Mike Kennealy, a Republican candidate for governor and former housing and economic development secretary, blasted the Healey administration for targeting cities and towns that do not abide by a controversial transit-oriented zoning law with legal action.

In an interview with the Herald, Kennealy said he would not advocate for the repeal of a contentious shelter law but rather push for further reforms. He also described a 2017 immigration-related state court ruling as a “real problem,” and vowed to work with President Donald Trump if elected governor.

Kennealy, who served as secretary under former Gov. Charlie Baker, said he did not “foresee a scenario where we’d be suing cities and towns” over the MBTA Communities Act, which requires some municipalities to zone at least one district near a transit hub for multi-family housing.

“I never would have thought in a million years the dialog would be what it is now on that one — mandates, threats, lawsuits,” he said. “That’s not how we get things done in Massachusetts. You have to work with cities and towns.”

The law has become a flashpoint in Massachusetts, with a series of cities and towns voting not to comply with its provisions. In one high-profile case, Attorney General Andrea Campbell took the Town of Milton to court over the municipality’s decision to buck the statute.

The Healey administration has also withheld grant dollars from cities and towns who are out of compliance, a move that is allowed under the law but has riled local leaders who say the held-up cash is critical for local projects or initiatives.

Spokespeople for Campbell and Gov. Maura Healey did not respond to Herald inquiries.

A spokesperson for Campbell did not respond to an inquiry, and a spokesperson for Healey referred the Herald to the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Steve Kerrigan said Kennealy “has no credibility on this issue.”

“His job was to lower the cost of housing, and instead housing prices skyrocketed and he botched his own guidelines under the MBTA Communities Act — another mess that he left that had to be cleaned up by the Healey-Driscoll administration,” Kerrigan said in a statement.

Kennealy was involved in the early implementation of the MBTA Communities Act

Kennealy has been involved with the zoning law since it was signed by Baker in 2021. But the former secretary said he did not draft the measure nor initially advocate for its passage.

The MBTA Communities Act stems from a successful amendment to the Senate’s version of a 2020 economic development bill. The zoning language survived closed-door negotiations between lawmakers and eventually landed before Baker, who approved it.

But even though Kennealy and the Baker administration did not propose the MBTA Communities Act, they were responsible for implementing it.

The Baker administration began producing regulations shortly after it was signed into law, and the Healey administration issued final guidelines in August 2023.

The state’s highest court later struck down the regulations in early January 2025, ruling officials ran afoul of state law that requires state agencies to follow certain steps to promote public input and understanding when producing guidelines.

“We never proposed it, didn’t ask for it, didn’t advocate to get it done,” Kennealy said. “But it landed with us, and Gov. Baker’s charge to me and my team was make the compliance framework as flexible as possible. And so we view this as a tool in the toolbox for cities and towns to deliver the housing they wanted.”

Kennealy says he would not try to repeal right-to-shelter

The 57-year-old Republican from Lexington said he would not advocate for repealing the state’s right-to-shelter law. The decades-old statute is the basis for emergency assistance shelters housing families with children, pregnant women, and migrants.

Kennealy said he would instead argue for more restrictions to be placed on the system and to return the program to its “original intent.” He said reforms implemented by the Healey administration and Legislature over the past year have moved the state “in the right direction.”

“I think it’s just got to be clear. Let’s go back to the original intent (of right-to-shelter), which is a noble one by the way … protect Massachusetts families,” he said. “Whatever the specific language or statute is. Let’s get back to that. That’s what we want to do.”

Healey has long argued that she “inherited” a poorly managed, unsustainable shelter system from the Baker administration that was slammed by a surge of newly arrived migrants to Massachusetts.

But Kennealy, who as housing secretary under Baker oversaw the system until he left in early January 2023, said he tried to warn Beacon Hill lawmakers that cash for shelters was running low and the number of families in the system was increasing.

“Governors always inherit crises,” he said in response to Healey. “Was some of the stuff happening before we left office? For sure. But again, that’s why we warned the Legislature about this.”

The number of families in the state-run emergency shelter system started to escalate during the final year of Kennealy’s time as housing and economic development secretary. Caseload dramatically increased in the second half of 2024 but has since started to decline this year.

Court ruling on civil immigration detainers needs reform, Kennealy says

Like other Republicans on Beacon Hill this legislative session, Kennealy said he wants to set his sights on a 2017 Supreme Judicial Court ruling that bars law enforcement in Massachusetts from detaining people based solely on suspected civil immigration violations.

Critics of the decision have argued it provides “sanctuary” protections to undocumented immigrants living in the state. But supporters say it does not impede the work of federal immigration officers and instead sets clear boundaries for their interactions with local authorities.

Kennealy said the ruling, known as the Lunn decision, is a “real problem,” though he would not specify what he believes should be done other than he generally supports legislation that reworks what the state’s highest court decided.

“That has to change in our view. There’s got to be more cooperation,” he said. “I haven’t got too deep into it yet. I just feel like it’s just crying out for cooperation and a different framework.”

Kennealy says he will have a different ‘approach’ to Trump than Healey

Kennealy, who as a Republican running in Massachusetts will have to walk a political tightrope when it comes to Trump, said his approach to working with the president “will be different than Maura Healey’s approach.”

“I think her approach is to oppose the president,” he said. “My approach will be to want to work with the president, because I think a governor has to work with the president to get things done for their state. So there will be a difference of approach in that regard.”

A day after Kennealy launched his campaign for governor, the Massachusetts Democratic Party labeled him “MAGA Mike” and said the former Baker administration official would serve as a conduit for Trump’s policies to flow into Massachusetts.

Kennealy said there is a desire to “label me and put me on a political spectrum associated with one politician versus the other.”

“It’s my campaign and it’s how I see the issues,” he said.