Steven Senne/AP Photo; Insider
Republican Geoff Diehl ran gainst Democrat Maura Healey in Massachusetts’ gubernatorial race.
The state has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election cycle since 1988.
Healey has now flipped the Massachusetts governor’s office.
Former Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl faced off against Massachusetts’ Attorney General Maura Healey in the state’s gubernatorial election. The current governor, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, decided against seeking a third term.
Polls closed in the state at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Massachusetts’ gubernatorial candidates
Diehl previously served the state’s 7th District as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Prior to running for public office, he worked in advertising and television production and later served as a business development executive. Diehl is endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Healey has served as the state’s attorney general since 2015. Upon taking office, she became the first openly LGBTQ state attorney general in the nation. After earning her law degree from Northeastern University, Healey clerked for Judge David Mazzone in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Prior to her time as attorney general, she was a junior partner at the international law firm Wilmer Hale and also served as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County, where she tried drug, assault, domestic violence, and motor vehicle cases.
Healey will be the first openly gay person and the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts. (Gov. Jane Swift was the first woman to serve as Massachusetts governor, from 2001 to 2003, but she did not win her own term.)
A recent Emerson College/WHDH poll indicated that Massachusetts voters prefer Healey to Diehl, 52% to 34%.
Massachusetts’ voting history
Massachusetts backed President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump by 34 percentage points in 2020. Since 1988, Massachusetts has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election cycle.
This race is also one of six Republican-held governorships that was up for election in a state carried by Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Unlike in the presidential election cycle, Massachusetts has voted for the Republican candidate in every gubernatorial election cycle since 1990, excluding 2006 and 2010.
The money race
According to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, Diehl had raised $1.1 million, spent $927,992, and has $88,507 on hand, as of October 24. Healey had raised $4.6 million, spent $4.3 million, and had $3.6 million of cash on hand, as of October 24.
What experts say
The race between Diehl and Healey was rated “likely Democratic” by Inside Elections, “solid Democratic” by The Cook Political Report, and “safe Democratic” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.