The 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Massachusetts. Republican former state representative Geoff Diehl, Democratic state Attorney General Maura Healey, and Libertarian Kevin Reed sought to succeed incumbent Governor Charlie Baker, who did not seek re-election after two terms. This was one of six Republican-held governorships up for election in 2022 in a state carried by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, and the only race in which the incumbent was retiring despite being eligible for re-election.
Primary elections were held on September 6, with Diehl and Healey winning against minimal opposition. Due to Massachusetts's strong liberal lean and Diehl's conservative political views, Healey was widely expected to win the election. The election was called for the Democrat shortly after polls closed, with Healey becoming the first woman ever elected governor of Massachusetts and the first openly lesbian governor to take office in United States history.
In addition, with the election of Kim Driscoll as lieutenant governor, Massachusetts became one of the first two states to simultaneously elect women as governor and lieutenant governor, along with Arkansas. Arkansas, however, elects the governor in a separate election from the lieutenant governor. Taking 63.7% of the vote, Healey's performance was the strongest of any Democratic gubernatorial candidate in the state since Michael Dukakis in 1986, the best performance in history for a non-incumbent Democrat, and the best performance for any non-incumbent since Channing Cox in 1920. Healey also made history by receiving over 1.5 million votes, the most ever received by a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts history.
This election constituted the largest shift by partisan margin of any 2022 gubernatorial election, swinging from a 33.5 point margin of victory for the Republican in 2018 to a 29.1 point margin for the Democrat in 2022. Additionally, every county in the state flipped from Republican to Democratic; this was the first gubernatorial election in which every county flipped since the 2010 Wyoming election.
Despite Republican Charlie Baker winning re-election in 2018, and having consistently elected Republican governors in the state since 1990, with only one Democratic governor being elected in that timeframe, Massachusetts is one of the bluest states in the country. All of the Senate and House seats are Democrat controlled, and Democrats also control supermajorities in both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate. On December 1, 2021, Baker announced he would not run for re-election, and many polls have shown the Massachusetts govenership was the likeliest to flip in 2022.
Aggregate polls<br />
Charlie Baker vs. Danielle Allen<br />
Charlie Baker vs. Sonia Chang-DÃÂaz<br />
Charlie Baker vs. Benjamin Downing<br />
Charlie Baker vs. Maura Healey<br />
Charlie Baker vs. Joe Kennedy III<br />
Charlie Baker vs. Orlando Silva<br />
Karyn Polito vs. Danielle Allen<br />
Karyn Polito vs. Sonia Chang-DÃÂaz<br />
Karyn Polito vs. Benjamin Downing<br />
Karyn Polito vs. Maura Healey<br />
Karyn Polito vs. Orlando Silva<br />
Geoff Diehl vs. Maura Healey with Charlie Baker as an independent<br />
Geoff Diehl vs. Sonia Chang-DÃÂaz<br /> Aggregate polls<br />
Chris Doughty vs. Sonia Chang-DÃÂaz<br /> Aggregate polls<br />
Chris Doughty vs. Maura Healey<br /> Aggregate polls<br />
! colspan="8" | 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election results by county |- ! rowspan="2" |County ! colspan="2" |Healey ! colspan="2" |Diehl ! colspan="2" |Other ! rowspan="2" |Total |- ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % |- |Barnstable|| 70,163|| | 59.1%|| 46,011 || 38.8% || 2,559 || 2.2% || 118,733 |- |Berkshire|| 34,898|| | 70.3% || 13,205 || 26.6% || 1,539 || 3.1% || 49,642 |- |Bristol|| 98,969|| | 53.3%|| 81,033 || 43.7% || 5,533 || 3.0% || 185,535 |- |Dukes|| 7,185|| | 76.4%|| 2,011 || 21.4% || 211 || 2.2% || 9,407 |- |Essex|| 177,760|| | 61.4%|| 104,400 || 36.1% || 7,231 || 2.5% || 289,391 |- |Franklin|| 22,287|| | 69.7%|| 8,788 || 27.5% || 895 || 2.8% || 31,970 |- |Hampden|| 75,523|| | 54.1%|| 60,203 || 43.1% || 3,977 || 2.8% || 139,703 |- |Hampshire|| 46,679|| | 71.5%|| 17,138 || 26.2% || 1,512 || 2.3% || 65,329 |- |Middlesex|| 426,064|| | 69.6%|| 169,707 || 27.7% || 16,464 || 2.7% || 612,225 |- |Nantucket|| 3,262|| | 65.8%|| 1,553 || 31.3% || 140 || 2.8% || 4,955 |- |Norfolk|| 183,795|| | 63.8%|| 96,607 || 33.6% || 7,517 || 2.6% || 287,919 |- |Plymouth|| 115,810|| | 53.4%|| 95,669 || 44.1% || 5,229 || 2.4% || 216,708 |- |Suffolk|| 159,232|| | 78.0%|| 38,886 || 19.0% || 6,069 || 3.0% || 204,187 |- |Worcester || 162,786 || | 55.0% || 124,132 || 42.0% || 8,839 || 3.0% || 295,757
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Healey won all nine congressional districts.
Partisan clients<br />
Official campaign websites for gubernatorial candidates
Official campaign websites for lieutenant gubernatorial candidates