GOP gubernatorial candidates Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty sparred in a fiery debate Wednesday night, taking photographs at each other whereas giving their pitches to guide the Bay State.
Doughty, a Wrentham businessman who’s been trailing within the polls in opposition to Diehl, was on the offensive through the first GOP major gubernatorial debate — saying it’d be “impossible” for Diehl to beat Attorney General Maura Healey in a basic election.
Diehl, a former state consultant who gained the occasion’s nomination on the conference, countered by saying a “red wave” is coming throughout the state and a vote for Doughty “is going to be a vote for the next Democrat.”
Diehl, who has been former President Donald Trump’s decide within the gubernatorial race, misplaced to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren 4 years in the past.
“That’s why I’m running because I knew that Geoff could not win against Maura Healey. It’s done. It’s impossible for him to win,” Doughty mentioned through the debate moderated by Herald columnist Howie Carr on “The Howie Carr Show.”
“He’s running a campaign that’s targeted to Alabama voters, and here we are in Massachusetts,” Doughty added about Diehl. “So he’s going to lose. I know it. We all know he’s going to lose. We need someone like myself because … we’re on the cusp of going to a single-party state and the disaster that will create.”
Diehl in response mentioned he was assured about “a red wave across the state.” While speaking about his loss to Warren, he in contrast his vote complete to Mitt Romney, who ran for Senate after which gained as governor.
“You don’t always win the first time you run. Charlie Baker didn’t win the first time he ran,” mentioned Diehl, later including, “I’m the endorsed candidate (at the GOP convention). I won with 71%. Those are the folks, the state committee people who know what it takes to win in this state. They know that you (Doughty) certainly don’t have what it takes.”
“A vote for Chris Doughty is going to be a vote for the next Democrat,” Diehl added. “Hillary Clinton is thinking about running again for president. So in ’16 you voted for her, maybe she’ll get your support if you’re governor, right?”
In their candidate pitches, Doughty mentioned as a businessman he’s a “job creator and not a career politician.” He would work to “make things more affordable.”
As a state consultant, Diehl found that Beacon Hill “was worse than I thought it was going to be.”
“I found that we needed to do a lot of things differently on Beacon Hill, and that’s what I’m intending to do as governor,” he mentioned. “Right now, we’ve got a Legislature that still does not listen to the people of Massachusetts.”
Diehl additionally took a shot at Healey through the debate.
“… Maura Healey who would be a terrible governor,” he mentioned. “Either one of us would be a better governor than Maura Healey. She certainly is a disaster.”
A spokesperson for the Healey marketing campaign mentioned in a press release Wednesday night, “While Geoff Diehl desperately tries to impress Donald Trump, Maura will continue to focus on the issues that matter, like lowering the high cost of living, investing in our workforce, and protecting reproductive health care.”
Diehl through the debate mentioned his help of Trump in 2016 was “the best decision for the country. He gave us the best four years I’ve ever seen since I’ve been in office.”
The major will likely be on Sept. 6. The first gubernatorial debate was sponsored by the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”