Politics

Mike Kennealy, former Baker official, launches campaign for governor

A Republican who oversaw housing and economic development under former Gov. Charlie Baker, Kennealy said in a campaign launch video that Massachusetts is heading in the "wrong direction."

Mike Kennealy previously served as Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. Stuart Cahill/Pool

April 7, 2025

2 minutes to read

Gov. Maura Healey intends to run for reelection next year, and she now has her first major challenger. Mike Kennealy, a Lexington Republican who served in former Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration, announced his campaign Monday.

It had been previously reported that Kennealy was seriously considering a run against Healey, and a video released Monday makes it official. In it, Kennealy speaks about the numerous ways he thinks that Massachusetts is headed in the “wrong direction”: residents choosing to leave because of high costs, students not getting the best education possible, a dysfunctional transportation system, and a shelter system where violence has gone unchecked.

Kennealy first served as Assistant Secretary for Business Growth under the Baker administration, before being appointed in 2018 to be Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. He left government with Baker and most recently worked as Senior Advisor and Chief Strategy Officer at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. Kennealy is now positioning himself as an outsider.

“The political class of Beacon Hill is more concerned with their future than with ours,” he says in the video.

Kennealy grew up in Medford and Reading before attending Dartmouth and Harvard. He spent 19 years in private equity and entered the public sector as a special adviser helping to oversee the state’s receivership of the public school system in Lawrence. Kennealy highlights his work turning around a “broken school system” in the video, while also drawing attention to his many travels around the state as a member of the Baker administration.

A biography on Kennealy’s new campaign website attributes the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs to his leadership. It also credits him with spearheading the Housing Choice Initiative, “the most substantial housing policy reform the state had seen in decades.”

Broadly, Kennealy’s website lists three priorities: making Massachusetts affordable, ensuring a “great future for everyone,” and creating a “government we can believe in.”

Healey definitively said that she would seek reelection in early February but has not yet launched an official campaign. A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately return a request for comment Monday morning.

Recent polling from UMass found that just over half of Massachusetts voters think Healey is doing her job “very well” or “somewhat well.” She earned high marks when it came to reproductive rights, education, and crime. But voters were generally displeased with her handling of housing and the migrant crisis.

When asked about a hypothetical matchup between Healey and Kennealy, 40% of respondents said that they would vote for the current governor and 15% said they would support Kennealy. But 39% said that they were unsure. Kennealy’s early campaign launch gives him time to introduce himself to those crucial voters.

Watch Kennealy’s launch video below: