Supporters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue wait for him to speak at his primary election night party on Sept. 1, 2026. Photo by Kate Castellani | State House News Service
Mike Minogue is ready to put his differences with lieutenant governor nominee Shawn Oliver aside as the two are set to share the Republican gubernatorial ticket in November.
In June, Minogue condemned Oliver’s decision to file a complaint alleging a fellow GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, Anne Manning Martin, filed fraudulent nomination signatures, saying it was “shameful.” Meanwhile, Oliver and his running mate, Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve, stood by the complaint. Shortsleeve bashed both Minogue and the MassGOP’s handling of the case, exposing fissures within the party and between the two GOP gubernatorial candidates.
Now, because Minogue beat Shortsleeve in Tuesday’s primary, Minogue and Oliver will run alongside each other against incumbent Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.
“I’m focused on campaigning up and down the ticket, party unity, and everything moving forward,” Minogue said in an interview with the State House News Service on Wednesday.
“So I don’t really have any issues, and that was really more between him and the other LG candidate, Anne Manning Martin,” Minogue said. “But what I basically thought is you shouldn’t be accusing somebody of doing something inappropriate when she was the victim of signature fraud.”
Manning Martin was ultimately scrubbed from the ballot under a Supreme Judicial Court ruling. Manning Martin’s signature gatherer, Joe Bronske, allegedly collected fraudulent nomination signatures for her along with two other statewide GOP candidates.
Similarly, Oliver said he’s ready to unify with Minogue.
“I’d also like to take a moment to congratulate Mike Minogue in winning the Republican nomination for governor,” Oliver told supporters gathered at the Sheraton Boston Hotel with the Shortsleeve campaign for a primary election night party Tuesday. “But now, with the primary behind us, we must truly unite to continue the mission for Massachusetts and defeat Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll this November because there is so much at stake.”
