Charlie Baker Scoffs At Trump Factor In Re-Election Decision

BOSTON —Gov. Charlie Baker scoffed at the suggestion on Wednesday that a potential Republican primary challenge from one or more candidates running with the support of former President Donald Trump factored at all into his decision not to seek a third term.

"No, not shaken," Baker said during a news conference with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito on their collective decision not to seek re-election in 2022. "No. Not at all. Nope. Not at all."

Baker was responding to a question about a statement from Mass GOP Chairman Jim Lyons earlier in the day that it was "clear to me that Charlie Baker was shaken by President Trump's endorsement of another candidate in Geoff Diehl."

"I've never entered a political race with the fundamental question being whether I could win or I could lose," Baker said on Wednesday. "Every race I've ever entered, I entered because I believed I would be the best person to do the job and have the best plan on how to get it done."

Baker and Trump clashed frequently in recent years — especially throughout the coronavirus pandemic — with Trump celebrating Baker's decision not to run in a statement late Wednesday afternoon: "He's been very selfish, and is bad news for the Republican Party — actually, he shouldn't even be considered a Republican."

Baker in October called on Lyons to resign as party chairman after he endorsed a Boston City Council candidate who had posted a factually incorrect and racially derogatory comment about then-Boston mayoral candidate Michelle Wu on social media.

Baker and Polito announced in a joint statement Wednesday morning that they would not seek re-election as a ticket and planned to spend the final year of their administration focusing on pandemic recovery before returning to private life.

"This was an extremely difficult decision for us," Baker and Polito said in the statement. "We love the work and we especially respect and admire the people of this wonderful commonwealth. Serving as the governor and lieutenant governor of Massachusetts has been the most challenging and fulfilling jobs we've ever had.

"We will forever be grateful to the people of the state for giving us this honor."

While Baker is an incredibly popular Republican, he isn't very popular among Republicans. He has been critical of the party's attachment to Trump during the last several years, earning the
former president's ire and the "RINO" — Republican In Name Only — moniker. His coronavirus response was heavily criticized by the Mass GOP, who argued that many of the restrictions and mandates he implemented during the 15-month state of emergency were examples of government overreach.

Baker touted his administration's relatively moderate governing approach and civil pubic discourse during his news conference.

"Our brand of politics, and our approach to politics, and both the way we operate, and how we work with people, and how we choose to focus on issues over personalities and motive," he said, "stand apart from a lot of the bipartisan noise that's created in politics generally these days. And amplified by social media platforms and all sorts of other people who are jockeying for attention.

"The fact that it exists — and I've said this before, and so has the lieutenant governor — is the to the detriment of what we seek to achieve here. I would argue with the way we've operated has a lot to do with why the voters of Massachusetts think we've done a really good job for seven years."

Voters will not respond well to candidates in either party, Baker said, who take extreme positions or conduct campaigns more about insults than issues.

"The people of Massachusetts will have a lot to say about the kind of political discourse and the kind of political behavior that they will choose to support here in the commonwealth," he said. "That will drive, almost by definition, the people who are playing in that environment to respect and respond to that."

The announcement is expected to set off a mad scramble for governor in Massachusetts.

Polito had appeared well-positioned for a run if Baker alone decided against a re-election bid. She had $2.3 million in her campaign fund at the end of October.

"My whole idea of running with the governor was to come into office with the governor, to serve as a team with the governor, and to finish with the governor," she declared on Wednesday.

Diehl has already announced he'll run in the Republican primary. Former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, who launched the prosecution of the "Operation Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal, has flirted with a run for office.

On the Democratic side, Attorney General Maura Healey would instantly become a favorite if she declared. Healey, who has said she is "seriously considering" running, had $3.3 million in her campaign fund at the end of October.

Healey would join a race with State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, former State Sen. Ben Downing and Harvard professor Danielle Allen.

Baker and Polito said they want to spend the final year of their term focused on recovery from the ongoing effects of the coronavirus crisis rather than a re-election campaign.

"We have all been through an extraordinarily difficult pandemic and the next year will be just as important, if not more important, than the past year," they said in the statement. "We have a great deal of work to do to put the pandemic behind us, keep our kids in school, and keep our communities and economy moving forward.

"That work cannot and should not be about politics and the next election. If we were to run, it would be a distraction that would potentially get in the way of many of the things we should be working on for everyone in Massachusetts. We want to focus on recovery, not on the grudge matches political campaigns can devolve into."