Mike Kennealy launches Republican bid for Massachusetts governor

Mike Kennealy, a former cabinet secretary under Gov. Charlie Baker, officially announced a run for governor of Massachusetts Monday, making him the first Republican to formally challenge Gov. Maura Healey for the state’s highest office.

Kennealy, a 57-year-old Lexington conservative with a background in private equity, joins a race that is sure to focus on Healey’s handling of migrant arrivals and the cost of living. But Kennealy also faces an uphill battle against the well-funded Healey with President Donald Trump in the White House and Democrats in solid control of the state.

In a video announcing his campaign that was shared with the Herald, Kennealy said young people, families, and seniors are “choosing to leave” Massachusetts because the state is “headed in the wrong direction” for the first time in many years.

“Everything from gas to housing to taxes is too expensive. Too many kids aren’t receiving the education they need to compete in a global economy,” he said. “Our transportation system is still broken. The unspeakable violence in migrant shelters is a human tragedy and a national embarrassment. The political class of Beacon Hill is more concerned with their future than with ours. Our beacon on a hill has become a beacon in the rearview mirror.”

The first-time candidate for elected office plans to seed his campaign with $2 million from his own personal wealth, according to a campaign advisor. The cash will help put him on a nearly even playing field with Healey’s formidable $2.8 million camping war chest.

Kennealy, who has long been weighing a run for governor, pitched himself as someone who has “succeeded in business and as a public servant in state and local government.”

“I’ve traveled all over our commonwealth to work with business and government and community leaders to get things done. I’ve helped turn around a broken public school system and create better pathways for our kids. I’d like to put my experience to work for you,” he said in the launch video.

In 2013, Kennealy left private equity to serve as a special advisor to the Lawrence Public Schools, which was placed under state control in 2011.

His campaign said his time with the school district saw him work with a team that “reallocated funds directly to the classroom by cutting bureaucratic inefficiencies while bringing together community partners to support students and their parents.”

But Kennealy is likely best known for his eight years working in the Baker administration, where he started out as assistant secretary for business growth and was later named secretary of housing and economic development, a position he held from December 2018 to January 2023.

During his time working for the Republican governor, Kennealy helped implement the controversial MBTA Communities Act, a zoning law signed by Baker in 2021 that requires some cities and towns to zone at least one district near transit hubs for multi-family housing.

As secretary of housing and economic development, Kennealy assisted the Baker administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, including when the former governor shut down a wide swath of businesses in the state and then rolled out a multi-stage reopening plan.

Once Baker left office, Kennealy went to work for the Boys and Girls Club of Boston as a senior advisor, where he “focused on improving the lives of children and young adults from Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, South Boston, and Chelsea with academic support and workforce preparedness programs,” according to his campaign.

Massachusetts voters are set to choose their next governor in fall 2026, and Kennealy could face opposition from within his own party.

Several other Republicans are still mulling a run for governor, including Sen. Peter Durant of Spencer, venture capitalist and former MBTA official Brian Shortsleeve, and local Republican donor Michael Minogue.

Healey, the first woman and openly gay candidate elected to the Governor’s Office, said earlier this year that she plans to run for a second term. No other Democrat has publicly announced interest in a gubernatorial bid.

Healey has spent her first two years in office fielding a series of challenges that have tested her administration, including the surge of migrant arrivals and the meltdown of Steward Health Care, and more recently, skyrocketing energy bills.

But the former attorney general has continued to enjoy majority support among Massachusetts voters, according to a February poll from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and WCVB.

The survey of 700 Massachusetts residents found the governor had a 52% overall approval rating for the job she is doing, while 57% of respondents said she has “thus far performed ‘well’ during her time as governor,” according to the poll.

The first-term Democrat from Arlington also raised more than $404,000 in March, her best fundraising month since the 2022 election that saw her defeat Republican candidate Geoff Diehl, according to campaign finance records.

Still, in his campaign video, Kennealy said Massachusetts has a chance “to chart a new future, to restore common sense to the commonwealth, to create a Massachusetts that works for everyone.”

“This is a time, more than ever, when we need strong and experienced leadership. I love this state and this country, and I want to serve because just like you, I want to make Massachusetts a better place to live, work, and raise a family. And I believe that I can,” he said.