Massachusetts statewide primary: Who’s on the ballot for each party

The leadership of Massachusetts is up for grabs this year.

The primary elections on Sept. 6 will whittle down the candidates in five contested statewide races to get onto the November general election ballot, with the winners there stepping in to take charge of everything from counting tax pennies and ensuring the government functions effectively and efficiently (the auditor), to directing law enforcement and safe-guarding public safety (attorney general), to overseeing elections (secretary of state) and finally taking the helm in the overall direction of the state (governor and lieutenant governor).

Vying for the governorship is Attorney General Maura Healy, running uncontested on the Democratic ballot. On the Republican ballot, two candidates will face off to run against Healy: Geoff Diehl running with Lean Cole Allen and Chris Doughty running with Kate Campanale.

The Republicans are running as teams.

“It’s not an arranged marriage,” said Campanale in an interview with Wicked Local, alluding to the Democrat’s approach to the top two leadership positions in the state. The gubernatorial candidate for the Democrats is running alone, as are the three candidates vying for the lieutenant governor job: Kim Driscoll, Tami Gouveia and Eric P. Lesser.

Two candidates are facing off on the Democrat side for attorney general: Andrea Joy Campbell and Shannon Liss-Riordan. A third Democrat, Quentin Palfrey, withdrew from the race on Aug. 30.

Two Democrats are facing off for secretary of state: incumbent William Galvin and Tanisha M. Sullivan.

There are no challengers from either party to the current treasurer, Deborah B. Goldberg, a Democrat.

There are two Democrats vying for the position of auditor on the primary ballot: Christopher S. Dempsey and Diana DiZoglio.

Republicans on primary ballot for Massachusetts governor: Chris Doughty

After building a successful manufacturing business making auto parts and raising six children, Chris Doughty, currently living in Wrentham, started looking around to determine where he could be of service to his community.

“I was looking to see the best use of my skills when Gov. (Charlie) Baker announced he would not run for another term,” Doughty said. He looked over the field of possible Republican candidates and found there was not a job creator among them. “I felt my experience could be of service to the state.”

He picked the governorship because he always wanted to serve the public but is uninterested in partisan bickering: “It’s not productive,” Doughty said. As a successful entrepreneur, a job creator, he feels he can successfully lead a $50 billion corporation, employing 44,000 people.

His forte: problem solving complex issues. (Like the MBTA).

Doughty believes his experience in the manufacturing world uniquely qualifies him to bring some resolution to the chaos that is the MBTA in its current state.

“The MBTA is the life-blood of Boston,” Doughty said, explaining that he is accustomed to dealing with old equipment (he bought into an existing manufacturing company when he arrived in Massachusetts in 1987) and is aware of the eccentricities of old equipment.

“It breaks down,” Doughty said, explaining that the MBTA needs to build redundancies into its system to accommodate the age of the equipment. He has posted his MBTA plan on his website. Among the first steps he plans to take is to solve its financial distress, to fund the pensions and to reduce debt, especially since 20% of every fare goes toward the interest on its debt.

Other concerns: A small business bill of rights, guaranteed yearly funding for Massachusetts municipalities and he would reduce government spending by 3% a year, returning those funds to municipalities.

Finally, he is running to ensure Massachusetts retains a two-party system.

“It was in danger of becoming a single party state,” Doughty said, pointing to the preponderance of Democrats in state government.

Republicans on primary ballot for Massachusetts governor: Geoff Diehl

Doughty’s opponent in the primary, Geoff Diehl, is confident about his campaign and chances for victory in the primary. He declined to label himself as a Trump Republican, pointing out that he entered politics in 2011, long before the former president.

“I am focused on listening,” Diehl said, explaining that his focus is on hearing what the residents of Massachusetts need and delivering on those needs. “My brand is to be directly responsible to and for the people who elected me.”

That being said, he mentioned his focus on freedoms: Medical freedom, allowing people to make decisions about their own bodies, specifically whether or not to vaccinate. Educational freedom, allowing parents to choose, public, private or home schooling, and funding those choices. And economic freedom through the lowering of taxes and the elimination of the excise tax.

A proponent of linking the state through expanding the rail system, he is in favor of funding and building both the East/West and the North/South corridors. Expanding public transportation beyond the Greater Boston area, Diehl said, will unlock new sections of the state to economic development, both commercial and residential. It will also offer residents different commuting options.

Diehl favors Gov. Baker’s transportation hub communities and the requirement that these provide land for the development of multi-family housing.

