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# Republican City Councilor Joins Lieutenant Governor Race as Brian Shortsleeve’s Preferred Running Mate
- URL: https://www.newbostonpost.com/republican-city-councilor-joins-lieutenant-governor-race-shortsleeve-running-mate/
- Published: 2026-04-03T09:45:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-03T09:45:55.000Z
- Description: A New Bedford Republican city councilor has entered the lieutenant governor race as Brian Shortsleeve’s preferred running mate, citing frustration with local government and a focus on schools, infrastructure, and taxpayer spending.
- Author: State House News Service
- Tags: News, Politics, State Government, #most-popular

New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver jumped into the race for lieutenant governor, aligning himself with Republican Brian Shortsleeve's campaign for governor.

Shortsleeve said his running mate brings the perspective of "a working-class family man from outside the Beacon Hill establishment" to the campaign.

Oliver said he registered as a Republican last year but has "always been a conservative who voted Republican." He was elected to the New Bedford City Council in 2022.

"I wasn’t political by nature, but I grew frustrated watching city government move in the wrong direction, focused more on ideology than on improving schools, fixing roads, and managing taxpayer dollars responsibly," he said at a campaign event last week.

"I didn’t see myself, my family, or many of my neighbors being represented. As my son reached school age, I knew I couldn’t sit on the sidelines while decisions affecting his future were being made by people with very different values."

Oliver's entry into the race was announced by the Shortsleeve campaign, which has also announced that former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown will be on stage April 24 at a campaign party the night before the Republican State Convention in Worcester.

Brown and his band, the Diplomats, will perform at Off the Rail.

Brown served in the Massachusetts House, the Massachusetts Senate and defeated Martha Coakley in 2010 to win a U.S. Senate seat before Sen. Elizabeth Warren unseated Brown two years later.