The MAGA millionaire looking to turn deep blue Massachusetts
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Deehan here with Spill of the Hill, my column unraveling Massachusetts politics.
Biotech multimillionaire Mike Minogue's landslide victory at the Mass. Republican Convention last month set up what promises to be a costly and very unlikely run to unseat Gov. Maura Healey in November.
The big picture: Minogue's win goes a long way to settle the GOP field and lays bare one of the central questions of the 2026 cycle: Can a Trump-aligned Republican come anywhere close to winning in Massachusetts?
Only 8.4% of Massachusetts registered voters are Republicans. The last successful GOP candidate in Massachusetts, former Gov. Charlie Baker, was reelected in 2018 in part by distancing himself from President Trump.
- Minogue starts his general election campaign closely aligned with Trump. He donated nearly $1 million to Trump and MAGA candidates in 2024 and hosted a fundraiser for Vice President Vance.
- But Minogue hadn't actually been registered as a Republican for 18 years, until just before his campaign launch.
Of note: Venture capitalist and former MBTA manager Brian Shortsleeve squeaked out 15.5% at the Worcester convention, just enough for his campaign to survive.
- Another former aide to Baker, Mike Kennealy, ended his campaign after a poor showing.
- There's pressure on Shortsleeve to drop out of the race to let Minogue skip the primary season so he can focus on Healey.
State of play: Minogue is a former Abiomed CEO and Army veteran.
- He wants voters to see him as a political outsider with a conservative platform: relax climate change rules, end immigrant sanctuary policies and audit the legislature's spending.
- His first campaign ad since the convention introduces him as "a new kind of governor" and doesn't mention Trump or Healey.
By the numbers: Healey led Minogue by 20 percentage points in the latest UNH poll, with 52% support to the Republican's 32%.
Between the lines: Democrats aren't waiting to connect Minogue to Trump.
- The Massachusetts Democratic Party launched a $100,000 digital ad buy the day after the GOP convention across Hulu, Roku, Peacock and social media sites under the tagline "Too MAGA for Massachusetts."
- The ads tie Minogue and Shortsleeve to Trump's tariffs, ICE enforcement and abortion restrictions.
- Dems want Massachusetts voters to see this race as a Trump referendum rather than an accountability check on Healey.
What's next: If Shortsleeve stays in the race, the Sept. 1 primary will produce Healey's general election opponent.
The bottom line: Baker won over independent voters in 2018 because he overtly opposed Trump in his first term.
- Minogue is starting his gubernatorial pitch much closer to the president, in a state where a MAGA message has never done well.