Maura Healey Shatters Lavender Ceiling
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey won the Democratic nomination in the Massachusetts gubernatorial race on Tuesday night. If Maura Healey wins in the November 8 general election, she would become the first out lesbian governor in U.S. history, and the first lesbian or gay Massachusetts governor, and first elected female governor. Healey made history in 2014 when she became the nation's first out LGBTQ state attorney general.
Healey will face Geoff Diehl, a former state representative endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has won the Republican nomination for Massachusetts governor over businessman Chris Doughty, who was considered the more moderate candidate in the race.
At her victory party Tuesday night before the GOP race was called for Diehl, Healey told cheering supporters that regardless of which candidate emerged as her opponent, "We know he'll be out of touch with the values we stand for." Speaking of both candidates, she added, "They'll bring Trumpism to Massachusetts."
Diehl, the favorite among state Republican Party delegates, has ties to Trump stretching to 2016, when he served as co-chair for Trump's presidential campaign in Massachusetts. Diehl has also opposed COVID-19 protocols and hailed the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Diehl has come to embrace Trump's false claims that he won the 2020 election. Diehl said last year that he didn't think it was a "stolen election" but later said the election was rigged, despite dozens of courts, local officials and Trump's own attorney general saying the vote was legitimate. Doughty, meanwhile, has said he believes President Joe Biden was legitimately elected.
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement about her win:
"As attorney general, Maura has used the power of the legal system to fight the opioid epidemic, protect our environment, safeguard LGBTQ rights and so much more. She knows how to disrupt the status quo and get real change done on behalf of her constituents. As governor, we are confident she will leverage this experience to help create a more just future for all Massachusetts residents, especially LGBTQ kids who've felt the brunt of anti-LGBTQ attacks this year. Her success tonight is a clear sign that our collective perseverance and grit will ultimately win out over the wave of intolerance sweeping our country."
Currently there are two out LGBTQ governors, Kate Brown in Oregon and Jared Polis in Colorado. Out lesbian Tina Kotek is running for governor in Oregon.
