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State GOP Treasurer Says He Has Votes To Become New Party Chairman

December 18, 2018

Brent Andersen says he has commitments from a majority of the GOP’s state committee to become the next chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.

Andersen told State House News Service on Tuesday, December 18 that 45 of the 80 members of the state committee say they’ll vote for him. A majority of Republican state legislators back him, too, he said.

Andersen, the current treasurer of the party, would replace Kirsten Hughes, a Quincy city councilor, who won the spot in January 2013 on a 41-39 vote over businessman (and recent U.S. House of Representatives candidate) Rick Green.

Hughes, who has been seen as an establishmentarian, praised Andersen during an interview Sunday, December 16 on WCVB-TV Channel 5.

“He’s been a great supporter of the party and my effort to build our data and infrastructure, our field program. He knows 2020 is going to be a difficult year. We’re going to have to raise a lot of money and make sure our resources are spent smartly to keep incumbents safe and so I think he’ll be the best steward of that train of thought,” Hughes said, according to State House News Service.

State Representative Peter Durant (R-Spencer) has announced he will seek the job. Durant has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 78 percent

State Representative Geoff Diehl (R-Whitman), who recently lost a U.S. Senate race to Elizabeth Warren and will be leaving the state Legislature in early January 2019, has also expressed interest in the job but has not committed to running for it. Diehl has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 82 percent.

In the November 2018 election Republicans lost a net of two seats in the state House of Representatives and a net of one seat in the state Senate. It was a disappointing result in a mid-presidential-term election. In 2020, a presidential year, Democratic turnout figures to be heavier, which suggests GOP chances for making gains may be even slimmer.

Starting in early January 2019, Republicans will have only 32 of the 160 state representative seats and only 6 of the 40 state senator seats in the Massachusetts Legislature.