BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker, a Swampscott resident and two-term Republican who, at his peak, was one of the most popular governors in the country, announced on Wednesday he will not seek a third term.
The news exploded like a bomb on Massachusetts’ political landscape Wednesday morning, with the detonation made even more powerful by the simultaneous news that Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who was widely considered to be the heir to the Baker political legacy, has also decided against a run for governor in 2022.
“After several months of discussion with our families, we have decided not to seek reelection in 2022. This was an extremely difficult decision for us. We love the work, and we especially respect and admire the people of this wonderful Commonwealth. Serving as 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 this state for giving us this great honor,” Baker and Polito said in a joint statement.
Alexander “Sandy” Tennant, a Swampscott resident and former Massachusetts Republican Party executive director, said Baker’s decision was not a surprise.
“Internally, a lot of people have been saying it. Public life today takes a tremendous toll on people,” Tennant said.
According to a State House News Service report, Baker began telling friends and allies of his decision beginning on Tuesday, and informed his cabinet during a meeting Wednesday morning.
The 2022 state election, including races for governor and lieutenant governor, brings voters to the polls next fall, with Baker’s successor taking the oath of office in January 2023.
In their statement, Baker and Polito cited the need to focus on building an economic recovery as Massachusetts emerges from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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,” Baker and Polito said.
Republican Geoff Diehl, a former state lawmaker, has already entered the race for his party’s nomination with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Three Democrats — Harvard professor Danielle Allen, former state Sen. Ben Downing, and Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz — are also running.
Attorney General Maura Healey, the popular Democratic prosecutor, is also weighing a bid and could be more inclined to enter the fray with Baker out of the running, the News Service reported. She has previously said she hoped to make a decision about her political future this fall.
Political campaign veteran and Peabody resident Victor L’Esperance speculated that U.S. Secretary of Labor and former Boston Mayor, Martin J. Walsh, could build on name recognition and the campaign network that won Massachusetts for President Joe Biden in 2020, to launch a gubernatorial campaign.
Lynn Republican City Committee member and Ward 2 City Councilor Rick Starbard said Baker, as a moderate Republican, governed effectively in a predominantly-Democratic state, working with top elected leaders, including former Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo.
“The only way a Republican can be successful in Massachusetts is to be a moderate. I thought he did a good job,” Starbard said.
Tennant said he will not be surprised if another Republican joins Diehl in the governor’s race.
“I think there will be a group of people in the party more to the left who will try to find someone,” he said.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) said he found common ground as a Democrat with Baker on issues, including housing, economic development, and job creation.
“I look forward to working with him and his administration for the remainder of his term,” Crighton said.
L’Esperance noted that Baker’s tenure as governor was marked by successive blizzards in 2015 that dumped eight feet of snow on Massachusetts in two months, and the COVID-19 pandemic, with Baker presiding over mass business and school shutdowns in 2020 that catapulted “social distancing” and “remote learning” into everyday vernacular.
The polarized political dynamic that defined the 2020 presidential election turned the stretch of Monument Avenue in front of Baker’s home into a demonstration site for protesters of all stripes, with racial-equity, anti-mask-mandate, and climate-change advocates all taking their turn to stage demonstrations yards away from the governor’s front porch.
In October 2020, a Danvers resident with a lengthy criminal record entered Baker’s home through an unlocked door and without an invitation. During his court arraignment, Lane Forman called the incident a “misunderstanding.”
Tennant said he wouldn’t be surprised if Baker indicated he wanted time away from a political life that included angry people shouting outside his home while state troopers maintained a cordon across his driveway.
“Everyone needs a break at some point,” he said.
During a Wednesday press conference, Baker referenced a remark by his wife, Lauren, in assessing the toll the governorship has taken on his family.
“The biggest challenge to being married to someone in one of these jobs is presence,” he said. “A lot of times I am in the house, but I’m just not there.”
Material provided by the State House News Service was used in this report.
