Maura Healey wins second term as Massachusetts governor

Massachusetts voters handed Gov. Maura Healey a second term Tuesday night, and the verdict arrived almost before the last ballots were counted: WHDH reported that the Associated Press projected Healey the winner just a few minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m., while NBC Boston put the call at one minute after closing. CBS News projects the same result. Healey, 55, defeated Republican challenger Mike Minogue in a landslide.

The result matters beyond the headline. Healey became the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts in 2022, and with Tuesday’s win she joins the list of two-term governors. Minogue’s campaign carried its own historical weight: NBC Boston reports he fell short in a bid to become the first challenger in 52 years to defeat an incumbent Massachusetts governor.

A landslide called minutes after 8 p.m

Healey took the stage at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston alongside Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, thanking her partner, her family and campaign volunteers. “I’m so happy, I’m so humbled, and I’m so grateful that you’ve given me the opportunity to serve as your governor for the next four years,” she told the crowd, per WHDH. She also thanked those who did not vote for her, telling supporters, “I’ll show up for you. I’ll fight for you. I’ll be a governor for everyone,” CBS News reported.

Maura Healey wins re-election for Massachusetts Governor

She framed the win as a choice about the state’s direction. “Tonight you chose the kind of state we want to be,” she said, according to CBS News. “A state, and a place, where everyone can live free and safe in their communities. Where diversity is a strength, not a flaw.” And she drew a line under the national politics that shadowed the race: “I know there is a lot of uncertainty right now, but the one thing I am certain of is that the people of Massachusetts, we will meet this moment. That’s because in Massachusetts, we lead, we don’t follow.”

Healey did not address Minogue by name, but she thanked him for calling to concede, WHDH reported.

Instagram

The $19.5 million campaign that fell short

Minogue, a West Point graduate, U.S. Army veteran and former CEO of the medical device company Abiomed, ran as a Republican promising a new type of governor. NBC Boston reports he spent a record $19.5 million of his own money on the campaign, while CBS News describes it as millions of his personal fortune. The race included independent candidate Andrea James alongside the two major-party contenders.

The campaign grew contentious. CBS News reports Healey repeatedly linked Minogue to President Donald Trump because of Minogue’s fundraising for the president in 2024. Minogue hammered Healey over the state’s affordability crisis in two TV debates, including one at WBZ-TV on Oct. 8, and the two sparred over proposals to suspend the state’s gas tax and over an endorsement from the Massachusetts State Police union. Minogue claimed the union endorsed Healey for a better contract; Healey called that “lies and nonsense,” and the union demanded an apology from Minogue, who later said his concerns were with Healey, not the troopers.

Massachusetts Governor: Maura Healey wins reelection

Minogue’s ticket also absorbed a shock last month: his running mate, New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver, suspended his campaign after being charged in a drunk driving crash on Oct. 17, CBS News reported. Minogue said that if elected, Oliver would not serve as his lieutenant governor.

On election night, Minogue addressed a quieter crowd about 17 miles away at the Boston Marriott Burlington. NBC Boston describes the evening opening with party music, a prayer led by Father Paul O’Brien of Lawrence, the Pledge of Allegiance and chants of “USA!” When the projection flashed on two large screens around 8:05 p.m., boos rang out, and Minogue’s communications director, Elizabeth Hopkins, told reporters at 8:20 p.m., “We believe every vote deserves to be counted.”

Maura Healey wins second term as Massachusetts governor — Photo: cbsnews.com

Minogue was gracious in defeat. “Tonight the voters have spoken,” he told supporters, per WHDH. “The results are not what we had hoped for, and certainly not what we worked for, but the people made their choice, and it is our responsibility now to respect the will of the people.” He added, according to NBC Boston, “We have fought the good fight. We have finished the race, and we have kept the faith,” and told supporters, “An election determines who holds the office. It does not determine what we believe in, and how much we care about the commonwealth.”

Affordability now sits at the center of term two

Healey, who previously served two terms as the state’s attorney general and who, CBS News notes, was one of the first two openly lesbian governors in the country alongside Oregon’s Tina Kotek, campaigned on defending her first-term record and positioning herself as a bulwark against Trump. She cast her ballot Tuesday morning at Hardy Elementary School in Arlington; Minogue voted during the early voting period.

Instagram

With the race won, Healey signaled where her second term will focus. “I have an obligation, a responsibility, to get up every day and to drive change with urgency in action,” she told supporters, NBC Boston reported, promising to make affordability a central focus of the next four years — the same issue Minogue spent $19.5 million trying to make hers.

The 52-year streak stands. An incumbent Massachusetts governor has not fallen to a challenger in more than half a century, and Tuesday night the voters chose to keep it that way.