Politics

Brian Shortsleeve, former MBTA head, is running for governor

Shortsleeve, who is running as a Republican, pledged to restore fiscal responsibility to Massachusetts.

Brian Shortsleeve, who oversaw the MBTA during the Baker administration, is running for governor as a Republican. Keith Bedford/Boston Globe

By Ross Cristantiello

May 12, 2025

4 minutes to read

Another Republican announced his intent to run for governor Monday. Brian Shortsleeve, a venture capitalist who managed the MBTA under former Gov. Charlie Baker, officially launched his campaign this week.

Gov. Maura Healey intends to seek reelection next year. Shortsleeve is the second high-profile Republican to enter the race after Mike Kennealy, another former Baker official, launched his campaign last month.

In a campaign launch video posted to social media Monday, Shortsleeve heavily emphasized his history as a Marine Corps officer and his work in government. In Shortsleeve’s telling, Baker tapped him to fix an MBTA that was “falling apart.” He touted his work cutting waste at the agency and balancing its budget, saying the system was improving until Healey took office and “broke the budget all over again.”

Shortsleeve hammered Healey, labeling her a “career politician” who spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on housing migrants instead of prioritizing longtime residents.

“This isn’t leadership. It’s insanity. And Massachusetts deserves better,” Shortsleeve said in the video.

MBTA-centered attacks on Healey may prove difficult to land, considering the man she hand-picked to lead the agency has become a popular local figure for his work eliminating slow zones.

Much of Healey’s first term has been spent managing the fallout of twin crises: one of housing affordability and another of spiking immigration. Taken together, the state’s emergency shelter system became overburdened, very costly, and in some cases, dangerous. Healey took measures like implementing shelter stay limits and emphasized job training. Recent data shows a significant drop in the number of families within the system over the past year, but the emergency shelter situation still remains a political liability.

Shortsleeve said that Healey is using “sanctuary state policies” to prioritize migrants over veterans, adding that he would get rid of these policies. Healey has repeatedly insisted that Massachusetts is not a “sanctuary state.” There is no official definition of what the term actually means, but Massachusetts is frequently labeled as such because of a 2017 Supreme Judicial Court ruling that prohibits law enforcement officials from making arrests based on federal civil immigration matters. If elected, Shortsleeve would need considerable help from state lawmakers to change that.

He decried data that showed Massachusetts losing private sector jobs and businesses. It is still one of the most-moved-from states, but the Bay State’s population is actually rising as well, and there is more to those numbers.

Shortsleeve pledged to “cut spending” immediately after taking office, citing reporting from The Boston Globe that explained how the state budget has ballooned in recent years. He promised to audit every state agency and decrease spending rapidly.

Healey has yet to officially launch her reelection campaign, but has booked a number of high-profile national media appearances and is positioning herself as a leading anti-Trump voice on the national stage. Healey’s opposition to President Donald Trump while she was state attorney general helped pave the way for her ascent to the governorship, and widespread dislike of the president in Massachusetts could hamstring Shortsleeve’s campaign.

Shortsleeve was a big supporter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the last presidential cycle. Trump and DeSantis are still at odds in some ways, but ties to DeSantis could be also detrimental to Shortsleeve’s campaign. The Florida governor might be best known to Massachusetts residents for his deeply polarizing efforts to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard years ago.

In a statement released Monday, Democratic Party Chair Steve Kerrigan sought to emphasize Shortsleeve’s ties to Trump and DeSantis.

“Brian Shortsleeve voted for Donald Trump and chaired Trump loyalist Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign. He’s not going to stand up to Trump as he takes away health care from the seniors, women and children, halts research for cures to cancer and Alzheimer’s, or launches a tariff war that’s raising costs for everyone. This is what he voted for, and it’s what he’ll bring to Massachusetts,” Kerrigan said.

Before taking on Healey, Shortsleeve will first have to beat out Kennealy, who oversaw housing and economic development under Baker. The former governor, a moderate Republican, was immensely popular in Massachusetts, and both Republican candidates will likely make their ties to his administration known repeatedly.

Kennealy’s campaign criticized Shortsleeve Monday, saying that he should not be boasting about his work with the MBTA.

“Massachusetts needs a manager to clean up Maura Healey’s mess. When Brian Shortsleeve had his chance to lead, he mismanaged the MBTA and left it in just as big a mess as he found it. It’s hard to imagine what exactly he’s ‘proud’ of,” Ben Hincher, Kennealy’s campaign manager, said in a statement.

An interesting wrinkle in the race could revolve around the MBTA Communities Act, a divisive law signed by Baker that is forcing dozens of cities and towns to zone for multi-family housing. Kennealy has said that the law was a tool worth pursuing, but that the current administration and Healey ally Attorney General Andrea Campbell are weaponizing it without listening to the concerns of residents.

Shortsleeve said that he would work to repeal the MBTA Communities Act.

“Shortsleeve is a donor and supporter of Democrat Attorney General Campbell, who has made it her mission to weaponize the MBTA Communities Act and sue cities and towns. We suggest he ask her to change course when he attends her next fundraiser,” Hincher said in response.

Just how crowded the GOP field will become is an open question. State Sen. Peter Durant was weighing a run but recently decided to hold back, The Boston Herald reported. Republican donor Michael Minogue is actively debating whether or not to jump into the race, according to the Herald.