Geoff Diehl, Leah Cole Allen Looking To Channel Scott Brown Next Tuesday

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2022/11/05/geoff-diehl-leah-cole-allen-looking-to-channel-scott-brown-next-tuesday/

Geoff Diehl and Leah Cole Allen know what some outside observers are saying about the Massachusetts governor’s race.

They’ve seen the polls that have them behind and the stories in the mainstream media saying that attorney general Maura Healey and Salem mayor Kim Driscoll are favored to win the election Tuesday. But at the same time, they see parallels between the race they’re running and the upset U.S. Senate victory of Scott Brown.

Brown, who endorsed the Diehl-Allen ticket in October, pulled off a come-from-behind win for U.S. Senate in January 2010. Lightly regarded in the beginning, he defeated then-attorney general Martha Coakley 52 percent to 47 percent in a special election to succeed Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. 

And now, the Diehl-Allen ticket hopes to follow in Brown’s footsteps.

“Scott and I have a lot in common, although I didn’t serve in the U.S. Senate,” Diehl told NewBostonPost in a telephone interview. “Scott served on local boards when he first got involved with politics, then ran for state rep and won, then ran for state Senate and became a U.S. senator for Massachusetts. Those were longshot races. When I first ran for state rep, that was a longshot race as well. But Scott knows exactly what Massachusetts is thinking. He has really had a pulse on this state and can see it’s the right time for a Republican to come in to lead in a state that leans blue that will cut across party lines and work for the people, not special interest groups or national party power.

“He knows what it’s like to be told you can’t win the race,” Diehl added. “He was down 15 points the week before he got elected and he won by seven points. That’s a 22-point swing. Scott knows this is a campaign that comes down to the turnout on election day that ultimately drives the success of what we’ve been working on.”

Diehl was a staunch Brown supporter in the 2010 special election. He campaigned for Brown and had the volunteers on his campaign for state representative do the same. 

Allen agreed with Diehl’s sentiment. She also noted that one of the issues that helped Brown win his election was his opposition to the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), while the Diehl-Allen campaign is promoting less government intervention in health care when it comes to coronavirus vaccine mandates. 

“It speaks a lot to the fact that they have Geoff and I down in the polls the same way they had Scott down in the polls,” Allen told NewBostonPost in a telephone interview. “It’s kind of a similar thing. Everybody was concerned about Scott Brown being elected to be the vote against Obamacare because they didn’t want government takeover of their health care and I think we’re kind of in a similar situation where people don’t want the big government solution and it’s kind of an underdog situation where the polls aren’t telling the whole story and we’re going to see an interesting result on November 8.”

In his endorsement of the Diehl-Allen ticket, Brown said that a Geoff Diehl governorship is what Massachusetts needs to maintain political balance on Beacon Hill. 

“I’ve known Geoff Diehl for 15 years. Geoff is a good man, and he’s a hard worker. When he gives you his word, it’s gold,” Brown said in a video. “Geoff is the person you need right now on Beacon Hill to rein in the spending, rein in the out-of-control policies and laws that are being pushed by the Democrats up there. I mean, it’s upside-down.”

In both Brown and Diehl’s cases, the elections involve a Democratic attorney general running for higher office in the Commonwealth. Massachusetts attorneys general have struggled to make that transition. In 1974, Robert Quinn lost the Democratic primary for governor to Michael Dukakis. In 1990, Frank Bellotti lost the Democratic primary for governor to John Silver. In 1998, L. Scott Harshbarger lost the general election for governor to Paul Cellucci. In 2006, Tom Reilly lost the Democratic primary for governor in 2006 to Deval Patrick. Coakley lost both a U.S. Senate race in 2010 and the governor’s race to Charlie Baker in 2014.

Both Diehl and Allen say their professional and life experiences make them a better fit for Massachusetts than the Healey-Driscoll ticket.

“I think what have on the Democrat ticket is two lawyers,” Allen said. “Geoff and I bring a wide range of life experiences. Geoff is a small business owner. I was a nurse. We’re both parents. We served in the state legislature and really only got involved because we really cared about the issues and wanted to make a difference. I think that speaks to what we’ll be able to accomplish versus the other side that has a really narrow perspective in terms of what they would bring.”

And, as Diehl pointed out, Healey sued former President Donald Trump’s administration nearly 100 times, whereas the Diehl-Allen ticket’s political experience includes representing communities like East Bridgewater, Whitman, Abington, and Peabody in the state legislature. 

“Maura Healey has been an attorney general for eight years and her focus has been on suing the federal government when there was a president she didn’t like,” Diehl said. “Leah and I served in the legislature. I served on Beacon Hill and was able to make changes that gave people their money back and serve the people of the towns I represented at that time. Now my goal is to expand that assistance to the seven million residents of this state and to restore our reputation as a leader in education and in key industries like biotechnologies and also making sure we help our traditional industries like agriculture and fishing — a real backbone for the people in New England.”

In the run-up to the election, the Diehl-Allen team is hosting an event with Brown. 

Diehl and Allen are holding a free campaign event on Sunday, November 6 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester from 4 to 6:30 p.m. with Brown called the Take Freedom Back Finally Rally; it will feature Brown’s band, Scott Brown and the Diplomats. The venue will begin airing the New England Patriots game at 2 p.m. for people to watch before the event. 

For more information on the Diehl-Allen campaign, visit diehlallen.com.

 

New to NewBostonPost?  Conservative media is hard to find in Massachusetts.  But you’ve found it.  Now dip your toe in the water for two bucks — $2 for two months.  And join the real revolution.