GOP plays capture the flag ahead of 2026 clash with Healey
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Deehan here, back with Spill of the Hill, my column unraveling Massachusetts politics.
The GOP gubernatorial candidates who will attempt to oust Gov. Maura Healey from the corner office next year are already digging a trench in the Bay State's culture war battlefield.
- The Republicans don't want the state flag to change.
Why it matters: A debate over keeping the state seal in 2026 will be like bike lanes in 2025 — an issue that animates some voters and spotlights bureaucracy at work but has only a tangential relation to the work of leading the commonwealth.
Driving the news: Both GOP candidates, Mike Kennealy and Brian Shortsleeve, pledge to preserve the current flag and motto if elected.
Reality check: Orders to explore changes to the state seal, and with it the state flag, were unanimously passed by the Democrat-led Legislature and couldn't be reversed by any governor's veto without the support of supermajorities in the House and Senate.
- The same goes for a veto trying to stop the adoption of the eventual new flag and seal.
Catch up quick: The advisory commission exploring a new seal released three finalist designs last month after receiving more than 1,150 public submissions.
- The current emblem features controversial imagery of a Native American figure beneath a colonial arm wielding a sword.
The budding flag controversy offers Republicans a cultural grip to energize their base before having to face Healey on her record next year.
Zoom out: There are broader national tensions over historical symbols, and candidates framing preservation as defending state heritage is nothing new.
- Critics have for decades called the current imagery offensive to Indigenous communities.
What's next: The commission will hold public hearings this fall and make final design recommendations to lawmakers.
- Formally making the change will be up to the Dem-controlled Legislature and the handful of top leaders who call the shots.