Oliver, 42, appeared Monday in New Bedford District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a marked lanes violation, and speeding. He left the courthouse in a black vehicle without speaking to reporters after being released on personal recognizance.
“Not today,” his lawyer, John Hendrie, said Monday when asked to comment.
Minogue, however, did have something to say. The Hamilton Republican released a statement hours after Oliver’s arraignment, emphasizing that he asked Oliver to resign, should voters elect them over incumbent Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll on Nov. 3. His campaign stressed that Oliver’s name will remain on the ballot, and for supporters to not alter the line on their ballot featuring their names, given that could invalidate their vote. Hundreds of thousands of people have already voted by mail or through early voting, and the deadline to remove a candidate’s name passed more than six weeks ago.
“We’ve come to an agreement,” Minogue told reporters in Hamilton, according to a video provided by his campaign. “He will not be my lieutenant governor. Period.”
Oliver said Sunday that he’d suspend his bid after Minogue publicly pressured him to step aside. Oliver said in a statement that the election is “too important to be overshadowed by personal matters.”
It’s not unusual for a candidate’s name to appear on the ballot even after they ended their campaign. This also is not the first time in Massachusetts that a candidate for lieutenant governor has dropped out shortly before an election.
In 2010, former state representative Paul Loscocco — who was running for lieutenant governor as an independent alongside Timothy P. Cahill — abruptly dropped out in early October, and endorsed Republican nominee Charlie Baker.
Loscocco’s name still appeared on the ballot next to that of Cahill, who later filed a lawsuit against some of his former top strategists and aides, accusing them of orchestrating Loscocco’s defection in order to boost Baker’s campaign. (Governor Deval Patrick won reelection that fall.)
Should Minogue win in November, and Oliver either declines to take the oath of office, or immediately resigns after being sworn in, the lieutenant governor’s office would remain empty. There is no procedure in the Massachusetts Constitution to replace a lieutenant governor who steps down, said Debra O’Malley, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office.
Minogue sought to cast that as a positive Monday, arguing that other states — including New Hampshire and Maine — don’t have a lieutenant governor, and that leaving the position empty could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary.
The office has sat vacant before. When then-lieutenant governor Timothy Murray resigned in 2013 to lead the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, Patrick took on the few formal duties of his No. 2, namely to wield the gavel in Governor’s Council meetings. When the lieutenant governor position is vacant, the secretary of state is next in the line of succession to fill in if an acting governor is needed.
“Hard-working families and small businesses across Massachusetts are being asked to do more with less,” Minogue said in a statement. “The people on Beacon Hill should be held to the same standard.”
The GOP ticket began to splinter after late Saturday’s crash. It was then, according to a police report filed in court, when officers arrived to find Oliver’s Lincoln Navigator overturned. Oliver ”was sitting on a chair that a civilian had brought out for him,” a police report said. “Shawn was observed to have a laceration on the right side of his head and was bleeding.”
One witness, police said, described being behind Oliver’s Navigator at a red light before the crash. At first, Oliver’s vehicle didn’t move when the light turned green, only to then accelerate forward, drift right before nearly striking a curb, and then “abruptly” veer left and strike multiple parked cars.
“At this point, the Navigator flipped upside down on impact,” according to the report.
Oliver later spoke to police from his hospital bed, where police said he admitted to “consuming at least 2 alcoholic beverages earlier” at the Black Bass Grill, a Dartmouth restaurant. He said he then went to a “friend’s house,” also in Dartmouth.
“Shawn’s eyes were observed to be bloodshot and glassy. He was also emanating a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages,” according to the report. In addition, he vomited before being arrested, police said.
According to a second police report, Oliver was outside the overturned vehicle speaking on his cellphone when police arrived.
“I observed that [Oliver] was bleeding and had a laceration behind his right ear,” an officer wrote in the report. “I asked [Oliver] how he was feeling, and he stated, ‘OK, it’s been a long day.’ I then asked [Oliver] if he remembered what had happened. He stated that he had been meeting with friends and was on his way home.”
The friends weren’t identified in the report, which said Oliver repeatedly asked if everyone else was all right.
Oliver “stated that he was ‘burning both ends of the wick’ and again expressed concern about ensuring that everyone else was OK,” the report read.
Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Omar Mohammed can be reached at omar.mohammed@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter (X) @shurufu.