Former Massachusetts state official and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Beth Lindstrom suggested that her gender may give her the best chance of beating U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the general election.
“In 2012, when Elizabeth Warren beat Scott Brown … she only won by seven percent … but she did win the women’s vote by almost 20 percent,” Lindstrom said during an interview with Boston Public Radio Wednesday. “That’s why I say to my opponents, what is your 20-point plan or your 19-point plan to be able to beat her?”
Though she’s the only woman in the primary race, she emphasized her record above all else. “Don’t just vote for me because I’m a woman,” she said. “It’s an attribute, it’s helpful, but I have proven results on where I stand on issues.”
“I’ve delivered results for people in Massachusetts. I have a different background; I’m a mother of three; I am a small business owner. I just have that different perspective,” she continued. “I’ve been a leader in organizations, so that’s what makes me different, [I’m] somebody who has these different perspectives.”
Lindstrom, who is hoping to unseat Warren in November, will face off in a September primary against former Democrat Rep. Geoff Diehl and John Kingston, who stepped away from the GOP in 2016 to help ensure a pathway for an Independent presidential candidate.
“I am the only Republican who has been the life-long Republican in this race,” Lindstrom said.
Lindstrom criticized Diehl, a Trump supporter and the candidate endorsed by the state’s Republican party, for his years of voting blue until 2008.
“That’s fine to be that, if you choose, but don’t say you’re the Republican person,” Lindstrom said. “Looking at the political opportunity to run for state rep, then run for state Senate, lose, and then run for U.S. Senate, I think that puts a different lens on who you are, and I think that’s a career politician.”
As reported by the Boston Globe, Lindstrom confirmed that Kingston did ask her to leave the race.
“He has said to me that he has money and I will lose,” Lindstrom said.
Lindstrom will appear with Geoff Diehl in a local Senate debate on Greater Boston on WGBH 2 on August 13.