What happens if Shawn Oliver is elected Massachusetts lieutenant governor after arrest and suspended campaign?
Shawn Oliver suspended his campaign for Massachusetts lieutenant governor after his arrest over the weekend, but he remains on the ballot. So what happens if he is elected to serve alongside fellow Republican Mike Minogue?
Oliver pleaded not guilty to several charges Monday. He was arrested following a crash in New Bedford Saturday night and is accused of driving drunk before slamming into five parked cars. Following his arrest, Oliver said he would be suspending his campaign.
Massachusetts Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. and the deadline to be removed from the ballot was Sept. 4. As a result, the ballots have already been printed with Oliver's name on them.
As of Monday, the Massachusetts Secretary of State said that 300,000 people have already voted.
The Secretary of State's office said that if Oliver is elected alongside Minogue, he could refuse the Oath of Office. That would leave the position open. Secretary of State Bill Galvin would be next in line in the event that the governor is unable to serve.
The Minogue campaign said Monday, "To be clear, Oliver will not be Minogue's lieutenant governor."
The campaign is urging supporters to still vote for the Minogue-Oliver ticket, noting that any marks or deletions on ballots will invalidate votes for Minogue.
Oliver, who was running alongside Brian Shortsleeve before he dropped out of the race, was not Minogue's first choice for lieutenant governor. There were two Republican candidates trying to get on the ballot, but both failed to collect the proper amount of signatures.
"The whole thing has been one catastrophe after another. Dominoes falling. It's been a nightmarish cycle for the Republicans from the get-go," WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller said.
Keller said he does not believe Oliver suspending his campaign will have a major impact on the results of the election.
"Very few, if any, people vote based on who the lieutenant governor nominee is," Keller said. "But this comes at the worst possible time for Mike Minogue, who was actually riding a pretty good stretch - a couple of competent debate performances and a couple bad news stories surrounding the Healey administration. Now this erupts and bumps all that stuff to the back pages."
Maura Healey is the incumbent Democratic candidate for Massachusetts governor, running alongside incumbent Kim Driscoll. Healey addressed Oliver's arrest on Monday.
"I'm just glad no one was hurt and I'm grateful for the first responders. It's obvious there's chaos over at the Mike Minogue campaign. This is his second lieutenant governor candidate that he's lost," she said.
