I think you'll find that for the purposes of voting, "people like me" isn't "Democrat, but an independent one". It's people who are made uncomfortable by the things that you're made uncomfortable by, whatever that is.
Okay, how about this
I've voted for her for AG, so I'm comfortable with the things that one might think would make me uncomfortable, but much like the possible Diehl candidacy, if she tracks too far to the extreme of the party, why give her the vote, especially if she ends up facing a more moderate candidate like Doughty or if somehow Diehl can pivot to the traditional Massachusetts Republican mode.
Again, I do think she's smart enough to run a, well, candidacy very similar to what a certain other Harvard College graduate who enjoys playing basketball did, but who knows how things could play out?
Meh
Wholly unimpressed with the choice here. Need someone that will fight for Everyperson not just one that identifies with Democrat. Time to change identify politics.
Identify [sic] politics is a mirage. Which recent MA
governor do you think acted only on behalf of their party? How exactly would a D or R governor govern only for Ds or Rs? What rubbish.
Idiot
You just proved my point dope. End identity politics.
Are you new?
Even if you think Slim is wrong on this one, he's hardly an idiot. Show some respect for the best commenter on UH.
Not new
"You just proved my point" is the signature tag of a certain account that we haven't seen commenting just lately. This is a sockpuppet.
...
You're gonna have to explain how that demonstrated proof.
I notice you ducked the question. Why
don't you regale us with your definition of identify [sic] politics, and explain how the last few governors have indulged in them?
Or are you just one of those seagull schmucks that only knows how to shit on a thread and then flap away?
lol. lmao
lol. lmao
We'd be remiss
if we didn't mention independent candidate (and old friend) Dianna Ploss, who just selected a known holocaust denier (Framingham's Jim Rizoli) as her lt. governor. Her Facebook chats with him are appointment viewing, just to see how batsh!t crazy she's gotten.
The Father of All E-Mail
Once threatened to run for governor, too, but last I checked, he'd yet to file the required paperwork with the state, so maybe he'll run another write-in campaign.
Yeah, whatever happened to Disgraced Professor
Cuckoo McLawsuits? He was fun to kick around for being a ludicrous joke of a politician and an awful human being.
The bus is still there.
Parked on Concord Ave in Cambridge, just beyond Fresh Pond. Tanned, relaxed, and ready.
Parked?
Not up on blocks?
Poor Sonia
Commonwealth magazine mangles her name in the lead of its article on her leaving the race:
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/chang-diaz-discontinuing-campa...
And in the never-gonna-happen department:
She said she would be interested in debating Healey. “If the AG is game for that, so am I,” she said.
You don't discontinue your
You don't discontinue your campaign and then hope for a debate.
It's too bad, I would have liked to see a debate.
Since we're on the topic of spelling
You mean the lede.
I'll jus leave you with this
I'll jus leave you with this Spockism. “After a time, you may find that ‘having’ is not so pleasing a thing after all as ‘wanting.’ It is not logical, but it is often true.”
And then we can rename the
And then we can rename the state Shangri-la. (and yes yhe Kinks are playing in the background)
There goes any chance at rent control/stabilization
Thank god. What a horrible idea to start with.
Adam, sometimes I agree with
Adam, sometimes I agree with you and sometimes I don't, but this is simply disappointing.
If I wanted my news source to call elections and declare who was or wasn't a realistic contender months before the debates, primaries, etc... - a la the last mayoral election here in Boston - I'd read rags like the Herald and Globe.
I actually come here for a pretty good standard in journalism.
Meh
I'm still voting for Chang-Diaz.