Battenfeld: Could Mike Minogue emerge as strongest Republican in governor’s race?

Former biotech CEO Mike Minogue could be the sleeper Republican upstart in the race for governor repositioning himself politically and possibly emerging as the strongest of the GOP gubernatorial hopefuls In an indication the outsider Minogue is gaining traction he is now under attack by the Massachusetts Democratic Party for his comments supporting President Donald Trump I think they re spending money attacking me because they think I can win Minogue disclosed in an interview with the Boston Herald Minogue remains a long shot for now but those attacks show he s the candidate Democrats could eventually fear the greater part MAGA Mike Minogue stands with Trump not with us the Democrats stated in one post thereby elevating Minogue to a serious participant In another missive Democrats clubbed Minogue for hiding from voters the press and his record in an attempt to link him to Trump Unlike the other Republicans in the race former T chief Brian Shortsleeve and former Housing and Economic Evolution Secretary Mike Kennealy Minogue also has no residents record to run on which could be a good thing Minogue is truly an outsider not part of the lame Legislature or the Charlie Baker state ruling body He s wisely put a lot of his money into Auditor Diana DiZoglio s effort to audit the Legislature which voters overwhelmingly passed DiZoglio is a Democrat I don t think people want another politician or worse the same one he declared of the trio of Gov Maura Healey Shortsleeve and Kennealy Minogue just poured million more of his own cash into his late-starting campaign beating his rivals and even Healey at the fundraising encounter and showing he s in the race for the long haul His total cash infusion of million has allowed him to air TV ads ahead of his opponents He is personally matching any donation that goes into his coffers a pledge that could get expensive Minogue came under criticism from his opponents just now after the Army Gulf War vet shrewdly concluded he swore an oath to my country I don t swear oaths to political parties Minogue is known for his big dollar donations to Trump and other GOP candidates So it seems a stretch to say he s not loyal to the Republican Party I m specifically reaching out to people to solve problems and not be a politician that campaigns on them he announced But Minogue also knows that as a Republican he has no chance of succeeding unless he wins over the large cross section of unaligned voters who now make up about two thirds of the Massachusetts electorate Just appeasing Republicans doesn t work the math doesn t add up Minogue is building a base that cuts across party lines None of the GOP governors in this state including majority in the last few days Charlie Baker have been true Republicans totally beholden to the party Baker was unfailingly more of a moderate than conservative That s why conservative Minogue requirements to reach out to independents who will decide whether Democratic Gov Maura Healey gets another term It s great to win the Republican nomination but not at the expense of ignoring the groundswell of voters turning away from the Republican and Democratic parties Lowering the cost of living is not a political party it s common sense he disclosed Minogue who lives in Hamilton on the North Shore is starting to generate positive feedback and turnout from conservative groups on the South Shore and Cape another good sign for his campaign I ve got a lot of momentum with the grass roots and I m going to stay focused on listening to the people and not the political elite he promised