Welcome to Race 4 Beacon Hill!

Massachusetts is heading into one of the more consequential governor’s races in recent memory, and it deserves closer attention than it is getting. That is why this blog exists.

The premise here is straightforward. I am a Massachusetts conservative who believes the state has been poorly served over the past four years and that 2026 represents a opportunity to change course. I have no affiliation with any campaign, party organization, or media outlet. What I do have is a point of view, some analytical patience, and a strong interest in how this race actually unfolds rather than how the principals would like it to be covered.

Start with the incumbent. Maura Healey came into office in January 2023 promising to address housing costs, fix the MBTA, and bring competent management back to Beacon Hill. The record since then has been uneven at best. The state’s migrant emergency shelter program has cost Massachusetts taxpayers more than one billion dollars, with little transparency from the Healey administration about how that money has been spent. Massachusetts lost more than 33,000 residents to other states between mid-2024 and mid-2025, with young people like me leaving at a rate that should concern anyone thinking seriously about the Commonwealth’s future. Her proposal to close the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton generated such sustained backlash that even her own union allies turned on her, with workers ultimately passing a vote of no confidence in her appointed public health commissioner.

That is not a record to be celebrated. It is one that deserves scrutiny, and that scrutiny has been in short supply.

On the question of what kind of conservative Massachusetts needs, I want to be direct. Charlie Baker was popular, genuinely so, with approval ratings that most politicians would trade almost anything for. But popularity and effectiveness are not the same thing. Baker governed with such careful moderation that he rarely pushed on anything that mattered. He was good at not making enemies. The state needed someone willing to make the argument, and he never quite did. Massachusetts deserves a conservative who will.

That does not mean an ideological outlier. This is a state that requires a candidate who can speak to fiscal responsibility, government accountability, and honest policy tradeoffs without alienating the broad middle of the electorate. The model exists. The question is whether any candidate in this cycle can execute it.

Which makes the Republican primary genuinely worth watching. After the MassGOP convention in April, the field is down to two candidates: Mike Minogue, a former biotech CEO, who won the convention with 70 percent of the delegate vote, carries the MassGOP endorsement, and has aligned himself clearly with the America first wing of the party; and Brian Shortsleeve, a Marine Corps veteran, former MBTA official, and venture capitalist, who is far closer to the Baker model. Shortsleeve barely cleared the 15 percent threshold to make the September ballot and has since faced sustained pressure from party insiders to step aside. He has declined. That primary is about what Massachusetts Republicans believe and who they think can actually win in November.

Here is what this blog will cover. Polling, with real attention to the internals rather than just the toplines. The Republican primary as it develops through the summer. Candidate positioning, debates, endorsements, and campaign finance. And when something happens that warrants a direct reaction, I will give you one, clearly labeled as opinion.

Thanks for reading.