Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a progressive Democrat, is projected to win the gubernatorial race against Republican Geoff Diehl, who ran an aggressive campaign.
Decision Desk HQ called the race at 8:20 p.m. ET. Healey led with 71 percent of the vote with less than 2 percent of the votes counted at 8:47 p.m. ET, according to Decision Desk HQ.
With the New England state being one of the bluest in America, Healey’s victory over conservative Diehl does not come as much of a surprise.
Healey has promised throughout her campaign to support LGBT individuals in the state, including in public schools where she deemed drag queen events in schools a great thing and said during her campaign that there should be more of them.
As the state’s top prosecutor, Healey initiated 96 multiple lawsuits against Donald Trump when he was president including suing him for excluding illegal immigrants from census data.
Healey also supports transgender policies for children and full-term abortions. She focused her campaign on preserving access to abortions, lowering transportation and housing costs, and improving conditions for inmates, as well as reforming the state’s penal code to reduce the length of sentences.
Healey has held that her campaign has always been about ensuring alleged “hateful” rhetoric of the Republican party doesn’t end up controlling Washington politics.
Her election as governor is the latest in a lengthy political resume, which includes an early clerking job for U.S. District Court Judge David Mazzone. She also served as special district attorney under then-Attorney General Martha Coakley. She has served as Massachusetts Attorney General since 2014 when she defeated Republican John Miller.
Healey was also a star basketball player. After playing in high school in New Hampshire, she went on to become co-captain of Harvard’s women’s basketball team. Later, she played as a starting point guard in professional basketball in Austria.
While the first elected female governor, she is not the first woman to hold the position. In 2001, Lt. Gov. Jane Swift was appointed governor when then-Gov. Paul Cellucci was selected as U.S. ambassador to Canada under President George W. Bush.
Kim Driscoll who ran on the Healey ticket, will serve as Lt. Governor.
