Governor Maura Healey formally launched her re-election campaign Tuesday, seeking a second four-year term as Massachusetts faces ongoing concerns over affordability, energy costs, and outmigration.

Healey’s campaign announcement came exactly four years after she first entered the governor’s race. In a launch video, Healey said she is running to lower costs, increase opportunity, and oppose former President Donald Trump, whom her campaign cast as a threat to Massachusetts families.

Republican challengers were quick to respond, arguing that the governor’s record does not justify another term.

Michael Minogue, a GOP candidate and former medical device businessman, said the state has moved in the wrong direction under Healey’s leadership.

“After four years of the Healey administration, the only people doing better in Massachusetts are the political elite,” Minogue said in a press release emailed to NewBostonPost. “Young people and families are being priced out, businesses are leaving, and communities are less safe while the political establishment keeps asking voters to accept more of the same. I’m running to be a new kind of governor, focused on accountability, affordability, and making Massachusetts the best place to live, work, and raise a family again. Today’s announcement is just another promise to protect a system that works for some but not for all.”

Former state Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy also criticized Healey’s record, pointing to cost-of-living indicators and population trends.

“Maura Healey does not deserve re-election by any measure,” Kennealy said in a press release emailed to NewBostonPost. “Massachusetts is now one of the top states for outmigration, we rank 47th in affordability, and our families pay the third-highest energy bills in the entire country — these are direct results of policies enacted and pushed by Maura Healey.”

Kennealy said those numbers reflect deeper problems in state leadership.

“These aren’t abstract statistics — they’re the real-world consequences of a Governor who has mismanaged the basics and refuses to take responsibility for the decline happening on her watch,” he said. “While the Governor tries to shift blame onto others, the people of Massachusetts know the truth: the responsibility for our struggles lies squarely with the state’s chief executive: Maura Healey.”

Kennealy argued that voters are looking for a change in direction.

“Massachusetts needs a Governor with integrity who puts people first — their wallets, quality of life, and ability to build the future they deserve over grandstanding and political finger pointing,” he said. “The window to the American Dream is closing in our Commonwealth and it’s Maura Healey who is closing it. Voters understand that, and they’re ready for a change.”

Former MBTA chief administrator Brian Shortsleeve took a different approach, releasing an AI-generated video using Healey’s voice that he described as a hypothetical campaign ad.

“Here’s what one of her radio ads might sound like — if she were honest,” Shortsleeve said in a Facebook post.

In the video transcript, the AI-generated voice states, “We have one of the highest electricity rates in the nation,” and adds, “We are the second most costly state to retire in.” The script also says, “More than 5,000 employers have closed their doors, and we have sent more than 12,000 private sector jobs to Republican states.”

The transcript further claims, “We are dead last 50th out of 50 in job growth,” and refers to the closure of a Burlington facility operated by Curia Global, which had recently received a manufacturing award from the state.

Healey defeated Republican nominee Geoff Diehl (R-Whitman) by a wide margin in 2022, winning nearly 64 percent of the vote. 

Healey's campaign could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.