Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue said Monday his concerns regarding potential corruption tied to the State Police union’s contract and endorsement of his opponent were “not directed at the state troopers,” following the union’s call for him to apologize Sunday.
“I want to make sure that this is not directed at the state troopers, right?” Minogue said. “I think they should have a fair contract, competitive compensation, and full support, but I don’t think the governor should be using a negotiation of a contract to then get an endorsement within 60 days of the election. I just think as the governor, we should not have any of this happening this close to an election year.”
Minogue’s response called for an “official, verifiable statement” on whether anyone in Healey’s administration or campaign discussed or implied a connection between the State Police Association of Massachusetts (SPAM) union contract and their endorsement of Healey, subject to public records laws.
The issue came before the public originally on Saturday, when the candidate speculated about whether Healey “cut a deal with the State Troopers for an endorsement as Governor” using their new union contract in an X post.
SPAM endorsed the incumbent governor in September, along with the Massachusetts State Police Commissioned Officers Association, the Massachusetts Coalition of Police, and the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.
By Sunday, SPAM released their own statement, calling the Republican’s claim “categorically false.”
The union leadership demanded Minogue “correct his false allegations and apologize to the men and women of the Massachusetts State Police for questioning their integrity and using the contract they earned in an attempt to score political points.”
During an event Monday, Healey also chimed in and called the claims “more lies and nonsense from Mike Minogue and his campaign,” CBS Boston reported.
“I’m proud to have the support of law enforcement and the support of four police organizations I’ve received support from in this race,” Healey said.
In a statement Monday, Healey’s campaign spokesperson called Minogue’s communications “an unhinged rant from an unhinged, desperate candidate.”
On Monday, Minogue said an official statement on the issue from Healey should be “subject to full disclosure of all communications, conversations, texts, and emails between the governor’s negotiation team and the state planning union representatives, so voters can see all of this for themselves.”
The Republican said the timing of the contract negotiations and endorsement led him to pose the “corruption” question, noting there were “actually 54 days from the endorsement to the election in the end of a year where they’re having a contract.”
Minogue said he stands with law enforcement and argued Healey “owes our State Troopers an apology” for the circumstances of their contract. The candidate further claimed he’d heard concerns with the contract and endorsement situation from current and retired state troopers.
“We should not ever have this happen again, because whether it’s corruption or the perception of corruption, it puts a cloud over any contract,” Minogue said. “And that’s why I think she owes an apology to the State Police. This should have been done a year ago. It should not have dragged on. And I think it’s fair that some people are concerned that there was a connection between the endorsement and the contract.”
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