Massachusetts will elect a new governor in 2022, since two-term incumbent Charlie Baker announced he is not running for a third term. Here is a look at the major candidates vying to succeed the Republican:
Democratic Party
Sonia Chang-Díaz
Age: 44
Resides: Jamaica Plain
Education: University of Virginia
Occupation: State senator, first elected in 2008.
Past experience: Former school teacher in Lynn and Boston.
Family: Married; two children
Pitch: “I am tired of waiting for government to live up to our hopes and our families’ needs.”
Notables: First Latina elected to the Massachusetts state Senate. Served as longtime chairwoman of the committee on education and currently chairs legislative committees on cannabis policy and racial equity. Was a lead negotiator on omnibus police accountability law passed in late 2020. Defeated incumbent state senator Dianne Wilkerson in 2008 Democratic primary before winning state Senate seat that November.
Maura Healey
Advertisement
Age: 51
Resides: South End
Education: Harvard College and Northeastern University School of Law
Occupation: Massachusetts attorney general
Past experience: Served as chief of the civil rights division for attorney general’s office, and later led its bureaus of Public Protection and Business and Labor. Worked as a counsel and junior partner with the Boston law firm of Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale). Captain of Harvard’s varsity women’s basketball team, and played the sport professionally in Europe for two years
Family: Not married
Pitch: “If something’s working, then let’s keep with it. And if it’s not working, let’s figure out what we need to do.”
Notables: Became the nation’s first openly gay state attorney general with her first election in 2014. First state attorney general to sue Purdue Pharma executives over the company’s role in the opioid crisis. Credited with being the primary person behind the AG’s challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act when she led the office’s civil rights division.
Advertisement
Republican Party
Geoff Diehl
Age: 53
Resides: Whitman
Education: Lehigh University
Occupation: Director of business development, TRQ Auto Parts; co-owner of Boss Academy of Performing Arts.
Past experience: Former state representative, former candidate for US Senate and Massachusetts state Senate, was an account executive at SignDesign in Brockton and Poyant Signs in New Bedford.
Family: Married; two children
Pitch: “It is time for a new path forward . . . It is time to free our economy.”
Notables: Served four terms in the state Legislature. Won US Senate Republican primary in 2018 before losing to incumbent Democrat, Senator Elizabeth Warren. Was cochair for former president Donald Trump’s Massachusetts campaign during the 2016 election. Was one of the leading proponents of the successful ballot initiative to repeal the Massachusetts gas tax indexing law in 2014. Is an Eagle Scout.
Chris Doughty
Age: 59
Resides: Wrentham
Education: Brigham Young University and Harvard Business School
Occupation: President of Capstan Atlantic, a gear manufacturer in Wrentham, and partner in Capstan, Inc.
Past experience: Marketing rep at the Trammell Crow Company in Los Angeles, Calif.
Family: Father of six and grandfather of four
Pitch: “If the voters elect me, they will have a governor of jobs and the economy.”
Notables: A self-described moderate, Doughty has been a partner and business owner of Capstan, Inc. for over 30 years. He says he is a “business owner, father of six, community leader, and grateful citizen.”
Advertisement
Others who have filed paperwork to run for governor with campaign finance officials:
- Yen Diep of Malden
- Kimberly Duffy, Republican of Quincy
- Darius Mitchell, Republican of Lowell
- Luis Perez, unenrolled of North Central Correctional Institution in Gardner
- Dianna Ploss of Peabody
- Joselito Santiago Matias, Republican of Worcester
- Orlando Silvo, Democrat of Shrewsbury
Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him @mattpstout. Sahar Fatima can be reached at sahar.fatima@globe.com Follow her @sahar_fatima.