Conservative Bourne Attorney McMahon Wins GOP AG Primary

In choosing Jay McMahon of Bourne, Republican primary voters on Tuesday nominated a self-described "constitutional conservative" for attorney general, a veteran trial attorney who has corporate, law enforcement and military experience and has vowed to revoke Attorney General Maura Healey's ban on copycat assault weapons.

McMahon defeated Hingham attorney Dan Shores, with representatives from both campaigns saying Shores had conceded the race. With 52 percent of results in, McMahon led Shores 63 percent to 37 percent.

Healey, a popular incumbent running unopposed in Tuesday's Democratic primary after bursting onto the political scene in 2014, has sued President Trump's administration repeatedly, asserting the illegality of federal policies that she says are also out of step with the values of Massachusetts voters.

In turn, Healey's Republican critics have accused her of overstepping her authority and using the attorney general's office to advance her own political views. At the Republican Party convention in April, McMahon opened his speech by calling Healey a "left wing loony liberal political activist" and touted his more than 30 years of legal experience before judges and government boards throughout the state.

McMahon launched his campaign in the summer of 2017 at a chowder cookoff contest at the Westport home of Mary Lou Daxland, leader of the conservative Massachusetts Republican Assembly. At the Republican Party convention in April, he channeled his support for Trump and Second Amendment rights.

In addition to pledging cooperation with the federal government to end illegal immigration and sanctuary cities in Massachusetts, McMahon, a father of four who lost a son to opioid addiction, has called for better cooperation with federal law enforcement to stop the illegal trafficking of opiates and fentanyl, to "be brutal" with street-level sellers of narcotics and for better treatment programs for addicts, including "involuntary commitment."

"Needle exchange programs do not resolve this. 'Safe shoot-up places' does not resolve this," he said when announcing his bid for attorney general. "We need to give quality care which requires long term, much more time than we've been committed to as a society up to now," he wrote on his website.

McMahon has attacked Healey's crackdown on copycat assault weapons, calling it "her solution to a non-existent problem." He has vowed to dismiss "frivolous" lawsuits filed by Healey against the Trump administration and said he plans to concentrate "on the scandals of public corruption here in Massachusetts."

When Democrats held their convention in June, Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards, who represents East Boston, Charlestown and the North End, introduced Healey as "one of the most incredible women in the country" and said they shared roots as lawyers and activists.

"We know our rights are under attack but we remain hopeful," said Edwards. "We know we didn't get here by accident. These are man-made problems and we need this woman to lead the solutions."

At the convention, Healey ran through her efforts to curb gun violence, address the opioid addiction crisis, hold student loan companies accountable, and investigate and sue drug companies - but won some of the loudest responses when she mentioned President Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association.

McMahon has worked in management roles at Cape Cod Bank and Trust in Hyannis, Cape Cod Hospital, and Scudder & Taylor Oil Co. He has served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard and worked as a patrolman in the Barnstable County Sheriff's office from 1971 to 1976, according to his campaign.