In 2002, he ran for Governor of Massachusetts. He also published an associated campaign book, "I'll Be Short". Reich was the first US gubernatorial candidate to support same-sex marriage. He also pledged support for abortion rights and strongly condemned capital punishment. His campaign staff was largely made up of his Brandeis students. Although his campaign had little funding, he came in a close second out of six candidates in the Democratic primary with 25% of the vote; Shannon O'Brien, the first-place finisher, went on to lose the general election to Republican Mitt Romney.