In Massachusetts, the Republicans kept winning the Governor's races because most of the voters liked their personalities better than those of the Democratic candidates for Governor. Politics had nothing to do with why some voters voted for Republican Governors in Massachusetts. For others, they wanted a "check and balance" system with a Democratic state legislature and a Republican Governor for "political balance". The present Republican candidate for Ma. Governor is considered too weak of a candidate to seriously win this time around.
Is that you, Deval Patrick?
Exactly. That's why large numbers of Democrats will vote for Irey.