Mass. GOP chair talks Trump's win and Beacon Hill seat pick-ups

President-elect Trump did not win Massachusetts, though he showed remarkable growth in the state. Despite that loss, the Massachusetts Republican Party — most commonly called MassGOP — had a good night overall, picking up three seats in the State Legislature, including a South Coast seat held by the same Democrat since the 1990s.

Speaking with WBUR's Radio Boston, MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale said the party's members feel optimism, both with the national result and in the "modest" gains made on Beacon Hill.

"So generally, Massachusetts Republicans are feeling happy this week and enthusiastic about, you know, what's to come on the national level," she said. "And we're also feeling hopeful with the gains we made here in Massachusetts, modest as the gains may be."

Carnevale credited the MassGOP's focus on the economy and immigration with success in flipping seats on Beacon Hill.

"For example [in] Taunton, where we saw Kelly Dooner elected to the state Senate seat," she said. "Taunton is home to several migrant hotels, and she talked a lot about that issue and the consequences of that issue on the city of Taunton."

Even some of the party's losses showed encouraging signs, according to Carnevale. U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton was able to garner about 40% of the vote against incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Warren, even as he suffered from a lack of name recognition with voters. Carnevale said the party had to remain neutral in the race until after the primary, where Deaton faced other Republican hopefuls.

"So that really impacted the party's ability to elevate his name in a meaningful way prior to the primary, which of course is, is late in Massachusetts," she said.

The overall gains this year come following a period of infighting, financial instability and decline in the Republican Party. Carnevale said since she's taken over, the organization has refocused on elections rather than ideological battles about party philosophy.

"Under my leadership and the leadership of the current MassGOP, we've really just focused on getting Republicans elected, no matter their stripe or where they fall in the political ideology," she said. "Our job is is to help them try to get elected and that's what we've done."

While Carnevale acknowledged the national party's realignment under Trump, and how that may have led to success in some working class communities in the state like Bridgewater, Fall River and Saugus, that may not always be the winning play for the MassGOP.

As the party plans its gubernatorial bid in 2026, it will likely return to the moderate candidates that have traditionally brought Republicans success.

"Donald Trump did not receive a majority of the votes here in Massachusetts," she said. "So I think that, as we think about 2026 and an ideal candidate for Republicans, I do think that the party ... we'll likely have some more moderate candidates thinking about trying to challenge [Democratic Gov.] Maura Healey if she does decide to seek reelection."

Meanwhile, Thomas Hodgson, former Bristol County sheriff and a leader of the Trump campaign in Massachusetts, said many voters want tougher federal action on immigration and he expects the White House will do that once Trump takes office in January.

Speaking with WBUR's Deborah Becker, he said reestablishing a program that allows local law enforcement to work with federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants should be a priority.

"There's going to be a real push to identify where all these criminally illegal aliens are and move as quickly as possible to get them out of the country," Hodgson said.

He also said the comparison of Trump's first term with President Biden's administration helped many voters appreciate what the President-elect did while in office.

"Bread and butter issues were hitting very close to home so that people couldn't ignore them and say, 'Donald Trump's this' or 'he's that,' " Hodgson said. "You couldn't ignore how things were for the four years president trump was in."