GOP locals turn eyes to Healey

Republican activists in the region insist that Governor Mitt Romney's decision not to run for reelection has not left them discouraged about their party's prospects of maintaining its 16-year hold on the governor's seat.

Some local Republican leaders concede that the loss of Romney as a candidate at least complicates the party's task as it heads into a gubernatorial election year. But with Romney's status now clear, many are looking forward to being a participant as the party decides who will head its ticket in the November elections.

''There is no feeling of gloom," said Haverhill Republican City Committee chairman Joseph Edwards.

While sorry to see Romney go, many area Republicans say they are buoyed by the fact that Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey has emerged as the leading contender for the GOP nomination, calling her a capable successor to the governor. That she happens to live in Beverly is for many an added benefit.

''There is a lot of local pride in seeing Kerry Healey become the clear favorite on the Republican side," said State Committee member John N. Racho of Ipswich.

Another Republican, Christy Mihos, who once owned a convenience store chain and is a former member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Commission, has taken initial steps to run, but has not said if it will be as a Republican or an independent.

The candidate selection process gets underway in earnest when local party committees hold caucuses between Sunday and Feb. 6 to choose delegates and alternates to the state nomination convention, scheduled for April 29 at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell.

Republican State Committee member Stephen Zykofsky of Lynn said that ''many Republicans are legitimately concerned" that Romney's withdrawal from the race ''makes the upcoming election for governor a much more difficult contest than it would have been otherwise," a sentiment he shares.

''I think both Kerry Healey and Christy Mihos would be good candidates. I think both of them can win, but it's going to be much more difficult than trying to win with Romney simply because neither of them have the record that Romney has," said Zykofsky, who is also chairman of the Lynn Republican City Committee.

House Minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. of North Reading, whose district includes part of Lynnfield and Middleton, said most Republicans and even some Democrats with whom he spoke believed that Romney would have won a second term had he sought it.

''He wasn't going to want for resources, he was personally engaging, and he had a pretty strong success story to tell," Jones said of the governor, a Belmont resident.

''While everyone has a lot of confidence" in Healey, he said, ''It goes from what people were feeling was a high level of certainty" about a Republican win ''to being a real race."

But local party leaders see no signs of pessimism, or any cause for it.

''We have a credible candidate, a good candidate," said Republican State Committee member Nancy J. Luther of Topsfield, referring to Healey, whom she supports.

Luther noted that Healey has made contacts with local officials across the state through her role as the administration liaison with them. ''By all reports, they have been impressed [with her]. So I think that's a pretty broad base of support right there."

Danvers Republican Town Committee chairman Dan Bennett said Romney ''would certainly have the best chance of any Republican running against the Democrats."

But Bennett, who is serving as a Senate district coordinator for Healey, said, ''There's not much discouragement at all. Everyone seems to be pretty much behind Kerry Healey," believing she can win.

Peabody Republican City Committee chairman Kosma Evangelidis said there is disappointment in Romney not running because ''he's such a magnetic personality. He's charismatic." But he said Republicans ''were more or less resigned to the fact he was going to move on" and are excited about Healey as a candidate.

''I think she's a strong candidate. I think she's going to be well received around the state," said Evangelidis, who supports Healey.

Like Evangelidis, Georgetown Republican Town Committee chairman Terry Hart is squarely in Healey's corner.

''I think she's far and away the best candidate on both sides," he said. ''She has gained an awful lot of experience being the lieutenant governor, and yet she has an awful lot of experience out in the real world, too," he said.

Republican State Committee member John H. Souther Jr. of Malden is also backing the lieutenant governor, saying he liked in particular what he said has been her advocacy on children's issues, and on domestic violence issues.

Longtime Nahant Republican Town Committee chairwoman Jayne M. Solimine supports Healey because ''she does seem to be in touch with the municipalities and has expressed an interest in being supportive to the problems" that face cities like Lynn.

At the same time, Solimine is disappointed that Romney did not make his decision sooner, which ''precluded the possibility of other very attractive [Republican] candidates from stepping forward."

She said she was thinking in particular of Swampscott Selectman Charles D. Baker. The chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and a former top official under governors William F. Weld and Paul Cellucci, Baker considered but decided against a run for governor last year.

''He certainly would have been a very, very credible candidate," she said of Baker. ''What Romney did is, he really locked up the seat for Kerry Healey."

Not all party activists are ready to embrace a candidate.

Zykofsky said he was a strong supporter of Healey's four years ago and will likely back her again. But he said of Healey and Mihos, ''I want to hear what both candidates have to say, what their plans are for the Commonwealth."