"He didn't get that government was not a business," said state Rep. Cory Atkins, a Democrat elected in 1999.

A notable exception was Romney's work with Democratic leaders to craft a landmark health care bill, which then launched his 2008 presidential bid. Romney's signature legislative success got a big boost from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, then the state's most powerful Democrat and a passionate advocate for universal health care.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom stressed Romney's ability to work with Democrats to solve the state's economic woes.

"Working on a bipartisan basis, Mitt Romney balanced the budget without raising taxes, created tens of thousands of new jobs and lowered the unemployment rate to 4.7 percent," Fehrnstrom said by email. "Working together with Democrats in the Legislature, Mitt Romney left Massachusetts in better shape than he found it."