Gov. Charlie Baker may be “focused on the job” he’s got but he’s still refusing to say if it’s a job he wants to keep, once again punting questions about whether he’ll see a third term in office.
“So far, I consider it to have been the greatest honor and the greatest opportunity and the hardest and — in many ways — best job I’ve ever had,” the Republican governor said during an appearance on WCVB’s “On The Record” Sunday morning when facing questions about his re-election from hosts Ed Harding and Janet Wu.
Reporters have pelted Baker with questions about a potential third term in office with the 2022 election less than a year out. But despite promising reporters an answer “soon” back in July, Baker has yet to articulate his aspirations and again on Sunday’s program declined to give an answer.
“I’m focused on the job I’ve got, and that’s been where I’ve been spending my time,” Baker said on WCVB.
Other potential heavyweight candidates — in particular Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey — are also keeping voters guessing. Healey is widely thought to be considering a run for the corner office. The two-term AG has yet to declare whether she’ll run for re-election as the state’s top law enforcement official or run for governor.
Several Democrats including state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Boston, former state Sen. Ben Downing, a Democrat from Pittsfield, and Harvard Professor Danielle Allen have announced their runs.
If Baker runs again, he’ll be running against fellow Republican and former Whitman state Rep. Geoff Diehl in a primary for a party with which he is at odds.
Baker, a moderate who characterized himself as a “Bill Weld Republican” has frequently and publicly sparred with Diehl and MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons, a Trump loyalist. The division between the two party leaders is indicative of the division cracking through the state party as whole as the party get pulled between its conservative and moderate members.
Should Baker throw his hat in the ring for a third time, it would pit him against the Trump-endorsed Diehl — putting the party in-fighting on the primary ballot.
Diehl has come out swinging against Baker over business restrictions and mandates — including the vaccine mandate for 42,000 state employees with no test-out option — designed to stop the spread of COVID-19.
It’s a message a recent poll suggests could be resonating with Massachusetts Republican voters — a Public Policy Polling survey had Diehl leading Baker by as many as 20 points in a GOP primary.
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November 08, 2021 at 08:19AM
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Charlie Baker punts questions about whether he’ll seek third term, again - Boston Herald
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