“Boston is so gentrified and expensive,” Diehl said, explaining that improving the mobility of people around the Commonwealth beyond just metro Boston is a key economic driver for the state. That mobility should not just be moving people into and out of Boston, but should encompass moving people around their own communities.

He pointed to the commuter rail station in Hanson. The sidewalk serving the station ends just a few feet from it. Once a person steps off the train, there is no sidewalk, there is no local bus to take them to shops or to the dentist.

“I’m a big believer in public transportation,” Diehl said, explaining that when he and his wife lived in New York City, they did not have a car. “Even though the MBTA has major issues, the state has the resources to get the MBTA back in shape.

“The state can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Diehl said.

Republicans on the primary ballot for lieutenant governor: Kate Campanale 

Running with Doughty is Kate Campanale, a former state representative for 17th Worcester District. She was elected in 2014 and served two terms, her first after being appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee. Most recently, she is a fourth-grade teacher in the Spencer East Brookfield School District.

“I loved being in the legislature,” Campanale said, adding she was focused on constituent services, a role she relished. With a background in both politics and business — she worked in the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in Washington, D.C., and in Massachusetts as the business management coordinator for the Tutor Perini Corporation, a multi-national construction company — Campanale feels she is well-suited to the role of lieutenant governor.

“We both view this as a partnership,” Campanale said, explaining that she and Doughty have complimentary strengths and approaches to the coming tasks. First order of business: sign a community compact with all 351 Massachusetts municipalities for which she, as lieutenant governor, would serve as the point person.

“I would be in the regions, on the ground,” Campanale said.

One of the issues the team found as they campaigned was the state of the Massachusetts travel and tourism industry.

“The state has fallen to 21st or 22nd in the nation when it should be thriving,” Campanale said, pointing out all the state has to offer in terms of history, coastal regions, the Berkshires and other destinations. “We need a good strategy for increasing tourism in the state, it’s a huge economic driver.”

Other issues: education. The team advocates a return to basics.

“With the pandemic, we have fallen behind,” Campanale said, but added that the state had already fallen behind prior to COVID-19. “We need a strong secretary of education, a strong leader in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “We need to meet each student where they are to ensure they are to succeed.”

Republicans on the primary ballot for lieutenant governor: Leah Cole Allen

Running with Diehl is Leah Cole Allen. A wife, mother, registered nurse and former state representative for Peabody (12th Essex District) which she filled through a special election in 2013 and served through 2015, Cole Allen said she was prompted to run for office because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was working at a local hospital for five years,” Cole Allen said, explaining that she was assigned to care for COVID-19 patients while she was pregnant and unvaccinated. She worked there for more than a year, and when she returned to nursing after her maternity leave, she was faced with the edict that she be vaccinated or be forced to leave her job.

“I was not comfortable with the vaccinations,” Cole Allen said, explaining that she believes the MRNA technology had not been sufficiently studied before being used as a base for the COVID-19 vaccinations.

She was drawn to Diehl as he espoused ending mandates: the lockdowns, the masking mandate, the vaccination mandate, and would like to rehire all those who lost jobs because of the strictures. And on the second day of her term, “fire all the officials that thought the mandates were a good idea.”

“The lockdowns lasted way too long, it took a toll on mental health,” Cole Allen said. She said instead of complaining, she felt she could be part of the solution. She describes herself as an avid voter and first became interested in politics with the election of former President Barack Obama, and the nationwide extension of “Romneycare” throughout the United States.  

In her time in the legislature, Cole Allen took pride in her work to repeal an automatic gas tax: “I save a lot of people a lot of money,” Cole Allen said, explaining that it is the job of legislators to vote on tax hikes, not have them pass automatically.

“Our message: we’re tired of heavy-handed government,” Cole Allen said.

Democrats on the primary ballot for lieutenant governor: Tami Gouveia

Rep. Tami Gouveia would like to move from her current role representing the 14th Middlesex District, Concord and Carlisle, into the lieutenant governor’s office.

“I was compelled to enter the race because I have seen, in my personal life and my time as a state representative, that we continue to leave the most vulnerable (residents) behind,” Gouveia said. She cited the current governor’s decision to privatize the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and the “Hunger Games approach” to finding and securing an appointment for a vaccine as the limited supply was released to the public.

“Seniors, those without access to cars, or computers, or mass vaccination sites, those who didn’t read English,” Gouveia said, listing the vulnerable populations left exposed by the rollout.

“I see it in the kinds of investments the state is not making,” Gouveia said, pointing to the lack of investments in a social safety net, in low-cost, affordable housing, food security, mental health services, childcare, early childhood education. “We’re not investing in families, in people, in neighborhoods, in neighborhoods where immigrants live, neighborhoods of color.”

