Alison KuznitzState House News Service.Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy has sought to distance himself from President Donald Trump's agenda, pinning Massachusetts's affordability woes onto state-level policies enacted under Governor Maura Healey's watch.Kennealy refrained from invoking Trump directly in a television interview Sunday, April 20, while Healey in a separate talk show appearance repeatedly bashed the president by name when discussing the fallout from National Insitutes of Health funding cuts, funding freezes to Harvard University, and the detainment of a Tufts University doctoral student. Healey is seeking re-election and plans to run with Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. The opposing viewpoints offer an early glimpse into some of the major issues that could dominate the 2026 gubernatorial race, and how Kennealy, a former deputy under Governor. Charlie Baker, may similarly embrace a brand of Massachusetts Republicanism that eschews Trump. The field may also include 19-year-old Connor Gray of Peabody, who filed paperwork to run for governor on Thursday, April 10.During his WBZ-TV segment Sunday, political analyst Jon Keller told Kennealy that Democrats will want to "federalize" the gubernatorial election and make it a referendum on Trump."But I know you don't want to do that, and I hear that," Keller said.Kennealy, the former housing and economic development secretary under Baker, quickly interjected, "It's not only what I don't want -- it's what the people don't want. The people want to stay focused on the issues here in Massachusetts."As Keller tried to argue the state's affordability challenges are "inextricably tied" with federal policies, Kennealy disagreed."We focus on affordability in three dimensions: housing, energy, and taxes. And I think for those issues, it's state policy that's driving the affordability agenda," Kennealy said. "We simply don't have enough housing, and we took important steps in the Baker administration to try to drive the production of more housing."Without mentioning Healey by name, Kennealy continued: "And I don't think this administration has the right strategy on that. Energy costs are simply way too high, a lot due to state policy. And taxes, you know this administration, Beacon Hill keeps coming up with new proposals for new taxes."Healey, who's made affordability a top priority of her administration, has regularly celebrated the tax package -- based largely on a proposal Baker supported when he was governor -- that she signed early in her tenure to deliver relief to Bay State families and businesses. Healey has also lauded passage of the $5 billion housing bond bill, which is projected to help build, preserve, or rehabilitate tens of thousands of housing units.Her administration has yet to file a promised energy affordability bill after utility bills skyrocketed this past winter.The governor, in an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday, accused Trump of "just dismantling and wrecking the economy right now.""I'm working hard every day to lower costs in my state, cut taxes, build more housing, and Donald Trump is just making life more expensive for all of us, making life harder for all of us," Healey said.Healey, mentioning the state housing bond bill, said she wants to build more housing in Massachusetts to lower costs, though she signaled that that could now be thwarted."Donald Trump comes in with tariffs. Where do we get our lumber from? Canada," Healey said. "Where do we get other building materials from? Mexico. He's just made everything more expensive and more difficult. And states will do the best they can, governors like myself will do the best that we can, but there's no way that states can begin to make up for or course-correct these failings by the president of the United States and his administration when it comes to managing the economy."Healey spent Tuesday morning in Fitchburg, where she announced $18 million in Housing Development Incentive Program awards. She also toured a development backed by a previous grant award from the same program, according to the governor's schedule. Kennealy helped develop the guidelines for the MBTA Communities Act, seen as another lever for the state to bolster housing near transit service. The Healey administration has blocked state funding to municipalities not complying with the law, a tactic that Kennealy said he "would not" pursue."I was a cheerleader and a proponent for something called Housing Choice, and that was a key initiative of Governor Baker," Kennealy said. "And all that did was lower the local approval threshold for rezoning from a supermajority to a simple majority. And that was consistent with our view of the problem. We have to produce a lot more housing. It's got to be in partnership with our cities and towns, and we have to create an easier path for them to produce housing."Kennealy said he worked to make the MBTA Communities Act function as a "tool in the toolbox" for municipalities, rather than a "hard mandate.""I have to say, I'm amazed at the way the dialogue has evolved on this one," Kennealy said. "It has been way too contentious, and the administration has doubled down on threats, and mandates, and lawsuits. What they should be doing is working with their cities and towns to help them deliver the housing they want."Discussing national politics more directly, Kennealy said he blanked his ballot for president in 2016, 2020 and 2024, the three years in which Trump was the Republican Party nominee."That was the choice I felt that was best for me at the time," the Lexington resident said. "People, I think in my experience now going around the state, are a lot less focused on the outcome of that election and more focused on the future of Massachusetts. And that's the stuff we're talking about right now. We're talking about an affordability crisis, an opportunity crisis in our state, having the kind of responsive, transparent, effective government people need."Kennealy did subtly voice support for a facet of Trump's immigration policy.Asked whether he would support "amnesty" for immigrants who are here illegally but are "otherwise law-abiding," Kennealy told Keller, "What I support is a much more secure federal border, and we have that today.""We didn't have that in the Biden administration," Kennealy said. "The problem we have with the migrant crisis today is that we had a humanitarian crisis in some of these countries. We had a largely open federal border in the Biden administration."Kennealy signaled some policy alignment with Healey on the state's right-to-shelter law, which has undergone a series of eligibility changes and has imposed stay limits to clamp down on soaring demand and costs. "So what I support is a much more secure federal border, which thankfully we have today, and reforms to right-to-shelter, where it's consistent with the original intent of that program, which is to house Massachusetts families that have become homeless," Kennealy said. "We've gotten a long way from that."Should Kennealy win the GOP nomination, he told Keller he's willing to return to WBZ-TV for a debate with Healey."Anytime. Sounds great," Kennealy said.
