Massachusetts Governor Hopeful Mike Kennealy Talks Policy
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Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. There is a war in Massachusetts between Republicans and Democrats that's been there since they landed on Plymouth Rock a few years ago. And all I can say is many talk and few do. Mike Connealy joins us, Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts and out of St. John's, Danvers and Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

he did something really, really unique. He went off to save a hugely troubled city system in Lawrence, Massachusetts. We welcome all of 92.9 FM in Boston and across this nation to somebody who went into the trenches and said, we need to fix this. Mike Kennelly, what did you learn about fixing the mess in Lawrence, Massachusetts that you would bring to the governor?

Well, it's a great question. I appreciate the chance to come on today. As you alluded to, I went to college and business school. I had a long career in the private equity business, but I decided a dozen years ago what I wanted to do was public service. And my first stop was Lawrence. I joined the team tasked with turning around the Lawrence public schools. And what I learned firsthand is the power of leadership and collaboration and the ability to get things done when you put the outcome ahead of the politics.

And so I joined a team that was empowered to make real change through state receivership. And we did things like cut the size of the bureaucracy by 40% and put those dollars in the classroom.

produce innovative new programs and we brought parents and teachers and community members together to drive better results for our kids and you know in two years we took a high school graduation rate from 52 to 72 percent so it was the power of cutting the bureaucracy leading with leading with results and bringing people together mike we need a three-hour conversation i don't have that time paul's looking at me saying ask about trump are you better positioned as governor of the commonwealth

to take on Donald Trump, given all the horror stories I read in the Boston Globe, versus the present Democratic governor.

I'm way better positioned than her to work with anybody that wants to move our state forward, including the president. And I've said for a long time now, when things happen in Washington that Governor Healey doesn't like, she must tell her team, get me on TV. I would tell my team, get me on a plane and get down there and work with the president and his team to help do things that are good for Massachusetts. I think I'm way better positioned. She built her career by suing Donald Trump.

I built my career by working with people across all facets of life, all sectors to get things done. And that's the same approach I would take as governor. Good morning. Ninety to nine FM in Boston and across this nation. Mike Keneally with us. Republican candidate for the Commonwealth. Mike, what's the from your perspective, the number one issue for the people of Massachusetts and what's your policy as it relates to that?

Yeah, I'm not sure there's one, but we've articulated three pillars of our campaign, which is affordability, opportunity, and better government. We've got a cost-of-living crisis here. People cannot afford to live in Massachusetts on the one hand. On the other hand, there's not enough economic opportunity. We're 50th among the 50 states in job creation in the last couple of years, and our education test scores are down over the last dozen years, so we're not preparing the workforce for the future. And in terms of the quality of our government,

We have a state government that's not fiscally responsible, not accountable, not transparent, and can't manage a crisis. So for me, there's never one issue. There's three, affordability, opportunity, and we call it a government you can believe in. And people cannot believe in this government today. Mike, you talked about number 50 in, I think, business creation. That really shocks me, coming from a state like Massachusetts. What's going on there? The job creation was diverse to San Francisco.

I mean, it should surprise all of us. Look, we're Massachusetts, right? We have leading positions in some of the most important industries globally. We have great companies, great leaders, great communities. And because of Beacon Hill's failed policies,

We're 50 of them on the 50 states in job creation. So we should all look at that and just say, look, that is not acceptable. And that's the fault of the CEO of the state. And that CEO is more Healy. So we need a change in leadership. Mike, I want one more question here. We'll get you back on as you stagger towards the election. I'm going to go to Beth Israel Deaconess.

their Center for Virology and Vaccine Research. What would you say right now to Secretary Kennedy about the science of Boston, Massachusetts? I would say we have the best science in the world, okay? And the reason why my family and I ride the Pan-Mask Challenge every year, for example, is that our institutions, like in that case, Dana-Farber, you mentioned Beth Israel, our institutions get results. So I would tell them what you get when you invest in Massachusetts

and you should invest here. We are the leader. - Mike Kennealy, thank you so much for 92.9 FM in Boston, Republican candidate, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for governor and for all of you across the nation, just a window. Paul, you're right, I was stunned. 50th in job creation? - Never would have guessed that. - Really, it's like worse expense housing issues than New York in the tri-state area. There's some real challenges up there, including the designated hitter position.

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