Baker Rides Momentum to Victory in MA Governor’s Race
Wednesday, November 05, 2014
Baker was able to surpass Coakley in the Governor’s Race, gathering 48.1-percent of the vote while Coakley received 46.9-percent (again with 95-percent of votes reporting in). Independent candidates Evan Falchuk, Scott Lively, and Jeff McCormick pulled in 3.3-percent, 0.9-percent, and 0.3-percent respectively.
Although political pundits throughout the state seemed to have no clear insight or perspective on who would win as the votes were coming in, many said that the winner would likely be the candidate that had the stronger get out the vote campaign, especially in urban cities.
“The margins have been really close throughout this race,” said Erin O’Brien, “Baker did a lot of campaigning in urban area which is somewhere that he really needed to get some additional voters, but those areas are still very much Coakley country. But the key within the urban areas was the voter turnout and whether or not Coakley was going to keep the larger margins that she needed.”
According to Tim Buckley, a spokesperson for the Baker campaign, the campaign was on track to make 175,000 calls and 40,000 door knocks on Election Day alone.
Coakley did win each of Massachusetts’ three largest cities – Boston, Worcester, and Springfield – but not by the margins that many predicted she needed. Coakley had a 36-point lead in Boston, a 27.5-percent lead in Springfield, and an 11-point margin in Worcester.
Although Coakley had been considered the favorite since the beginning, Baker eventually made his way to the top, picking up a variety of endorsements from both Democrats and Republicans along the way, running as a moderate Republican that could serve the wants and needs of Democrats and Republicans alike.
Both candidates were reeling from previous losses in statewide elections – Coakley in the 2010 special election for Senator to Scott Brown and Baker in 2010 when he ran unsuccessfully against Deval Patrick for Governor – but Baker was ultimately the candidate that was able to get more voters out to the polls.
“The most important part of this campaign has always been the ground game,” said Bill McCarthy, a Worcester Representative for the MassGOP State Committee. “I think that Baker is the right fit for what Massachusetts needs right now; he has really been focusing on jobs which is good for a state that has so many people out of work.”
Baker brings Lt. Governor Karyn Polito to Beacon Hill with him, someone who was brought in to help Baker close the gap both with women and Central Massachusetts residents.
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