Peter Durant, Spencer Republican, decides against running for governor in 2026

Sen Peter Durant a Spencer Republican announced he has decided against running for governor in after mulling over a prospective campaign for the past three months Durant who won a special poll in to flip a Central Massachusetts Senate seat reported he made the decision not to launch a campaign after discussing the idea with his wife and other Republican candidates who are either considering a bid or have formally declared a candidacy I think there s a really good chance here I think Maura Healey is very vulnerable I m not sure that it s that clear for me with a primary and then moving fleetly into an voting after that he declared There s a massive amount of fundraising It s part of the puzzle It kind of all adds up Durant had just under in his campaign account as of the end of April according to campaign finance records He raised a total of in February March and April the records demonstrated Durant was among a handful of conservatives who had envisioned themselves challenging Gov Maura Healey a first-term Democrat from Arlington in the statewide elections Mike Kennealy a former secretary under Gov Charlie Baker launched his own campaign for governor last month Brian Shortsleeve a venture capitalist and former MBTA executive and Republican mega-donor Michael Minogue are both considering running to be the state s next chief executive Durant mentioned he plans to run for reelection to his Senate seat and is still weighing whether he wants to endorse a Republican candidate for governor We ve got three good people who are either running or considering running Durant informed the Herald at the State House I think any one of them would make a fantastic governor right now But we re going to take a look and see how we can play an effective role how we can help leverage the best we can for Worcester County