The incoming Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey administration pledged to make the state more affordable and has begun accepting public comments following the Democrats’ sweeping midterms wins across the state.
“Our job from day one will be to make our state more affordable,” wrote Governor-elect Maura Healey in a press release. “It is time for us to model the kind of leadership and collaboration and, yes, the respect that we want to see elsewhere. Because in Massachusetts, we lift people up. We come together. And we lead. That’s who we are.”
Healey and Lieutenant Governor-elect Kim Driscoll met with outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker and outgoing Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito on Nov. 9, where they “pledged to maintain a strong, collaborative relationship to ensure a smooth transition,” according to a press release.
Driscoll, who was recently announced as chair of the Transition team, announced the launch of the website HealeyDriscollTransition.com in a press release, which crowdsources input directly from Massachusetts residents about the changes they would like to see in their state from the next administration.
“We encourage the people of Massachusetts to share their ideas for how we can work together to move Massachusetts forward,” said Driscoll.
Ballot Questions 1, 2 and 4 were passed by Massachusetts voters, which means increasing taxes on incomes greater than $1 million, requiring an 83% medical loss ratio for dental insurance providers and allowing undocumented residents to get driver’s licenses will become new state policies under the Healey-led administration.
“The history-making results of this election show that the values of the Democratic party resonate with voters here in Massachusetts,” said Gus Bickford, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
Some Massachusetts residents had ideas on how the party should operate in the future.
“I think having… one party controlling it, I think that’s going to be good because, you know, not a lot of butting heads,” Mason Roth, a sales associate and professional musician who lives in Massachusetts, said. “I expect a huge change, a lot more social work to be done.”
Jenny Mansbridge, professor of political leadership and democratic values at Harvard University, critiqued the lack of people from a working class background in the Democratic party.
“We are not sensitive to working class needs on the ground,” she said, “And we don’t present the policies in ways sensitive to the way many in the working class think about things.”
The election of people from working class backgrounds of all ethnicities in the state legislature would add a dimension of sensitivity to all concerns, Mansbridge said, and would make it easier to “navigate some of those shoals.”
State Democratic leadership applauded the state’s results and expressed hope for the change that the new administration will bring.
“We are proud to have a clean sweep of the constitutional offices, including an all-female executive team led by Governor-elect Maura Healey and Lt. Governor-elect Kim Driscoll, and know this means that we will see meaningful reforms for affordable housing, child care, and safe and affordable transportation, and so much more,” Bickford said.
