There’s another Republican in the 2026 race for governor.
Brian Shortsleeve, touting his experience as both a former Marine and onetime head of the MBTA under Gov. Charlie Baker, has announced his bid for the corner office.
In a video posted Monday morning, Shortsleeve vowed to cut what he described as runaway state spending, to rein in the state’s shelter crisis, and “[make] Massachusetts affordable again.”
“I’ll restore common sense to the Commonwealth and put Massachusetts first,” Shortsleeve, 52, of Barnstable, said in the video. “This is our home where we’re raising our boys, and I’m not letting it fall apart without a fight. This isn’t a campaign. It’s a mission for Massachusetts.”
Shortsleeve’s entrance to the race sets up a primary battle with a former Baker administration colleague, Mike Kennealy, who served as the Republican governor’s housing and economic development czar.
- Read More: Mass Dems. call for state to investigate donations to Republican Mike Kennealy’s gov campaign
They’re the first GOP candidates to announce a challenge to Democratic incumbent Gov. Maura Healey, but they’re likely not the last.
State Sen. Peter Durant, R-Worcester/Hampshire, is believed to be moving closer to a run for the GOP nomination in 2026. And Republican mega-donor Michael Minogue also is mulling a 2026 campaign.
In addition to calls for tax cuts and lower spending, Shortsleeve recently told The Boston Herald that he supports repealing the MBTA Communities Act, a hot-button law requiring towns along the T to build multifamily housing.
“It’s a one-size-fits-all law. It doesn’t respect local differences in terms of infrastructure and everything else,” he told the newspaper. “We should be creating incentives for communities to build in areas we want to build. It should be the carrot. It should not be the stick.”
And just because Shortsleeve and Kennealy once worked together, that doesn’t necessarily mean their respective campaigns will play nice.
In a statement to Politico, Kennealy’s campaign argued that “Massachusetts needs a manager to clean up Maura Healey’s mess.”
“When Brian Shortsleeve had his chance to lead, he mismanaged the MBTA and left it in just as big a mess as he found it,” Kennealy’s campaign manager, Ben Hincher, told Politico. “It’s hard to imagine what exactly he’s ‘proud’ of.”
