BOSTON (WHDH) - In the Republican primary for Massachusetts governor, it was a blowout between Mike Minogue and Brian Shortsleeve, with Minogue taking 76 percent of the vote.
Minogue will now face off with Governor Maura Healey in November’s general election.
Healey, who did not have a primary challenger, is seeking a second term on Beacon Hill.
The showdown is now between the popular governor and a political outsider for an office that has flipped parties many times in the past few decades.
Despite Massachusetts’ deep blue roots, it has a history of electing Republican governors, including Mitt Romney, who later became the party’s nominee for President in 2012.
Prior to Healey, just one Democrat, Deval Patrick, held the top job on Beacon Hill in 32 years.
Despite that, 7NEWS pollster Andy Smith from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center said Minogue has a tall task ahead of him to unseat Healey.
“What we’ve seen historically in midterm elections is the President’s party tends to stay home, so he’s got to really energize the Republicans to get them going in that way,” Smith said. “He also has to do a good job with those unenrolled voters and the independents in the state to make up for that disadvantage republicans have just on basis of registration.”
In our exclusive 7NEWS/UNH poll from earlier this summer, Governor Healey had a 19-point advantage over Minogue.
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