Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) has apparently had enough of the ‘Don’t MASS Up New Hampshire’ messaging from GOP candidates for governor. She hit back on the radio airwaves last week, telling Granite State voters they need to turn out and save their state from becoming another Florida.
Healey made her comments on left-wing radio outlet WGBH in Boston.
“By the way, for New Hampshire, that race is important, and if you don’t want to be a state like Florida right now, with extreme abortion laws, you better get out and vote for a Democrat right now in that gubernatorial election, because abortion and democracy and so much else is on the line,” Healey told radio hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan.
Her slam inspired Gov. Chris Sununu to respond.
“Massachusetts Democrats can’t scare New Hampshire voters,” Sununu told NHJournal. “The fact is that abortion will remain safe, legal, and accessible in New Hampshire. No one is proposing any changes to restrict a woman’s access to healthcare.
“Maura Healy should stick to what she does best: proposing new taxes and new ways to waste her citizens’ money.”
Healey’s appearance on the monthly “Ask the Governor” segment also saw her boast about a series of modest tax cuts and credits she signed into law a year ago.
“These [tax cuts] are important because again, while I grew up there, I don’t want people moving to New Hampshire,” Healey said.
Massachusetts, however, is projected to spend more than $1 billion annually to house the thousands of migrants flooding the state thanks to its “sanctuary” pro-illegal immigration policies. State revenue has dropped off, with a projected shortfall of $1 billion, prompting Healey in January to announce $375 million in budget cuts.
Earlier this week, Sununu took a jab at Healey during a New England Council breakfast Wednesday for “bragging about cutting taxes.”
“That’s like me bragging about having a salad. We all know it’s followed by a sleeve of Oreos,” he quipped.
Healey’s hits at New Hampshire appeared to be triggered by Braude’s mention of a social media post from New Hampshire Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte. She has frequently deployed the slogan “Don’t MASS up New Hampshire” throughout her campaign.
The tweet in question referenced a robbery allegedly committed by a Massachusetts resident in Ayotte’s hometown of Nashua.
“Shocker: Mass. license plate involved in Nashua robbery,” Ayotte wrote. “Unlike @MassGovernor (Healey), I don’t tolerate soft-on-crime policies. As Governor, I’ll ensure criminals who come to New Hampshire from Massachusetts find no sanctuary in our state.”
Braude criticized Ayotte for “taking the lowest of roads” and asked for Healey’s reaction.
“That’s interesting. I’m not running in New Hampshire,” Healey said. “I’m just trying to run the state to the best of my ability.”
Healey has, however, endorsed former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, an endorsement Craig has enthusiastically embraced. And Healey is no stranger to campaigning in the Granite State, having spent time in January promoting President Joe Biden’s write-in campaign after he ignored the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary altogether at the behest of the Democratic National Committee.
Asked to comment on Healey’s reaction, Ayotte didn’t hold back.
“Maura Healey and Joyce Craig are both using the same scare tactics to distract from the plans they have to fundamentally change New Hampshire into something we are not,” Ayotte told NHJournal. “Do you want to be more like Healey’s Massachusetts with a billion dollars spent housing illegal immigrants, higher taxes, and less freedom, or keep New Hampshire on the path Gov. Sununu has put us on?
“That’s why I am running for governor — to keep our state safe, prosperous and free.“
And Ayotte repeated her pledge to keep New Hampshire’s current abortion law — the procedure is legal for any reason through the first six months of pregnancy — unchanged.
Former New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse, who is facing off against Ayotte in September’s Republican primary, also didn’t hesitate when asked about Healey’s comments.
“Uniformed political rhetoric falls flat in the Granite State, and let’s be clear – no one in New Hampshire is looking to Maura Healy for direction, except for the diehard progressives seeking her party’s favor,” Morse told NHJournal.
“Maura Healey should focus her attention toward stopping the exportation of criminals and drugs into our state instead of chasing imaginary windmills. It’s time for her to address the alarming influx of criminals and drugs she’s allowing to flood into Massachusetts, rather than fixating on states that consistently deliver positive results.”
