Gov. Maura Healey, an Arlington resident, won a second four-year term on Tuesday, Nov. 3, defeating Republican Michael Minogue, the Associated Press reported. The AP declared Healey the winner at 8:01 p.m. EST, one minute after Massachusetts polls closed.

Healey, a Democrat, will continue to serve alongside Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, the former Salem mayor who joined the ticket in 2022. Healey previously served two terms as attorney general before winning the governor's office four years ago, according to WBUR.

With about a third of votes counted as of 10:52 p.m., unofficial AP results showed Healey with more than 64 percent of the vote to Minogue's 32 percent, boston.com reported, citing AP data. Independent candidate Andrea James received about 3 percent. Those numbers will change as more ballots are counted.

Healey cast her own ballot at the Hardy School in East Arlington, just minutes from the Lexington line, the Boston Globe reported.

What the candidates said

Healey told supporters she has an obligation "to get up every day and to drive change with urgency and action," WBUR reported.

"I'm gonna work my hardest every single day for the things that matter in your lives," she said, according to WBUR.

Minogue congratulated Healey at his own event. "An election determines who holds the office. It does not determine what we believe in, what we stand for, and how much we care about the commonwealth," he said, according to WBUR.

Affordability and Trump shaped the race

The cost of living and the candidates' ties to President Donald Trump dominated the contest. Healey campaigned on her first-term record on housing and energy costs while linking Minogue to Trump, who holds a 25 percent approval rating in Massachusetts, according to a late October UMass Lowell poll cited by boston.com.

Minogue, a former medical device company executive from Hamilton, put $19.5 million of his own money into his campaign, a record for a statewide candidate in Massachusetts, WBUR reported. He pledged to cut spending, suspend the gas tax when prices exceed $4 a gallon and end the state's net-zero emissions mandate, according to MultiState Elections.

Minogue donated about $1 million to Trump and other Republicans, the Globe reported. Trump did not publicly endorse Minogue. In the campaign's final stretch, Minogue referred to himself as a registered independent for 19 years rather than the Republican nominee, the Globe reported.

Running mate's arrest roiled the GOP ticket

Minogue's running mate, New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver, suspended his campaign Oct. 18 after police arrested him following a crash involving five parked vehicles. Oliver pleaded not guilty to operating under the influence and other charges, the Globe reported.

Oliver's name stayed on the ballot because the deadline to remove a candidate had passed weeks earlier. "He will not be my lieutenant governor. Period," Minogue told reporters, the Globe reported.

What's ahead

Healey faces high costs and surging energy bills in her second term, the Globe reported. She will also manage the state's response to the Trump administration for the president's final two years in office.

Certified results will be available through the secretary of state's Massachusetts Election Statistics database.