As a social worker who recently earned her Ph.D. in public health, addressing issues, to her, means finding their root causes: Bring in the police officers, social workers, health care workers, to ask them why they are leaving their chosen professions. Bring in the disabled, the seniors, those caught in the sandwich generation, caring for both parents and children.

“We have to lift the hood, examine the workings, get to the root causes, not make assumptions,” Gouveia said.

Her interest in politics was piqued when she was in 8th grade and a cousin was critically injured in a car accident in Canada.

“I realized then that because the accident happened in Canada, my cousin’s family didn’t have to worry about the cost of medical treatment and extended care,” Gouveia said. It was then that she saw that government policies and practices that put people first allowed for better care for people and for families to thrive.

“I wanted to go into politics, not for the money or the influence, but to make a difference and ensure we’re not leaving people behind,” Gouveia said.

Democrats on the primary ballot for lieutenant governor: Eric P. Lesser

State Sen. Eric P. Lesser, has been serving western Massachusetts communities in First Hampden and Hampshire District since 2014. Included in his district are about seven towns, spanning urban Springfield and Chicopee to more rural communities, including a municipality without a stop light.

He says he is a long-time champion of the western reaches of the state, advocating for the needs of those who live outside Greater Boston. 

His first political job was in Washington, D.C. where he was a member of the Obama White House, serving Chief Advisor David Axelrod and the council of economic advisors. He signed on to the Obama campaign early, carrying the then-Senator’s bags through New Hampshire.

But his first brush with political power came when he was 16 and the Longmeadow School District was going to fire teachers and cut arts, music and science programs due to lack of funding. He remembers his anger that the teenagers were asked to pay the price, in loss of teachers and programing, for the bad decisions others had made.

“They lined the teachers up at the front of the room and said they would all be fired,” Lesser reminisced. The community worked for a Proposition 2 1/2 override, which would allow expenditures to exceed the tax cap placed on municipal budgets by the state.

“When the votes were being counted, I remember seeing a teacher, a woman, clutching a pink slip,” Lesser said. “When the votes were tallied and announced that the override had passed; she ripped up the pink slip.

“That’s when I learned politics, and public service, does make a difference,” Lesser said.

Currently, Lesser is working with different communities and people with different needs. His role in the Senate committees where he is assigned is to oversee the MASSWorks grant program, awarding funds to municipalities and eligible public organizations.

“I work with Gateway cities around the state,” Lesser said. His vision: high-speed rail linking the state, from Boston to Pittsfield. The train would transform climate action, racial justice, housing affordability, and economic development within Massachusetts, linking the entire state, he says.

Democrats on the primary ballot for lieutenant governor: Kim Driscoll

Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll did not respond to Wicked Local’s requests for an interview.

Democrats on the primary ballot for auditor: Chris Dempsey

Chris Dempsey has name recognition. He was instrumental in quashing the 2024 Boston Olympics bid (No Boston Olympics) and in overseeing public transportation as assistant secretary of transportation for former Gov. Deval Patrick. His current position —  director of the group Transportation for Massachusetts, a coalition of organizations working to create safe, affordable and convenient transportation for everybody throughout the Commonwealth — has him continuing that relationship with public transportation.

“I am a life-long T rider, and the first statewide, elected public official to commute to the State House on public transportation since (former Gov.) Michael Dukakis,” Dempsey said, acknowledging that some state representatives and senators commute from their districts to the State House, but he is the only one that serves a state-wide constituency.

The job of auditor is all about protecting the public interest, he said. It’s about ensuring that government is transparent, on how and where it spends money, how it awards contracts, how it hires employees. It’s not just about counting tax dollars, it’s about effectiveness, efficiency and transparency.

“It’s an important position,” Dempsey said. His first priority is to spend public money where it would do the most good. First steps: track the spending of federal stimulus funds; lead the way in climate justice questions with carbon emissions audits of Massachusetts state agencies and entities; oversight and reform of the State Police to restore faith in the agency; and ensuring reproductive equity.

Hailing from a family of teachers — both parents and his sister are in the teaching profession — Dempsey remembers a poster that hung in his father’s office: “It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need, and our Air Force has to have a bake-sale to buy a bomber.” (Author Robert Fulghum)

It became clear through his life that elected officials have the power to shape future experience.

Democrats on the primary ballot for auditor: Diana DiZoglio 

Through her first job in state government as a community liaison for a state representative, State Sen. Diana DiZoglio, who represents the First Essex District, learned what government could accomplish. It could fight for access: for women’s rights, and for economic and racial justice. And she learned what it can accomplish as it helps communities across the board.

