Healey Cut Prostate Cancer Research, Then Gave Herself and Her Cabinet Raises: New Ad Shows

Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts Mike Minogue just dropped a new ad torching Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) for slashing critical services in 2024 while handing out raises to herself and her inner circle.

"For the past four years, Maura Healey has promised to help the people of Massachusetts. But the only people she is helping are her close friends and political donors," said Minogue in a statement.

Indeed, in early 2024, facing a shortfall, Healey slashed $375 million from the budget — including hundreds of millions from senior outreach, behavioral health supports, homeless shelters, prostate cancer research, and more than 60 other programs, the Boston Globe reported at the time.

Yet she also green-lit nearly $15,000 raises for members of her cabinet and other administration employees, pushing some taxpayer-funded salaries up to $196,550.

The contrast makes for a devastating revelation.

Maura Healey: Working for Some, Not for All. https://t.co/QPGyy7U16Q

— Mike Minogue | MA Gov Candidate (@mikeminoguema) October 29, 2026

While Healey’s team got fatter paychecks, average weekly earnings for private-sector Massachusetts workers dropped from $1,596 in March 2021 to $1,465 by September 2026 — roughly $75,764 a year, per federal data.

Later that year, Healey ordered an 11 percent pay hike for state lawmakers, sending the top Democrats in the legislature to $224,000 a year — two to three times the increases ordered by her Republican predecessor, Charlie Baker.

Healey also accepted a nearly 10 percent pay increase, bringing her annual salary to $243,493, with total compensation reaching $308,493 when her housing stipend is included. Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito did not accept increases in 2019 and 2021.

Minogue, who is trying to unseat Healey on November 3, has pledged not to take a salary at all if he is elected governor.

While homelessness in Massachusetts spiked by 54% in Massachusetts (compared to 18% nationwide) in 2024, Governor Healey has ordered a 10% pay raise for herself and an 11% base pay increase for state legislators in 2025. Healey’s annual salary will rise to $243,493, while her total compensation will reach $308,493. House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen E. Spilka will each receive a pay raise of $20,821, raising their total pay to $224,107 annually. The annual stipends legislators receive for expenses and travel, which currently range between $20,468 and $27,291, will now range from $22,431 to $29,908.

— Fall River Reporter (@FallRiverReport) January 2, 2025

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... total compensation will reach $308,493. House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen E. Spilka will each receive a pay raise of $20,821, raising their total pay to $224,107 annually. The annual stipends legislators receive for expenses and travel, which currently range between $20,468 and $27,291, will now range from $22,431 to $29,908.

Healey is clearly operating under a set of rules that never seem to apply to her.

As RedState detailed last week, her multi-year relationship with a subordinate who was married with kids — and her later nomination of a longtime former partner to the state’s highest court — would have been career-ending for any male politician, yet the press has largely shrugged it off.

While ordinary Massachusetts families absorb the fallout from her budget choices, Healey continues to enjoy the kind of media protection that lets both her personal arrangements and her policy priorities go completely unchallenged.

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