Republican gubernatorial hopeful Chris Doughty, a political outsider, aligned his campaign with a former member of the Legislature on Tuesday as he introduced Kate Campanale as his informal running mate, giving the Wrentham businessman an entree to the establishment wing of the Republican Party.
Campanale, a former House lawmaker who now works in the Baker administration, said she will run for lieutenant governor this year, becoming the first Republican to enter that field. Though candidates for governor and lieutenant governor don't run as a ticket in primaries in Massachusetts, the strategy of pairing up to campaign as a team worked for Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito in in their 2014 and 2018 campaigns.
In both those campaigns, Polito ended up running unopposed, while Baker had primary competition.
Doughty is attempting to fill the moderate lane left open by Baker when the governor decided last December not to seek a third term and to give Republicans an alternative to the more conservative Trump-allied Geoff Diehl.
The founder of the gear manufacturer Capstan Atlantic announced Campanale as his running mate at Stearns Tavern in Worcester on Tuesday morning, and planned an event in the afternoon at the Boston Marriott Newton.
"Kate will bring experience, energy, and her legendary work ethic to our ticket. Most importantly, when elected, the people of the Commonwealth are going to get a tremendous Lieutenant Governor who will work around the clock to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts," Doughty said in a statement.
Campanale, 36, of Spencer, served two terms in the House before running unsuccessfully for Worcester County register of deeds in 2018. She becomes the first Republican to enter the 2022 race for lieutenant governor, though Doughty's rival for the GOP nomination Diehl has also said he is looking for a running mate to campaign with this fall.
"I'm glad to see she's in the race," said Republican strategist Wendy Wakeman, who has served in the past as an adviser to MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons and is currently working to help pull together the GOP Convention in May. "I'm glad we have someone stepping up. It's going to be a good year for Republicans and I think she has the requisite experience."
Wakeman called it "cringey" that some were crediting Doughty for adding a "female" to the ticket, noting that Republican women have fared well as candidates for lieutenant governor, from Polito to Kerry Healey and Jane Swift.
"Instead of promoting women in politics, I think it makes our role look smaller. Women have been in this field a long time," she said.
Diehl and Campanale overlapped in the House for two years before both left Beacon Hill in 2018 to seek other offices. Diehl came up well short that year in his effort to unseat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Doughty's campaign highlighted Campanale's stature as the first woman elected to represent the 17th Worcester District in 2014, and her work as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, a panel on which Doughty's campaign said she replaced Diehl. Campanale also authored legislation to incentivize employers to share in their employees' student loan debt and to protect women from domestic violence, the campaign said.
After leaving the Legislature, Campanale earned her educator's license in history and taught in the Spencer East Brookfield School District, according to Doughty's campaign.
She is married to state Rep. Peter Durant, and late last year took a job in the Baker administration as deputy director of communications and digital media for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
"No matter who you talk to, people are worried about their paychecks, their bills and their savings. After hearing Chris' powerful message on affordability and meeting with him, I know he is the leader we need in the Corner Office," Campanale said.
While still early in the race, initial polling has shown Doughty to be an underdog against Diehl, who has spent more time courting Republican grassroots organizers and voters as both a candidate and one of the leaders of a successful ballot campaign to repeal a law that indexed the gas tax to inflation.
Diehl also enjoys a friendly relationship with Lyons, both of whom have been supporters of former President Donald Trump. Doughty has said he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but supported Trump in 2020 against President Joe Biden.
Trump actually endorsed Diehl last year before Baker decided against running, but Campanale said the 2022 race in Massachusetts won't be about the former president.
"It isn't even about Charlie Baker," Campanale said during the announcement at Stearns Tavern, according to The Boston Globe. "It's about looking forward."
Republican consultant Rob Gray said Campanale bolsters Doughty's chances this year, but is unlikely to turn the tide on her own.
"It's a baby step toward winning the primary but the major roadblocks of financing and lack of name ID and experience make any Republican ticket a 100-1 shot at best to win the general election," Gray said. "She adds some strength to Doughty because she's actually won a few elections and came close to winning a countywide election, but Diehl still holds a lot of political advantages over him, a first-time candidate who has never run for anything."
Gray said he thinks Diehl is "beatable" in a Republican primary, but he said it will take the right candidate with the ability to outspend Diehl.
"It's unclear that Doughty is that candidate," Gray said.
Doughty, in recent days, has criticized both Diehl and Democratic candidate Maura Healey, the state's attorney general, for being too focused on Trump and national issues. Healey attacked Diehl early this week for comments he made at the conservative CPAC conference in Florida about "not worrying about what's going on in Massachusetts."
Diehl said his comments were taken out of context because he was actually referring to his belief that Doughty would not be a threat to him in the Republican primary.
"I am the 'Massachusetts First' candidate. Our next Governor must make our state and the needs of our citizens job number one. It is clear my opponents, Diehl and Healey, are more focused on national politics," Doughty said, also bringing up the dozens of lawsuits Healey helped filed against Trump during his four years in the White House.
Doughty and Campanale campaigning together for the next six months is no guarantee that the two will advance or fall short together in the September primary, raising the possibility that Campanale could wind up as Diehl's running mate in November.
Diehl's campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Campanale's entrance into the race, or his own timeline for choosing someone to campaign with in the primary.
"Finding a Republican running mate for lieutenant governor is difficult even when you're a well financed candidate with a good chance to win the general election, so I imagine the hunt for Diehl will be a bit of a steep climb," Gray said.
All candidates for statewide office have until May 10 to collect and submit 10,000 voter signatures for certification by local election officials to qualify for the ballot.