She also learned about the dark side of government: the men’s club atmosphere and the sexual harassment. Dismissed from her position, DiZoglio signed a non-disclosure agreement barring her from discussing what she had seen, heard, learned in her job.

“It was not a big settlement, but I had to sign it to receive my severance,” DiZoglio said. Her retaliation: running for office and winning, first as a state representative, then as a senator. Once in office, she championed the banning of taxpayer funded non-disclosure agreements.

“I saw the tremendous need for an increase in accountability, transparency and equity,” DiZoglio said.

In her efforts to jump from representing a district to having the whole of the Commonwealth as her constituency, DiZoglio believes she will become more effective in ensuring government works for the benefit of the public.

As senator, she remembers calling upon the federal government to step in to investigate the MBTA. As auditor, she will be able to launch an audit and hold the MBTA accountable to both its employees and its ridership.

In her plans to reshape the office, DiZoglio will focus on equity: tackling inequalities in housing, economic, racial justice and environmental justice. And she will audit the state legislature, bringing what she called “disinfecting sunshine” into both chambers of government.

“The legislature is in desperate need of an audit, it is not above the law,” DiZoglio said, pointing to past audits of the legislature conducted through the 1920s. “Those audits revealed the spending, down to the cost of cigars.”

Democrats on the primary ballot for attorney general: Shannon Liss-Riordan

Shannon Liss-Riordan, a nationally known labor attorney, has been in the courtroom for 23 years, challenging the biggest corporate bullies: FedEx, Starbucks, IBM and Amazon, she says, calling herself the “private attorney general for the residents of Massachusetts” and using law to make people’s lives better.

When she was marching for women’s reproductive rights, she was motivated to become an activist and to seek a job in the women’s movement, she recalls. She made a list of all the women’s groups in Manhattan and called them all, finally landing a position with Bella Abzug, a feminist, activist, civil rights attorney, and one of the founders of the National Women’s Political Caucus.

“She was a force of nature,” Liss-Riordan said. “She had big hats, big ideas.”

She chose labor law because she wanted to even the playing field for people, use her legal skills to fight and win for the common man. Her experience, and passion, make her the ideal candidate for the job of Attorney General, she says. 

“I have been in the courts, fighting, and winning,” Liss-Riordan said.

First job on her agenda is really 20 jobs, which are the bread and butter of the office — protecting the rights of working people by ensuring safe working environments, the right to organize, and the right to be paid their agreed-upon wages.

“If their wages are stolen (by employers), they should not have to wait for adjudication,” Liss-Riordan said, explaining she would create a special fund to reimburse the workers as her office investigates the complaint. “People have to pay bills, rent, buy food.”

In her career, she has sued her alma mater (Harvard Law School) at least four times.

“They needed to be held accountable,” Liss-Riordan said. “Laws don’t enforce themselves.”

Democrats on the primary ballot for attorney general: Andrea Joy Campbell

Andrea Joy Campbell, a former member of the Boston City Council representing Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, did not respond to Wicked Local’s requests for an interview.

Democrats on the primary ballot for secretary of state: Tanisha Sullivan

Challenging incumbent William Galvin is Tanisha Sullivan, a corporate rights attorney, president of the Boston branch of the NAACP, and activist based in Boston. She chose to challenge the status quo and file for secretary of state because she believes the office has become stagnant.

“Massachusetts can and should be a beacon for democracy,” Sullivan said, pointing to its leadership in questions of marriage equality, expanding health care and ensuring reproductive rights. “But it is not proactive in increasing voter rights, voter access and transparency.”

She is championing same day voter registration — which was adopted by Maine in 1973 — pointing out that Massachusetts is almost 50 years behind that state.

And she wants the state to completely translate ballots, saying that not just the instructions, but candidate’s names as well, should be written in the language, and using the alphabet, that voters read in.

In Malden, Sullivan said, there is a push to transliterate the ballots there to ease voting for Asian and Pacific Islander residents.

“Bilingual ballots are required by law in Massachusetts. What’s missing is transliteration, the names of the people running should be transliterated as well,” Sullivan said. All citizens must be able to read and recognize the names of the candidates.

New York, she pointed out, made ballots fully translated in the 1990s. Again, Massachusetts, she pointed out, is behind the times.

While she acknowledged there is currently a good foundation in the secretary of state’s office, she lamented it is not keeping pace with the times.

Democrats on the primary ballot for secretary of state: William Galvin

Incumbent Secretary of State William Galvin’s campaign did not respond to Wicked Local’s requests for an interview.