Central MA Residents Poised for Positions in Baker’s Administration
Email to a friend
Permalink
Monday, November 10, 2014
Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor
Now that the dust has settled on Election season, all eyes are turning to Charlie Baker and how he is going to build his administration and begin to govern the Commonwealth.
While the names being thrown around lately are pure speculation, it seems as though Central Massachusetts is set up quite nicely to have at least one person in Baker’s administration.
“Since all politics is local the question becomes who will be the go to folks in Central Massachusetts for Baker. Obviously Karyn Polito will take the public lead for the area. Remember proximity to power is power,” said Paul Giorgio, a GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™ in a recent column. “But there are a few other people in the area who have Baker’s ear on public policy. One of them is Former City Councilor Dave Fosberg, who was chairman of the Baker campaign and a key advisor. Another local leader who has close ties to the Governor elect is John Budd former Chairman of the Board of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare. Of course we can’t neglect former City Manager Mike O’Brien who in his first public foray into politics was with Baker.”
Additional names that have been discussed in the local rumor mill include former Mayor and current Executive Director of the Worcester Housing Authority Ray Mariano and current Marlborough Mayor Arthur G. Vigeant.
Emphasizing Central MA
Since bringing on Karyn Polito to his campaign, it has become apparent that Charlie Baker has Worcester and the rest of Central Massachusetts on his mind, something that reflects even further in his recent meeting in Worcester where he declared that Worcester will have “full attention” under the Baker-Polito administration.
At the meeting – which was held at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce – Baker said that it was too early to say whether or not someone from Worcester would be a part of his administration, but did say that he hopes to have “the full geography and diversity” of Massachusetts represented.
A popular name in the rumor mill right now is former Worcester City Manager Mike O'Brien.
“I think that the Baker administration will have a great relationship with Worcester,” said Bill McCarthy, a Worcester Rep for the MassGOP State Committee. “I think that Karyn Polito will play a similar role in helping Central Massachusetts to what Tim Murray did when he was Lt. Governor.”
A Bipartisan Administration?
Another big question that arises when looking at how the Baker administration forms is whether or not Baker’s bipartisan message will reflect in his cabinet.
While it is speculated that Baker will stay true to his message, many believe that Baker may have to have a few Democratic members in his cabinet so that he can better work with a state that is still very much blue.
“I think that Baker is going to stay true to his word,” said Erin O’Brien, Associate Professor of Political Science at UMass Boston. “With such a minority in the House and the Senate, Baker is going to need to be willing to work with Democrats to get things done. There is no better way than doing that then putting some Democrats in his cabinet.”
Related Slideshow: Top Trends and Surprises in the MA General Election
Prev
Next
Charlie Baker Squeaks By
Bill McCarthy, Worcester Representative for the MassGOP State Committee
“I think the Baker campaign did a great job of targeting everyone that they needed to target to ensure a win. Baker did a lot of work with independent voters, unions, and other groups that he knew that knew he was going to need to close the gap in to beat Coakley.”
Prev
Next
Fattmans Win Big
John Mahoney, State Rep from Worcester's 13th District
On Ryan: "I'm not surprised. I came in with Ryan four years ago. He did relentless door knocking. It's so effective. He is a good candidate. He's great with people and door knocking is good of you have the ability to commend with people."
On Stephanie: "I was outside Worcester quite a bit watching my sons play football. The visibility she had outside the city was great. It was a really well run campaign. It's a position that's obscure to most people. It became a popularity contest.
On Fattmans: "They were really well advised. It's like watching football when there's a really good team playing a great game. And though they may not be your team, they still executed very well."
Prev
Next
Women Take Four of Six Statewide Offices
Samantha Washburn-Baronie, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus
“There were a lot of great victories for women in Massachusetts on Election Day. Even with Coakley losing, her message to women was an encouraging sign for women everywhere. The success of Healey, Goldberg, and others is a huge victory.”
Prev
Next
Worcester's Youth Movement
Dan Donahue (D), State Representative of Worcester’s 16th District
“I think experience is extremely important when you’re dealing with the political arena. Having the experience, having the background, and having different paths through life is very important and it enriches how the city’s decision making process will go. However, politics is always an ever-changing game. Its great to see young people care about the city, who have a passion and desire to get involved in politics and get involved in the decision making process."
Prev
Next
Healey Becomes First Openly Gay AG
Chad Griffin, Human Rights Campaign President
"Maura Healey is one of the staunchest advocates for equality we have in this country, and we join her in celebrating her historic victory tonight. As the nation's first openly gay attorney general, she is an inspirational trailblazer and will fight to guarantee civil rights and legal equality for all people of Massachusetts."
Prev
Next
Chandler Wins By Large Margin
David LeBouef, Chandler's Campaign Manager
"This was a real Republican wave that was happening so we really had to work extra hard not only supporting our fellow Democrats but making sure we working on coordinated efforts and adding our own efforts to it. Harriette was out knocking on doors, making phone calls, and we really invested more heavily in our field program."
Prev
Next
Martha Coakley Loses Momentum, Gov Race
David Kravitz, Blue Mass Group
“Unexpected late events can have an outsized impact on elections, and that seems to me what happened here. Charlie Baker committed a major unforced error in the last debate by telling a story about a fisherman that seems to have been fictional in substantial part, and that generated a flurry of bad headlines and embarrassing press appearances where he was mumbling things about the essence of the story being true, whatever that means. If the press had run with that for another couple of days, who knows how many late-breaking undecideds it might have swung in an already very close race. But Menino’s death took over the front pages for about four straight days, and made it impossible for either campaign to make news in the final stretch – which suited Team Baker just fine."
Prev
Next
Casinos are Coming to MA
Stewart Loosemore, Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce
“We might not have a facility here, but there are still economic benefits for both Worcester and Central Massachusetts. We aren’t talking about jobs in the state, we are talking about jobs in the city and the region. Not only that, if money is brought to the local economy, then it stays local.”
Prev
Next
Republicans Control Senate and House
Robert Boatright, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science at Clark University
“This is a Senate that might not accomplish much. The big story here is going to be if the Republicans who won in traditionally Democratic states and whether or not those seats will be retained by Republicans in a Presidential Election year.”
Prev
Next
Richard Moore Loses Senate Seat
Anthony Petrone, Campaign Advisor for Steve Abraham
"I'm not shocked. There's a time and place in the political world when you need to know to call it quits. There was a lot of indication that Fattman would win. When Fattman moved to Webster, he increased his base. He had the towns he represented as a representative plus all the conservatives in Webster. Moore was a very effective Senator and it's too bad he had to lose under these terms. But in reality, people knew he was in trouble."
Related Articles
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Email to a friend
Permalink
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It