Lexington resident Mike Kennealy launches Republican bid for governor

Mike Kennealy, a Lexington resident and former cabinet secretary under Gov. Charlie Baker, set his candidacy for governor into motion earlier this month. A first-time candidate running on the Republican ticket, Kennealy aims to reduce the cost of living in Massachusetts, work with towns to build the housing they want, and strengthen trust in state government. 

After a 19-year career in private equity, Kennealy worked under Baker’s administration as the former governor’s assistant secretary for business growth during his first term, and housing and economic development secretary during his second. 

He launched his campaign with $2 million of his own money.

“What I bring to the race is just a love for Massachusetts, a love for public service, and a track record across business, education, state government, and the nonprofit sector,” he told LexObserver. “I think I’ve got the best set of experiences to deliver for the people of Massachusetts — it’s certainly different from Gov. [Maura] Healey’s experience.”

Before being elected governor in 2022, Healey served two terms as the state’s attorney general. She graduated from Harvard University and Northeastern University and served as a litigation partner at an international law firm.

As governor, one of Kennealy’s priorities will be affordability. He aims to tackle the cost of housing and energy, and promises to avoid new taxes.  

“It makes me sad that people are leaving our state because they feel like they’re going to have a better future and a more affordable cost of living somewhere else,” he said. 

Kennealy argued Healey’s administration prioritizes climate over lowering the cost of energy. He plans to make the latter his priority. 

“The Healey administration has a climate policy, not an energy policy, and that climate policy is driving energy costs higher,” he said. “We have to have a focused effort to bring down the cost of energy for…everyone.”

Kennealy believes the state needs more diverse housing, which is something he worked on under Baker’s administration. He spearheaded creating the Housing Choice Initiative, a program that provides municipalities grants to plan and build diverse housing, to fruition. He held strong that the Baker administration did not, however, advocate for the MBTA Communities Act. 

Kennealy argued the state government should be more collaborative with municipalities when it comes to building more housing because not every community has the same feeling about the idea. In response to the MBTA zoning law, Lexington committed to building more dwellings than the state recommended, and other towns, such as Milton, took a different stance — it rejected Massachusetts’ zoning plan for the town and was subsequently sued by the state.

Kennealy argued that when municipalities have had problems with the MBTA Communities Act, Healey has “double[d] down on mandates, threats, and lawsuits and not actually listened to what’s happening on the ground.”

“That creates a very unfortunate dynamic where our communities don’t view state governors as a partner, they view them as someone who is dictating to them,” he said. “There needs to be a lot more listening and a lot less lecturing from the Healey administration on this one.” 

Collaboration between state and local government will be one of Kennealy’s priorities — as will working with the federal government. Asked whether his political views are in line with President Trump’s, Kennealy told LexObserver he aims to work with Trump but does not align himself with any politician.

As pertains to deportation, Kennealy agrees with getting the “truly bad actors out of our shelter system and off our streets” and aims to work with the President to “keep our community safe,” he said. Kennealy supports securing the country’s southern border and reforming Massachusetts’ Right to Shelter law so it serves local homeless families. 

“There cannot be the sense that we’re going to constantly oppose what’s happening in Washington,” Kennealy said. “For me, [deportation is] case by case, but there has to be a spirit of cooperation. A governor should want to work with anybody who can help move our state forward.”

He did not cast a vote for president in the 2024 election, the Globe reported.

Kennealy noted he helped fund and voted in support of Ballot Question 1 during the last election, which asked voters whether the state auditor’s powers should be expanded so it can investigate and oversee some of the state Legislature’s activities. He thinks the passage will increase transparency, which he said is lacking under the Healey administration.

He also wants to prioritize improving schools and job-force training. 

“It’s critically important that we have an incredibly robust and interesting economy with lots of opportunity,” he said. “On the other hand, we have to have the ability for our citizens to realize those opportunities.”

Since he left his career in private equity, Kennealy has also advised the turnaround of Lawrence Public Schools and most recently, served as the senior advisor and chief strategy officer for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston.

He’s a graduate from Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, which is where he met his wife, Trisha. They moved to Lexington in 2003 and had three children, all of whom are now adults. Kennealy and his wife have been active in the community since moving to town — Kennealy served on Lexington’s Appropriation Committee for three years and coached dozens of his childrens’ sports teams, and Trisha served on Town Meeting for about 18 years and owns The Inn at Hastings Park.

Kennealy told LexObserver he thinks Lexington is a model for other municipalities because of how diverse and involved its residents are. 

“What you learn living in a place like Lexington is that people here like to come together, work together on things, and they have a variety of different political views,” he said. “That’s a model in a lot of ways.”

Kennealy plans to use what he learned under the Baker administration about persistently meeting constituents on the ground and collaborating with others to guide him as governor. 

“The state government has to be a relentless and collaborative partner with cities and towns,” he said. “That’s why I hope to bring the state government back to that sense of ‘we are here to partner,’ not, ‘we are here to mandate’.”

Other local Republicans have voiced interest in challenging Healey. 

Senator Peter Durant, a Spencer, MA, native who represents the Worcester and Hampshire Senate district; Brian Shortsleeve, former chief administrator of the MBTA under Baker; and Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis are all weighing bids, the Globe reported. 

The gubernatorial election in Massachusetts is slated for November 2026.