Shaunna O’Connell Not Running For Governor of Massachusetts, Sources Say

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2021/12/13/shaunna-oconnell-not-running-for-governor-of-massachusetts-sources-say/

Don’t expect Taunton mayor Shaunna O’Connell to be a candidate in the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial race.

O’Connell had been making calls to various people within the Massachusetts Republican Party as she considered a run for the post in the wake of news last week that both incumbent governor Charlie Baker and lieutenant governor Karyn Polito won’t run in 2022. However, sources close to the MassGOP told NewBostonPost over the weekend that O’Connell is not going to end up running.

O’Connell served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. She was then elected as mayor of Taunton in 2019 and ran for re-election unopposed this past November. Her second term as mayor is scheduled to begin in January 2022.

If O’Connell were to run for governor, she would have likely had to have tried to position herself as a moderate Republican. That’s because former state representative Geoff Diehl (R-Whitman) is running in the conservative lane of the race and has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Additionally, Diehl ran statewide for U.S. Senate in 2018 and won the primary with the help of pro-Trump conservatives.

Even though O’Connell apparently isn’t running, there are a few candidates on the Republican side thus far. In addition to Diehl, former Lowell city council candidate Darius Mitchell, Quincy resident Kim Duffy, and former U.S. Senate candidate Shiva Ayyadurai of Cambridge have all announced they are running for the post.

O’Connell could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.

 

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