MEDFORD — Promising to “fix” Massachusetts, Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Minogue will spend the next nine weeks trying to convince voters that he can serve them better than Gov. Maura Healey has for almost four years.
The 59-year-old former CEO of Danvers-based medical device company Abiomed, Minogue on Tuesday night defeated businessman and former MBTA head Brian Shortsleeve in the Republican primary for the corner office, per the Associated Press. The AP called the race for Minogue at 8:44 p.m. As of 9:10 p.m., the AP said about 7% of votes had been counted, with 73.6% in favor of Minogue.
“The good news is it’s going to be a little bit of an earlier night. The better news is we won,” Minogue said during his election night party, vowing to bring an outsider’s approach to shake up state government.
“Because of you, this is more than a campaign, this is a movement,” Minogue told his supporters. “And because of your courage and your willingness to say, ‘it’s time to do something different, it is time to put people before politics.’ Because of that, we are going to make history in 63 days.”
The Republican ticket is now poised to feature Minogue with Shawn Oliver, who ran unopposed but also in tandem with Shortsleeve.
“This primary is over. Now it’s time to come together,” Shortsleeve said Tuesday night, endorsing Minogue.
Republican candidate for treasurer Elizabeth Dionne and GOP contender for U.S. Senate John Deaton also attended the election night party. Both Dionne and Deaton ran unopposed in their primaries, coasting to their nominations.
The contentious race between Shortsleeve and Minogue featured both infighting revolving around the soul of the state’s Republican Party and cohesion among candidates about issues including the state’s cost of living, economic competitiveness, immigration, job growth and government accountability.
Spending heavily from his own pockets, Minogue held few media events and also refused to debate Shortsleeve during the primary cycle, electing only to say that he would win the primary and debate Healey in the leadup to the general.
Minogue describes himself as pro-life Catholic who would “uphold” current abortion laws. He believes the state should lean on natural gas — not “disruptive” and “expensive” offshore wind — and says he would “repeal or cancel all unfunded mandates,” among various other proposals.
When signature fraud woes derailed and disrupted the campaigns of two other statewide Republican candidates, Minogue condemned Oliver for filing complaints about fraudulent signatures submitted on behalf of GOP candidates. Standing by Oliver, Shortsleeve in June called the party “incompetent and ineffective,” and said “the hypocrisy being demonstrated by Minogue and his MassGOP minions will do lasting damage to the Republican Party’s attempts to improve election security and generate more confidence in election outcomes.”
Now Minogue and Oliver are ticket mates.
“Together we will unify the party,” Oliver said Tuesday night as he congratulated Minogue on his win.
Republicans face an uphill battle to win the corner office, and if he is elected, Minogue would face Democratic super-majorities in the Legislature. Minogue and Healey are mindful that voters here have a history of electing Republican governors, from William Weld to Paul Cellucci, Mitt Romney and Charlie Baker.
Minogue has funneled $15.8 million into his campaign since last October, and has repeatedly said he has the resources to win the primary and general elections. Shortsleeve had significantly less cash on hand than Minogue during their primary contest. At the end of July, Shortsleeve had roughly $526,800 cash on hand compared to Minogue’s $8.1 million.
A graduate of West Point and Operation Desert Storm veteran, Minogue grew up as the youngest of four in New Jersey. After returning home from his military service, he spent 11 years working for GE HealthCare before leading Abiomed, which Johnson & Johnson reportedly bought for $16.6 billion in cash. Minogue’s government experience is limited to the time he spent on the Governor’s Advisory Council on Veterans’ Services under former Gov. Charlie Baker, according to his LinkedIn. He also founded MedTechVets, a nonprofit helping military veterans find careers in the medical device industry. Minogue and his wife, Renee, created the Michael & Renee Minogue Foundation in 2015 to support faith-based education, healthcare innovation, children and veterans. His religious, military and healthcare backgrounds underpin his profile.
“From leading soldiers in combat to pioneering the field of heart recovery, Mike Minogue has spent his life serving others. A man of faith, husband and father of five, he’s committed to serve Massachusetts with integrity and heart,” his website says.
