Primary season has been in full swing nationwide, but Massachusetts residents still have two months to go before heading to the polls.
The governor's race has been one of the most interesting in the Bay State this far. Republican Charlie Baker isn't in it -- he's serving out the remainder of his second term before leaving office without running for reelection.
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That means Massachusetts will be electing a new person to the governor's office on Beacon Hill for the first time since 2014, and one candidate could make history.
The race has already seen its share of sparks. Here's a look at who's still running ahead of the primary Tuesday, Sept. 6.
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Current candidates for governor
Attorney General Maura Healey (Democrat)
After state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz dropped out of the race in late June, Healey became the last Democrat standing in the primary -- as well as the favorite to replace Baker on Beacon Hill.
Politics
Healey, 51, is the state's attorney general, a position she's held since 2014. Born in Maryland and a former member of the Harvard women's basketball team, Healey would be the first woman elected governor in the state's history. (Jane Swift served as acting governor from 2001-03, taking over mid-term for Paul Cellucci, but was never elected.)
Geoff Diehl (Republican)
Diehl, 53, is seeking the governor's office following an unsuccessful bid to unseat Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2018.
Originally from Texas, Diehl has the backing of the state Republican party and he drew the endorsement of former President Donald Trump -- before Baker had announced he wouldn't seek a third term.
Trump's endorsement has drawn mixed results across the nation in the 2022 primary season.
Diehl hired former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski earlier this year.
Chris Doughty (Republican)
A businessman who has never run for elected office, the 59-year-old Brigham Young University graduate is considered a more moderate alternative for Republican voters in the primary.
"I'm the one you'd hire for the job if you wanted the budgets balanced well, the team working well," Doughty told NBC10 Boston's Alison King in an interview earlier this year.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who served from 2003-07, also graduated from BYU.
Who dropped out of the Mass. governor's race
Several Democrats dropped out before Chang-Diaz. Harvard professor Danielle Allen and former state Sen. Benjamin Downing each left the race, along with Scott Donohue, who is now running for lieutenant governor.
Businesswoman Kimberly Duffy left the Republican race, while former independent U.S. Senate candidate Shiva Ayyadurai is among those who were eliminated at the state's GOP convention.
Why Charlie Baker isn't running for re-election
Baker, a moderate Republican, announced in December that he'd leave office at the end of his second term.
Regularly one of the most popular governors in the nation, Baker said in December that the COVID-19 pandemic had posed an "enormous challenge" and that both he and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito wanted their administration to focus on recovery rather than "the political rhetoric that comes with running a campaign."
Baker, 65, said last year that he still believes in his brand of Republicanism, which he molded from two of his mentors in former Massachusetts Govs. Cellucci and Bill Weld.
During the 2020 presidential election, Baker said that he "blanked it" rather than cast a vote for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Baker did not support Trump during either of his campaigns for the White House.
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