Former state representative Geoff Diehl (R-Whitman) is running for governor of Massachusetts in 2022, as NewBostonPost reported before any other news outlet on Sunday afternoon Diehl explained his reasoning in a press release issued on Sunday night.
In a speech at Freedom Festival, hosted by the Western MA GOP Patriots, Diehl gave the audience a few reasons why he’s not happy with the state’s current leadership — some of which has to do with the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve served in the legislature and seen, first-hand, the impact government regulations have on businesses they don’t necessarily understand but want to control,” Diehl told the audience, according to the press release. “The pandemic response of a total shut down of the economy, followed by arbitrary federal, state and local regulations only made it harder for the small businesses to stay alive, especially in the restaurant and hospitality industries. And I remain mystified how the big box stores like Home Depot remained open while your local hardware store was forced to close. Let that chapter of our state’s history remain a powerful example of what can never happen again.”
Diehl said he was furloughed from his job in the health care industry during the pandemic and that the company that he and his wife (Republican state committeewoman KathyJo Boss) own, Boss Academy of Performing Arts in Hanson, faced challenges during the pandemic.
“Making sure Massachusetts is creating the best scenario for job growth is the key to a strong recovery because keeping people on enhanced unemployment is not the answer,” Diehl said.
Opposing the Transportation and Climate Initiative, which calls for a carbon fee on fuel, is part of the Diehl platform. He was among a group of state legislators who spearheaded an effort in 2013-2014 to repeal an automatic gas tax hike at the ballot that indexed the gas tax to inflation.
“The last thing working families in Massachusetts need is added cost to commuting, food and goods that are already being hit by the inflationary effects of massive federal spending,” he said of the proposed carbon fee on fuel, which Governor Charlie Baker, a fellow Republican, supports. “All the original New England states have failed to join in the ‘cap and trade’ scheme and even environmentalists discount the projections for emission reduction.”
Other issues Diehl mentioned include supporting the police and giving more local control to school committees.
“It is time for a new path forward. It is time to re-empower the individual,” Diehl said. “It is time to free our economy. It is time to help our children overcome the damage inflicted by government over this past year. A time to provide our communities with a safe and healthy tomorrow. In a Diehl Administration, everyone will be considered essential, every day.”
Diehl served as the state representative from the Seventh Plymouth district from 2011 to 2019. He then was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018 and ran unsuccessfully against Democratic incumbent Elizabeth Warren.
Baker has not announced yet whether he is planning to run for a third term as governor next year. If he doesn’t, the current lieutenant governor, Karyn Polito, is widely expected to run.
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Photo by Joe Goldsberry, courtesy of Wikimedia 
