--- title: Kimberly Driscoll Beats Obama's Pick in Mass Primary description: Eric Lesser, who drew the support of Obama and Obama allies, lost to Kimberley Driscoll in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. canonical: https://time.com/6211383/eric-lesser-obama-loses-kimberley-driscoll/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-09-07T18:07:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:42:59.468Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama's Golden Touch Wasn't Enough in Massachusetts Primary og:description: Eric Lesser lost the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, despite drawing support from Obama and the Obama alumni network og:url: https://time.com/6211383/eric-lesser-obama-loses-kimberley-driscoll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d8d40b20bb3bbb3/698a35384ee262496131a8dd/GettyImages-1242574331.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Lesser For MA Lieutenant Governor og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama's Golden Touch Wasn't Enough in Massachusetts Primary twitter:description: Eric Lesser lost the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, despite drawing support from Obama and the Obama alumni network twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d8d40b20bb3bbb3/698a35384ee262496131a8dd/GettyImages-1242574331.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Massachusetts Primary Shows Obama's Support Can Boost a Democrat Only So Much > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Sep 7, 2022 6:07 PM UTC  Massachusetts State Senator Eric Lesser, right, lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. His candidacy drew the support of former President Barack Obama. Massachusetts State Senator Eric Lesser, right, lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. His candidacy drew the support of former President Barack Obama. Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Sep 7, 2022 6:07 PM UTC As expected, state Attorney General Maura Healey won the Democratic nomination for Massachusetts governor Tuesday, months after she effectively [cleared](https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/09/06/maura-healy-democratic-nominee-governor-massachusetts) the field and strode one step closer to making [history](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/us/politics/maura-healey-massachusetts-governor.html) as the first woman elected to lead the commonwealth and potentially break another ceiling as the first lesbian in the country elected to the corner office in a statehouse. Big? Sure. And more on what Healey’s political future might look like below. But her win was not the real Democratic headline coming out of Boston on Tuesday. Instead, it was the slow-boil [drama](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/17/metro/she-cleared-democratic-field-governor-now-healey-is-redefining-race-be-her-running-mate/) about Healey’s [running mate](https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/09/06/2022-massachusetts-democratic-lieutenant-governor-primary-result) that kept Bay State insiders humming with the slightest uncertainty. That’s because one candidate in the lieutenant governor race had the state’s party leaders behind her, and the other had the clear backing of Barack Obama. It was scarcely a secret that the Massachusetts Democratic Party [favored](https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2022/09/07/kim-driscoll-wins-democrat-lieutenant-governor-maura-healey/) Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll as a running mate for Healey, over state senator Eric Lesser, a 30-something idealist who got his start working on Obama’s first campaign even before graduating from college. Both candidates had their own appeals to the party base in Massachusetts, even if there wasn’t a ton of daylight between them, or with state Rep. Tami Gouveia who placed a distant third. Driscoll [campaigned](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/07/metro/salem-mayor-kim-driscoll-wins-democratic-primary-lieutenant-governor/) as a steady insider, an even-handed figure who would help Healey shore up her support among female voters; the Healey-Driscoll ticket is the first time Massachusetts voters picked an all-female team for governor and lieutenant governor. Lesser, meanwhile, was a technocrat’s dream candidate, a former West Wing aide who worked on economic policy after graduating from his roles as human answering machine and one-man luggage manager. \[A needed disclosure and background: I have been friendly with Lesser for 15 years, dating to our mutual days traipsing through New Hampshire at the start of Obama’s nascent bid. I am [not unique](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/06/eric-lesser-white-house/351859/) in that regard among the [press corps](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/magazine/02obamastaff-t.html). In the White House, Lesser was the gatekeeper for Obama alter-ego David Axelrod, who hosted fundraisers for his former aide.