Attorney General Maura Healey and former State Rep. Geoff Diehl will square off Wednesday night in the first televised debate between the two candidates for governor of Massachusetts.
Political reporter Alison King and political commentator Sue O'Connell broke down the highlights of the race so far, plus the big issues to watch out for during the debate on NBC10 Boston's new podcast: "Countdown to Decision 2022."
"This is going to be the first time that our voters are going to see these two candidates together facing off against each other. It's the first debate," O'Connell said. "So I think those who may be undecided, or those who maybe just want to get to know each of the candidates better in their positions, will come away from it with a more defined point of view on who these candidates are and what they stand for."
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Both candidates have different ideas about how, as governor, they would handle key issues facing state residents, including the whopping spike in energy costs. O'Connell and King said they plan to hit on the issues that impact the largest number of Massachusetts voters, including education, the MBTA and abortion rights.
Healey became the first woman and openly gay person elected attorney general in 2014. She would also become the state's first openly gay governor and the first woman elected to the post. (Jane Swift served as governor but wasn't elected.) Diehl, a former state representative who co-chaired Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in Massachusetts, unsuccessfully ran for senate against Elizabeth Warren in 2018.
"It's a race for Geoff Diehl's life, in my opinion. Polls are showing him behind," O'Connell said.
Healey kicked off her campaign with a 26-point lead over Diehl, a Suffolk University/Boston Globe/NBC10 Boston/Telemundo poll found.
"Maura Healey is really a very strong front-runner, according to the polls, going into this race," King said. "She wants to hold the line. So typically in debates like this, you know, the incumbent or the frontrunner is someone who wants to just play it safe and get through it and not have any kind of major gaffe."
For Diehl, the debate is a "big opportunity" to stir things up, King said. In order to win on Nov. 8, O'Connell said Diehl needs to "make a compelling case" to unenrolled voters, who make up the majority of registered voters in the state.
Approximately 30% of Massachusetts voters are registered as Democrats, compared to just 9% registered as Republicans. Nearly 60% of Massachusetts voters are unenrolled in either party, according to enrollment data from the secretary of state's website.
"What I'm going to be looking for at our debate is, what is the case he's going to make to those unenrolled voters to choose him over Attorney General Maura Healey," O'Connell said.
