Former Gov. Charlie Baker endorsed Taunton Metropolis Councilor Kelly Dooner, a Republican, in her bid for a southeastern Massachusetts Senate seat simply because the state’s former chief government stated Thursday he was not ruling out a return to elected workplace.
The stamp of approval is one among just a few handed out this election cycle by Baker, who ended his time in workplace as one of the standard governors within the nation and having guided the state via the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. It additionally comes as early voting is about to begin on Oct. 19 and greater than 108,000 folks have already solid their poll by mail, in accordance with state knowledge.
In a press release shared first with the Herald, Baker stated Dooner, who’s operating towards Democratic Raynham selectman Joe Pacheco, “has the vision, the energy, and the experience to make a positive difference.”
“As the youngest woman to ever serve on the City Council and as the Council President, she has the proven track record we need at the State House. We can count on Kelly to protect our wallets, our paychecks, and our savings. She has the plans ready to hit the ground running on day one,” Baker stated.
Baker is wielding his political energy — not for the final time earlier than the November basic election — in an especially aggressive race and in a district that has grown extra crimson after redistricting introduced within the cities of Rehoboth and Seekonk and carved out Bridgewater.
Within the 2022 statewide election, a Republican, Maria Collins, got here near ousting longtime incumbent and dean of the Massachusetts Sen. Marc Pacheco, who has no relation to Joe Pacheco, in accordance with official election knowledge from the Secretary of State’s Workplace.
Dooner stated she was “grateful” for Baker’s assist.
“It’s time to bring common sense back to government and start putting people ahead of party politics. Like he did as governor, I intend to work with everyone on issues like bringing tax relief to our citizens, supporting and strengthening our cities and towns, and ending the migrant crisis,” Dooner stated in a press release to the Herald.
Republicans strategists and officers view Dooner’s candidacy as the very best shot at rising their ranks within the Senate, the place Democrats maintain an excellent majority, outdoors of Plymouth Republican Rep. Matt Muratore’s candidacy for a South Shore and Cape Cod seat.
Wendy Wakeman, an area Republican strategist, stated Baker’s endorsement is “like gold,” particularly throughout a presidential election 12 months when most down-ballot Republicans face problem getting elected to workplace.
“Charlie Baker was the most popular governor in America in poll after poll when he was governor of Massachusetts,” she instructed the Herald. “Lending his credibility and the warm feelings that we all have about Charlie to a candidate like Kelly, who’s young and fresh and a little bit untested, really gives her a whole lot of heft and weight.”
Dooner’s opponent, Joe Pacheco, has additionally earned a big selection of endorsements, together with from Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Sen. Marc Pacheco, and a big share of public security unions in Massachusetts just like the Massachusetts State Police Affiliation.
In an interview with the Herald, Pacheco stated he’s “working hard” forward of the November basic election.
“I think we’re doing more of what we were doing in the primary, and that is reaching out to the voters, talking to them about the issues that are important to them, and hearing what their feedback is about how we can make Massachusetts a better place to live and work,” he stated.
Joe Pacheco had greater than $83,000 stashed away in his marketing campaign account as of the tip of September in comparison with Dooner’s $36,000-plus, in accordance with state marketing campaign finance knowledge.
Baker’s endorsement of Dooner will not be his first this cycle. He additionally threw his weight this week behind Rep. Steve Xiarhos, a Republican from Barnstable operating for reelection.
However his backing of Dooner did occur to line up with an look in downtown Boston Thursday morning the place he instructed a crowd that he would “never rule anything out” on the subject of a future return to politics.
“But I think we live in really challenging times, and it’s important [for] really good people to step up,” Baker, the president of the NCAA, stated, in accordance with the State Home Information Service. “If someone told me, literally, in October of ’22, rolling into the end of my term … you’re going to be president of the NCAA, I would have said, ‘yeah right.’ So, I never rule anything out.”
Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald
A Kelly Dooner signal is positioned alongside Summer time Road in Taunton.