\] Healey, of course, kept publicly neutral. But Driscoll won the [endorsement](https://www.salemnews.com/news/driscoll-endorsed-by-mass-dems-in-lg-bid/article%5F57263b8c-e5c3-11ec-9443-37948f182830.html) at the state party convention in June and immediately became the person to beat. Lesser had seen the play before; after all, the unofficial posture of the Democratic Party in 2008 was that it was Hillary Clinton’s nomination to lose, until Obama’s team short-circuited that conventional wisdom. Still, an Obamaesque come-from-behind campaign is a once-in-a-generation accomplishment. And while the Obama alumni [network](https://www.wmasspi.com/2022/05/the-original-obama-campaign-universe-assembles-for-lesser.html) came out in force and helped Lesser stay competitive in the [money race](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/massachusetts-playbook/2022/04/01/lesser-takes-it-to-the-bank-00022244), it couldn’t match the power of a state political machine or an outside super PAC [powered](https://www.masslive.com/politics/2022/08/super-pac-spent-351000-in-tv-ads-in-massachusetts-lieutenant-governors-race-between-kim-driscoll-eric-lesser.html), in part, with Republican developers’ dollars. Even Lesser landing the coveted status symbol of a [photo-op](https://www.masslive.com/politics/2022/08/obama-hosts-state-sen-eric-lesser-in-marthas-vineyard-providing-campaigning-advice-prior-to-lt-gov-primary.html) walking and chatting with his former top boss in Martha’s Vineyard wasn’t enough to spook the state party. But while the lieutenant governor race [stoked](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/20/metro/super-pac-mass-lieutenant-governor-strange-true-despite-position-having-little-power/) plenty of drama, Healey’s glide path to her party’s nomination is teeing up different conversations. Massachusetts has an open race for governor this year. Charlie Baker, the popular Republican incumbent, opted for the exits after ex-President Donald Trump [endorsed](https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/06/politics/massachusetts-primary-elections-diehl-doughty-healey/index.html) a primary challenger, Geoff Diehl, who won Tuesday night. It mirrored Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s choice to bypass another election. The same can be said for Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. Rather than fight the MAGA Movement, the trio opted to find easier lives. With Diehl as the nominee, Massachusetts is one of the Democratic Party’s ripest chances to reduce their deficit in governorships. Republicans have a six-seat [advantage](https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan%5Fcomposition%5Fof%5Fgovernors) over Democrats at the moment, although Trump-like GOP candidates in multiple states puts that number on shaky ground. Democratic [meddling](https://www.npr.org/2022/07/26/1113659467/dccc-meijier-gibbs-michigan-gop-primary) to boost perceived [extremists](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/29/new-hampshire-gop-primary-00054137) hasn’t hurt, either. (Unless, of course, those extremists [win](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-07-26/midterms-2022-think-first-democrats-before-helping-extreme-republicans).) Healey’s now expected to win in the fall, raising new questions about her future. Few political insiders credibly think Healey’s political career ends on Beacon Hill, and it’s entirely possible she could eventually be plucked for a federal posting. She’s been on the forefront of gun violence prevention for years, [sued](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/14/metro/under-maura-healey-attorney-generals-office-sued-trump-administration-nearly-100-times-most-time-she-prevailed/) the Donald Trump administration almost 100 times, and has a turnkey LGBTQ fundraising advantage nationally that is potentially second only to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. And bear in mind: the governor’s office in Boston isn’t a terrible launching pad for a presidential run: of the last [six](https://www.nga.org/former-governors/massachusetts/) CEOs of Massachusetts, four have sought the White House. Two—Michael Dukakis and Mitt Romney—captured the nomination. Of course, neither won. Still, three of those four presidential contenders were white dudes, and all were straight. And, in a Democratic Party looking for change, a lesbian trainblazer with a powerful donor Rolodex could be mighty appealing, if not in 2024, then in 2028 or beyond. Massachusetts Democrats are betting this isn’t Healey’s last act. And, quietly, the most popular Democrat in the country—who has an [estate](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/a30169311/barack-michelle-obama-buy-marthas-vineyard-house/) on Martha’s Vineyard—suspects Lesser’s final act isn’t written, either. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6211383/eric-lesser-obama-loses-kimberley-driscoll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6211383/eric-lesser-obama-loses-kimberley-driscoll/"},"headline":"Massachusetts Primary Shows Obama's Support Can Boost a Democrat Only So Much","datePublished":"2022-09-07T18:07:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:42:59.468Z","description":"Eric Lesser, who drew the support of Obama and Obama allies, lost to Kimberley Driscoll in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.","url":"https://time.com/6211383/eric-lesser-obama-loses-kimberley-driscoll/","keywords":["The D.C. 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