GOP’s Brian Shortsleeve taps New Bedford's Shawn Oliver as running mate

Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve tapped New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver as his running mate, Shortsleeve’s campaign announced Thursday.

Shortsleeve pitched Oliver, who plans to mount a campaign for lieutenant governor, as a person of “conviction, common sense, and service” who understands pressures facing working families and the “consequences of failed leadership on Beacon Hill.

Shortsleeve, a former MBTA chief administrator, said he did not want a running mate “with a famous last name or someone from the political establishment.”

“I was looking for a partner in this fight to make Massachusetts affordable again for working people. I wanted someone with backbone, someone grounded in community and shaped by hard work, someone who understands that public service is about results, not rhetoric,” Shortsleeve said in a statement.

Oliver said he decided to run to be the state’s second-in-command because of Shortsleeve’s “experience” and “vision.”

“He is a Marine, successful businessman and entrepreneur, and proven government reformer, and together we are going to fight for working families, restore accountability, support law enforcement, and make Massachusetts affordable, safe, and sane again,” Oliver said in a statement.

Oliver was elected to the New Bedford City Council in 2022 and has worked as a corrections officer for nearly 15 years, according to the Shortsleeve campaign.

Oliver faced criticism in 2023 for allegedly posting memes aimed at transgender people, the push for a higher minimum wage, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the New Bedford Light reported.

A spokesperson for Shortsleeve’s campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the social media posts.

The city councilor joined the Republican Party last year.

In a statement circulated by the Massachusetts Republican Party in December, Oliver said he switched his party affiliation from unenrolled to Republican in August.

"As a longtime unenrolled voter with conservative values, I’ve always supported common-sense candidates and initiatives,” Oliver said in the statement provided by the MassGOP. “Yet for years, I’ve felt that my voice wasn’t truly being heard. It’s become clear to me that ‘unenrolled’ too often means underrepresented. It’s time to make common sense common again."

Independent voters made up more than 64% of the 5 million registered voters in Massachusetts as of February 2025, according to data from the secretary of state’s office. There were 1.2 million Democrats and more than 423,000 Republicans in the state, the data showed.

In Massachusetts, candidates for lieutenant governor are elected independent of those running for governor.  That means even if two candidates team up to form a "ticket," they might not both be elected to political office.

Oliver is the latest person to announce a campaign for lieutenant governor ahead of the statewide election later this year.

Mike Kennealy, a former state cabinet secretary and a Republican running for governor, selected Anne Manning Martin as his running mate earlier this month.

Manning Martin works as a deputy superintendent at the state Department of Correction’s Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Unit and has served on the Peabody City Council for 19 years.

Anne Brensley, a Wayland Select Board member, is also running for lieutenant governor.

Mike Minogue, a former biotechnology executive, has not announced a running mate for his own Republican gubernatorial bid.

Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, both Democrats, are running for reelection.