“I’ve looked at the numbers in every way,” Chang-Diaz said. “Unfortunately, there is no way I can lead my followers responsibly to become governor this year.”
Secretary of State William F. Galvin said the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the vote was weeks ago, meaning Chang-Diaz’s name will remain in front of voters in the Dec. 6 primary. September despite its decision Thursday.
His announcement, however, surprised some of those who have followed his campaign, and his departure creates one of the strangest Massachusetts governors ’careers to be remembered. He frees Healey to run virtually smoothly at least until early September, when he will then draw one of the two Republicans, both of whom he has led with yawning margins in public polls, in the November election.
When asked if he would support Healey, Chang-Diaz refused to answer.
“I am focusing my energies on these candidates,” he said, pointing to a list of candidates with negative votes that he is endorsing. “I will support the Democratic candidate in this race. There is no question. In the primaries, I will vote for myself because I think I am the best choice for the governor.”
Chang-Diaz made the announcement outside an early childhood education center in Jamaica Plain, where she was joined by her husband, children and father, as well as many supporters, including a bunch of elected officials. and candidates who have supported it. He had met with several followers in a virtual meeting Thursday before to explain their plans.
Upon dropping out of school, he said he intends to refocus his efforts on helping a number of other progressive candidates, including state representatives Vivian Birchall, Raul Fernandez and Sam Montaño, and two district attorney candidates: Ricardo Arroyo , which is presented in Suffolk. County, and Rahsaan Hall, which heads to Plymouth County.
Chang-Diaz said she would be “open” to supporting other candidates statewide, but did not approve any Thursday.
He is less than three weeks away from qualifying for the vote at the Democratic Party state convention, where he garnered less than 30 percent of support among party delegates and finished far behind Healey.
The same week, State Senate President Karen E. Spilka, who once stripped Chang-Diaz of her longtime role as co-chair of the Legislature’s education committee, gave her support to Healey, which has risen to the top of public polls with $ 5.2 million. chest of war and widespread name recognition built from two statewide victories.
In a statement, Healey said she is grateful for Chang-Diaz’s work as an elected official and as a candidate for governor.
“The legacy of her campaign will linger through the girls who were ultimately represented in a candidate for the highest office in the state,” the South End Democrat said. “I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Chang-Diaz to bring people together and make Massachusetts work for all of our families.”
Chang-Diaz, a seven-term senator, drew up a campaign message around promises to pursue seismic policy changes: she supports tariff-free public transportation and a government-funded single-payer health care system. He promoted a “New Green Agreement” at the state level.
A longtime advocate for balancing school funding scales, she also presented herself with a foreign political inclination despite her long stay in Beacon Hill, promoting her willingness to face House House leaders. Democratic state even when it cost him politically.
He repeatedly explained his withdrawal from the education committee after failing to reach an agreement on a comprehensive school funding bill in 2018, saying he “kept the line” in the negotiations and eventually helped get a $ 1.5 billion infusion into state schools over several years.
“Defend what you really believe,” he implored delegates from the stage at this month’s convention. “Vote for action, not just words.”
Fernandez, a Brookline Democrat who has been endorsed by Chang-Diaz in his run for the State House, said he resonated with his message that progressive ideas like his cannot be left out. His support does not stop with the end of his career as governor, he said.
“She’s my candidate. From the moment she announced, I was all inside,” she said. “I didn’t know who else was going to run and frankly I didn’t care. I’ll still vote for her on Sept. 6, no doubt.”
The senator currently chairs the legislative committees on cannabis policy and racial equity, and was a lead negotiator on the omnibus police liability law passed in late 2020.
He won his seat in the state Senate when he defeated incumbent Dianne Wilkerson in the 2008 Democratic primary before winning the seat that November.
But for a long time he struggled to capture attention in the governor’s career, at first overshadowed by questions about whether Governor Charlie Baker would run for re-election (he is not) and then by Healey’s entry into the race in January.
He tried, unsuccessfully, to put pressure on Healey in a series of debates before the convention. An April survey showed she was behind the attorney general by 45 percentage points, and when she entered Worcester’s DCU Center this month, her campaign had spent more than she collected in consecutive months.
A disadvantage he always was. “I don’t think there has been a political effort in more than 13 years in which I haven’t been a disadvantage,” he told the Globe last month.
But in the deep blue of Massachusetts, where the Democratic bench has long had ambitious candidates, its decision created an almost inconceivable scenario just a few months ago: it is Republicans, not Democrats, who will have to fight through ‘primaries contested to have the opportunity of an open call. governor’s seat.
Geoff Diehl, a former state deputy backed by former President Donald Trump, and Chris Doughty, a Wrentham businessman and first candidate, are vying for the Republican ticket. A late April survey by the University of Suffolk / Boston Globe showed that Healey had advantages of 27 and 30 points over them, respectively.
In a statement Thursday, Diehl said the senator’s departure from the race “makes it now a clear competition between my vision of making Massachusetts a better place to live and work, and Maura Healey’s policies that would drive more families. and companies to leave our country. been looking for better opportunities elsewhere “.
Doughty, in a statement, accused Healey of removing Chang-Diaz from the race because “Democratic voters have no choice.”
“We believe voters should have options in elections, not in coronations,” Doughty said.
Matt Stout can be contacted at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattpstout. Samantha J. Gross can be contacted at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthajgross.