Hard Questions, Confident Answers from GOP Lt. Gov Candidate

Carrying her own strong messages about state priorities and her plans to tackle them, and covering for running mate Geoff Diehl, who was unable to make it to the scheduled meet-and-greet in Franklin, Lt. Governor candidate Leah Cole Allen delved into the issues for more than 90 minutes Thursday evening, leaving a visibly impressed crowd.

Cole Allen grew up in Lynn and had worked professionally in nursing for many years before winning a special election in 2013 and representing the city of Peabody for several years thereafter. She proclaimed herself a straight-shooter and described her disgust during her time in office with watching nearly all the Reps change their votes in lockstep with the Speaker of the House, at that time, rather than voting what they believed was right. After leaving politics to start a family, Cole Allen said she found herself pregnant and on the front lines of the pandemic treating Covid patients, but never refusing to treat anyone, no matter how sick. Then, she recalled, “when the vaccines became available, I was told I had to get vaccinated, even though I was pregnant, or lose my job.”

Unwilling to risk the health of her child to a new and experimental vaccine, she refused and soon found herself unemployed.

“Let me be clear, I am not anti-vaccine,” she stressed, “just anti-mandate.”

More broadly, Cole Allen spoke about the corruption, and “pay to play” she says she saw on Beacon Hill, vowing to fight it tooth and nail if elected.

Referencing her informal running mate, Diehl, she said, “we both feel the same way, we aren’t running to better ourselves, we are seriously concerned about what’s going on in this state and want to fix it.”

She said, she and Diehl recognize the difficulty they would face with an overwhelmingly Democrat legislature but promised to do everything possible to provide a balance that better represents the wishes of the electorate.

One attendee asked her whether she had security protection. She said she did not but would if elected. “I have seen Mayor Wu deal with protesters at her house by just walking by and ignoring them; I would never do that, I would use it as an opportunity to explain myself to protesters, that’s all they want,” she said.