Gov. Maura Healey is not going anywhere if Donald Trump becomes president.
She is not going anywhere if Kamala Harris becomes president either.
She is staying put.
Not that a President Trump would offer a position or want her around to begin win. He wouldn’t.
But a President Harris just might want Healey around to be her attorney general or offer her another job in her cabinet.
Not only has Healey been a national campaign surrogate for Harris, but both once served as attorney general in their home states, Harris in California and Healey, of course, here in Massachusetts.
Healey would also be a natural fit in a Harris administration which would expect to rely heavily on DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion—when making appointments.
Healey, after all, is the first openly gay governor of Massachusetts, and only the second gay governor in the country.
In addition, her anti-Trump reputation goes way back. As Massachusetts attorney general for eight years (2014-2022), she sued Trump some 100 times.
Despite most of the suits going nowhere, the legal action made Healey stand out among the country’s current and former state attorneys general, including Harris.
While Trump has gone through his personal, professional and political life with a “So sue me” sign on his back, Healey’s lawsuits must have set some sort of record for most time a president has been sued.
Where is the fact checking Guinness World Book of Records when you need it?
So, a Harris nomination of Healey to be her attorney general, or to some other post, would seem to be a natural development should Harris become president.
But first Harris must beat Donald Trump.
Second, Harris has to offer Healey the job, or some other appointment.
And third, Healey must want to become U.S. attorney general or desire some other high-ranking position in a Harris administration.
The answer is to the first question is undecided and will not be until the Nov. 5 election.
Secondly, Harris would have to make the offer, if elected.
And third, Healey would want the job.
Which she does not, so everything else is academic.
And going to Washington would negatively impact her happy and settled domestic life with her partner Joanna Lydgate and Lydgate’s two school age children in their Arlington home.
Healey loves being governor and wants no other job, not U.S. attorney general, not a federal judgeship, not a seat in the U.S. Senate if fellow Democrat Sen. Eddie Markey throws in the towel when at age 80, he will be up for reelection in 2026.
She would be an odds-on favorite should she seek reelection in 2026. She likes being in charge.
Healey has not had a boss, outside of the voting pubic, since she entered politics and was elected attorney general. Unlike some other states, the attorney general in Massachusetts does not work for the governor but is responsible only to the electorate. In other words, no boss.
So Gov. Healey does not have a boss, other than the people, either, and she prefers to keep it that way. Like the Massachusetts attorney general—and unlike a U.S. Senator, for that matter— the governor is an independent executive officer who makes decisions that effect the daily lives of people.
A senator talks, a governor acts.
Which reminds me of a conversation I had one day years ago with former U.S. Senator Daniel Evans of Washington who died last week.
Just elected to the Senate after a dynamic and successful career as governor, I asked him how he liked being in the Senate.
“I hate it,” he said. “When I was governor, I ran things. I drove the bus. Now I sit in the back of the bus doing nothing and nobody knows if I’m even here.” He did not seek re-election.
Healey is driving the bus.
Peter Lucas is a veteran political reporter. Email him at: [email protected]