Minogue has run on the slogan “AAOK,” which stands for Accountability, Affordability, Opportunity and Keeping communities safe.
While Minogue has been a prolific donor and supporter of President Donald Trump and other national Republicans, he said in July that he has a different outlook on tariffs than Trump, specifically opposing tariffs on medical device companies. Minogue also said he doesn’t support cuts to the National Institutes of Health, that he thinks “everyone that’s entitled to Medicaid needs to get it,” and that he doesn’t agree with Trump’s assessment that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing a “great job.”
After Healey signed a bill loosening abortion restrictions in August, Minogue’s campaign said he’d “rather see the people of Massachusetts voice their opinion and decide this — not the politicians.” Shortsleeve has called himself a “pro-choice Republican,” and his campaign said he would have also signed the abortion law.
Minogue has also said that he would uphold the state’s “common sense” laws regarding LGBTQ protections.
A Trump-aligned candidate in a state where Trump is unpopular, especially among Democrats, Minogue will look to entice the block of unenrolled voters who collectively outnumber registered Democrats. Both Minogue and Healey will compete over which candidate is better suited to address the high costs of energy, housing and healthcare.
The general election had already begun by the time Healey took the stage at her election night party in Dorchester, shortly after the AP called the race for Minogue. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and officially won the nomination shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m.
She jabbed at her new opponent, drawing a connection between the Republican candidate and Trump, as well as Minogue’s documented personal anti-abortion stance. Healey will likely try to draw attention to Trump and abortion on the campaign trail over the next few months, as the state has consistently voted against Trump in presidential elections and even many Independent voters support pro-abortion policies.
“Mike Minogue? He’s given more than $1 million to Trump. He held a fundraiser for JD Vance at his waterfront mansion. By the way, that means Mike Minogue saw what Donald Trump did in his first term and said, ‘Sign me up, I want more of that!'” Healey said in her prepared speech.
According to the written speech, Healey also planned to point out Minogue’s financial support for conservative media organization PragerU, which she called on Thursday “a right-wing propaganda machine that promotes racist and anti-gay views, denies climate change, and spreads extremism and misinformation.”
She continued, “Mike Minogue supports Donald Trump’s agenda that is raising your costs and killing Massachusetts jobs. He’s pro-ICE and anti-choice. Look, Donald Trump is gonna be president for two more years. Who your governor is right now matters more than ever.”
Healey cast the general election in the terms of “whose side you’re on.” She said, “Mike Minogue stands with Donald Trump. I’ll always stand with you.”
Shortsleeve, a former Marine and Harvard College graduate, just barely made the September ballot in April at the state GOP convention, where he raked in 15.5% of delegate votes to Minogue’s 70.38%. The threshold to survive was 15%.
Just before 9 p.m., Shortsleeve, his wife and their three sons gathered on stage to again address supporters.
“While we came up short tonight, I believe that our message was heard, and I am proud of the campaign we ran,” Shortsleeve said, drawing a round of applause from supporters who held up Shortsleeve campaign posters.
Shortsleeve also quickly endorsed his opponent, saying he would do everything he could to get Minogue elected.
“However, you supported me, I’m asking you: Join me in supporting Mike Minogue,” Shortsleeve said. “Let’s unify this party. Let’s bring Independents and Democrats into this movement, and most importantly, let’s defeat Maura Healey.”
Without explaining how he would do it, Minogue has said he intends to initiate the voter-approved legislative audit on his first day in office. Shortsleeve said he would veto the Legislature’s budget appropriation until lawmakers comply with the audit law.
Shortsleeve promised to “audit every state agency for waste, fraud, abuse and inefficiency”; to “conduct independent performance audits to evaluate whether programs are producing measurable results”; and implement a front-end identity and eligibility verification for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
The party’s two gubernatorial candidates were also largely aligned on immigration. When Healey signed the long-awaited PROTECT Act, an attempt to protect immigrants in Massachusetts from ICE, Shortsleeve said Healey “prioritizes politics over public safety.”
Minogue’s platform outlines that Massachusetts will not be a “sanctuary state” and that “illegal immigrants will not have free right to shelter.” Minogue’s website also says that “girls need fair and safe sports.”