Alison KuznitzState House News Service.Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy has sought to distance himself from President Donald Trump's agenda, pinning Massachusetts's affordability woes onto state-level policies enacted under Governor Maura Healey's watch.Kennealy refrained from invoking Trump directly in a television interview Sunday, April 20, while Healey in a separate talk show appearance repeatedly bashed the president by name when discussing the fallout from National Insitutes of Health funding cuts, funding freezes to Harvard University, and the detainment of a Tufts University doctoral student. Healey is seeking re-election and plans to run with Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. The opposing viewpoints offer an early glimpse into some of the major issues that could dominate the 2026 gubernatorial race, and how Kennealy, a former deputy under Governor. Charlie Baker, may similarly embrace a brand of Massachusetts Republicanism that eschews Trump. The field may also include 19-year-old Connor Gray of Peabody, who filed paperwork to run for governor on Thursday, April 10.During his WBZ-TV segment Sunday, political analyst Jon Keller told Kennealy that Democrats will want to "federalize" the gubernatorial election and make it a referendum on Trump."But I know you don't want to do that, and I hear that," Keller said.Kennealy, the former housing and economic development secretary under Baker, quickly interjected, "It's not only what I don't want -- it's what the people don't want. The people want to stay focused on the issues here in Massachusetts."As Keller tried to argue the state's affordability challenges are "inextricably tied" with federal policies, Kennealy disagreed."We focus on affordability in three dimensions: housing, energy, and taxes. And I think for those issues, it's state policy that's driving the affordability agenda," Kennealy said. "We simply don't have enough housing, and we took important steps in the Baker administration to try to drive the production of more housing."Without mentioning Healey by name, Kennealy continued: "And I don't think this administration has the right strategy on that. Energy costs are simply way too high, a lot due to state policy. And taxes, you know this administration, Beacon Hill keeps coming up with new proposals for new taxes."Healey, who's made affordability a top priority of her administration, has regularly celebrated the tax package -- based largely on a proposal Baker supported when he was governor -- that she signed early in her tenure to deliver relief to Bay State families and businesses. Healey has also lauded passage of the $5 billion housing bond bill, which is projected to help build, preserve, or rehabilitate tens of thousands of housing units.Her administration has yet to file a promised energy affordability bill after utility bills skyrocketed this past winter.The governor, in an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday, accused Trump of "just dismantling and wrecking the economy right now.""I'm working hard every day to lower costs in my state, cut taxes, build more housing, and Donald Trump is just making life more expensive for all of us, making life harder for all of us," Healey said.Healey, mentioning the state housing bond bill, said she wants to build more housing in Massachusetts to lower costs, though she signaled that that could now be thwarted."Donald Trump comes in with tariffs. Where do we get our lumber from? Canada," Healey said. "Where do we get other building materials from? Mexico. He's just made everything more expensive and more difficult. And states will do the best they can, governors like myself will do the best that we can, but there's no way that states can begin to make up for or course-correct these failings by the president of the United States and his administration when it comes to managing the economy."Healey spent Tuesday morning in Fitchburg, where she announced $18 million in Housing Development Incentive Program awards. She also toured a development backed by a previous grant award from the same program, according to the governor's schedule. Kennealy helped develop the guidelines for the MBTA Communities Act, seen as another lever for the state to bolster housing near transit service. The Healey administration has blocked state funding to municipalities not complying with the law, a tactic that Kennealy said he "would not" pursue."I was a cheerleader and a proponent for something called Housing Choice, and that was a key initiative of Governor Baker," Kennealy said. "And all that did was lower the local approval threshold for rezoning from a supermajority to a simple majority. And that was consistent with our view of the problem. We have to produce a lot more housing. It's got to be in partnership with our cities and towns, and we have to create an easier path for them to produce housing."Kennealy said he worked to make the MBTA Communities Act function as a "tool in the toolbox" for municipalities, rather than a "hard mandate.""I have to say, I'm amazed at the way the dialogue has evolved on this one," Kennealy said. "It has been way too contentious, and the administration has doubled down on threats, and mandates, and lawsuits. What they should be doing is working with their cities and towns to help them deliver the housing they want."Discussing national politics more directly, Kennealy said he blanked his ballot for president in 2016, 2020 and 2024, the three years in which Trump was the Republican Party nominee."That was the choice I felt that was best for me at the time," the Lexington resident said. "People, I think in my experience now going around the state, are a lot less focused on the outcome of that election and more focused on the future of Massachusetts. And that's the stuff we're talking about right now. We're talking about an affordability crisis, an opportunity crisis in our state, having the kind of responsive, transparent, effective government people need."Kennealy did subtly voice support for a facet of Trump's immigration policy.Asked whether he would support "amnesty" for immigrants who are here illegally but are "otherwise law-abiding," Kennealy told Keller, "What I support is a much more secure federal border, and we have that today.""We didn't have that in the Biden administration," Kennealy said. "The problem we have with the migrant crisis today is that we had a humanitarian crisis in some of these countries. We had a largely open federal border in the Biden administration."Kennealy signaled some policy alignment with Healey on the state's right-to-shelter law, which has undergone a series of eligibility changes and has imposed stay limits to clamp down on soaring demand and costs. "So what I support is a much more secure federal border, which thankfully we have today, and reforms to right-to-shelter, where it's consistent with the original intent of that program, which is to house Massachusetts families that have become homeless," Kennealy said. "We've gotten a long way from that."Should Kennealy win the GOP nomination, he told Keller he's willing to return to WBZ-TV for a debate with Healey."Anytime. Sounds great," Kennealy said.
