Former President Donald Trump backed candidate Geoff Diehl has won the Republican nomination for governor in Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts – Geoff Diehl, who was supported by the previous president of the United States, Donald Trump, is expected to win the Republican nomination for governor in the state of Massachusetts, according to the Associated Press. In November, he will go up against Maura Healey, whom the Associated Press had predicted would emerge victorious from the Democratic primary.

Due to the fact that moderate Republican Governor Charlie Baker will not be seeking reelection, Massachusetts has one of the strongest opportunities for Democrats to win the governor’s palace in another state.

Diehl won the election by defeating businessman Chris Doughty, a political novice who had been supported by the moderate Republican governor of the neighboring state of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu.

Baker did not support either of the candidates and did not vote for Donald Trump in either the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections.

On the Democratic side, Healey, who is now serving as the Attorney General of Massachusetts, was almost entirely running unopposed. Sonia Chiang-Diaz withdrew from the contest in July, but the election officials did not remove her name from the ballot.

Healey would make history by becoming both the first openly gay governor of the state and the first woman to be elected to the position of governor of the state. When Paul Cellucci stepped down as governor of Massachusetts in 2001 to become ambassador to Canada, Jane Swift became the state’s first female governor. However, the following year, she was defeated by Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican nominee.

Despite the widespread perception of Massachusetts as a politically progressive state, the position of governor has been held by a single Democrat, Deval Patrick, since 1990. However, the majority of these Republican governors were seen as fiscally conservative while maintaining a moderate social stance. Trump only received 32% of the vote in the state in 2020, but he did win approximately 75,000 more votes than he did in 2016, while receiving almost the same percentage of the vote.

In addition to Trump’s support for Diehl, Trump’s former adviser Corey Lewandowski is working as a strategist for Diehl’s campaign, and Diehl served as a state co-chair for Trump’s campaign in 2016. Diehl has also supported Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations that the 2020 election was stolen, battled against the expansion of mail-in voting, and stated that he supports the decision of the Supreme Court to repeal Roe v. Wade. All of these actions can be seen in Diehl’s public statements.

On Monday night, President Trump hosted a phone rally in support of Diehl and said that Doughty would “do nothing but succumb to the left wing.”

In 2018, Diehl attempted to unseat Senator Elizabeth Warren but was ultimately defeated by a 24-point margin.

In the meantime, Doughty made an effort to win over people who were more moderate. In the days leading up to the election, Matt Murphy of State House News told CBS Boston that Doughty’s chances will ultimately rest on the support of independent voters.

“Of those independent voters, how many of them are planning to take part in the Republican primary?” Murphy stated. “In order for Doughty to have a shot at winning, he has to win over a significant number of those independent voters and perhaps even some of those who are inclined to vote Democratic in order to counteract the Trumpian narrative that is being spread by the Republican Party. If a significant number of them take part in the race, he might be able to catch up to Diehl.”

There are many Democratic candidates running for other statewide posts, including attorney general, on this year’s ticket, and one of them is Healey’s replacement. Andrea Campbell, a former member of the Boston City Council, and Shannon Liss-Riordan, an attorney specializing in workers’ rights, have both announced their candidacies, dividing the support of some of the most influential Democrats in the state. Campbell has the support of Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and the former acting mayor of Boston, Kim Janey, whereas Liss-Riordan has the support of Warren, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and the former acting mayor of Boston, Kim Janey. Campbell also has the support of half of the state’s congressional delegation.

In November, the victor will square off against Jay McMahon, a Republican.

There will be no Democratic primary opponents for any of the state’s nine representatives in Congress who are Democrats. This year, neither of the state’s two senators will be seeking reelection to their respective seats.

The polls closed at 8 o’clock Eastern Time.