Another Governor Heard From

What can we learn from Massachusetts' Maura Healey?

Two down. Forty-eight to go?

This summer, I profiled Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro in a cover story for Philadelphia magazine, diving into his performance in office and the hype surrounding his potential 2028 run for the White House.

In the new issue of Boston magazine, I had the opportunity to write a cover profile of another governor — Massachusetts’ Maura Healey.

If you’re not familiar with Healey, she’s the former state attorney general who was particularly outspoken and aggressive when it came to taking on Donald Trump during his first term in office. (She sued Trump nearly 100 times.) Massachusetts voters were so impressed by Healey and her competitive nature that, when she ran for governor in 2022, she won with 63 percent of the vote.

But as I detail in the new piece, Healey’s time as governor has been marked by challenges. The biggest is Massachusetts’ economy, which, after soaring for decades, has struggled in recent years, with people, jobs, and businesses leaving the state. Why? It mostly comes down to the word that’s become ubiquitous in recent months: affordability. (The cost of housing is particularly off the charts in Massachusetts.)

Part of the new profile delves into Healey’s attempts to fix the economy. As AG, she had a reputation as a progressive. But as governor Healey has been more of a centrist, trying hard to balance the interests of progressives (who love the millionaire’s tax Massachusetts passed a couple of years ago); the business community (who say that high taxes are killing Massachusetts’ competitiveness); and middle-class families (who just want the price of everything to go down).

Keeping all those constituencies happy isn’t easy, as Healey has discovered. As she heads into a re-election year, her approval rating is roughly 10 points lower than it was when she got elected. She remains a favorite to win another four years, but I suspect the upcoming campaign will be a fight.

Democrats had a huge night across America a few weeks ago as voters punished Donald Trump and Republicans for (among other sins) failing to do anything about affordability. But Healey’s challenges are a reminder that being able to afford a decent life isn’t an issue that inherently favors one political party over the other.

Voters want someone to fix the problems they have. And I’ve never seen them have less patience for politicians they believe aren’t delivering.

Check out the full profile here.