Geoff Diehl concedes to maura healey IN MA GOVERNOR'S RACE, despite pleas from supporters to reject results

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Katie Delaney

Nov. 9, 2022

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            Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl graciously conceded to Democrat Maura Healey at his election night party on Nov. 8, despite pleas from supporters to do otherwise. 
            Close to three hours after the Associated Press called the race for Healey, Leah Allen, Diehl’s running mate, broke the news and was met with boos from the crowd. “As sad as I am for Massachusetts, that we missed out on having a fantastic governor in Geoff Diehl, I wish the best to Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll, as they take on their new endeavor,” she said. 
            Diehl took the stage only a few minutes before the party’s 11 p.m. end time. Members of the crowd yelled “don’t concede” and “every vote counts.” But Diehl acknowledged the “impossible to close” gap—which ended up being over 28 percentage points—and did concede. 
            “The people of the commonwealth have spoken. I respect their choice, and I ask everyone who supported me and Leah to give [Maura Healey] the same opportunity for success that I would have asked for if the shoe had been on the other foot,” he said. 
            Earlier in the night, despite Diehl’s projected loss, supporters were confident that Diehl would clinch the win, and that Republicans would see the “red wave” they were hoping for. 
            The crowd of supporters and campaign members arrived at the Boston Harbor Hotel at 7 p.m. GOP chairman Jim Lyons and Diehl’s campaign manager Amanda Orlando spoke with the press at the start of the event. 
            Lyons said that Diehl and other Massachusetts Republicans had a real shot to win, and that they could prevent one-party rule, which he believes would “destroy” the state. “I think what the people of Massachusetts want to see is a Republican Party that doesn’t all go along with everything the Democrats do…what we now are seeing is a Democratic Party that’s trying to take our country over the cliff,” he said. 
            Orlando also had no doubt that Diehl would win. In an interview she said “he is excited to take on the challenges and make some real changes. So we’ll start that first thing tomorrow morning.” Her optimism could not secure them the win, though. 
            Only a little over an hour into the event, at 8:02 p.m., the AP called the race for Healey. The crowd quickly dismissed the announcement. Rick Green, 2018 Republican congressional candidate and Diehl supporter, called the projection “false information.” 
            “What you see on your TVs is nothing more than the projection of the mainstream media and what they believe will happen,” he said to the crowd, who cheered in response. He said it would “go down as a worse call than Arizona in 2020,” referring to the AP’s early projection that Joe Biden won Arizona over then-President Trump. 
            Orlando later addressed the AP’s projection, calling it “irresponsible” and “extremely premature.” She said “voters were still standing in line to vote when they called this race.” Members of the crowd reacted angrily, shouting “fake news” and “that’s illegal.” She added that the town clerks in Massachusetts should be able to do their jobs, and count all the votes. “As I stand here right now we still have 95 percent of the commonwealth’s vote which still needs to be reported and counted. And so we’re gonna watch the process until we have a meaningful result to report to you,” Orlando said. 
            As the evening continued, the crowd stayed hopeful, and cheered for the wins of other prominent Republicans, like Ron DeSantis, who was reelected as Florida’s governor. 
            When the night was winding down, Republican attorney general candidate Jay McMahon, who later lost to Democrat Andrea Campbell, spoke to the crowd. 
            McMahon remained confident that he and Diehl would win their races, and that supporters should not believe the results until 100% of the votes are in, particularly votes from western Massachusetts. “We are not going to make a comment on this election until Mount Washington’s vote is counted,” he said.  
            However, a comment was made on the election shortly after, with a little under 20% of the votes counted. Diehl acknowledged his loss, well before all of the votes were counted. He thanked his supporters and members of the crowd called out “we love you Geoff!” 
            “Though our campaign ends today, the work to create a better Massachusetts doesn’t end,” Diehl said. 

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