Ex-Baker aide launches PAC
Gov. Charlie Baker has hobbled the small businesses he once pledged to serve, said Dean Cavaretta, a former Baker campaign aide who’s started a national super PAC aimed at electing GOP candidates that will help businesses decimated by shutdowns across the country.
The sharp criticism highlights a growing schism between Baker and some Massachusetts Republicans and business owners who feel Baker overstepped when he used the government to shut down Bay State businesses in an effort to contain the coronavirus.
“I understand the administration are trying to be cautious but when you look at the hoops businesses have to jump through, especially the mom and pop businesses, they’re getting left behind,” said Cavaretta, who was a consultant on Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s 2014 campaign.
Cavaretta chairs the Open America PAC, created last week along with fellow Republican consultants Cody Parsons and David Spencer. The super PAC has a mission statement to “help support local causes while holding governors and local officials accountable nationwide.”
Baker shut down many Bay State businesses in late March in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, although businesses offering essential services, like Home Depot and Lowe’s, managed to remain open.
“When Charlie and Karyn ran for office, they said they wanted to be the voice of small business,” said Cavaretta, who added that Open America super PAC isn’t meant to be “anti-Baker.”
“It’s an issues-based PAC. The best recovery is to open up all at once, and other states have proven you can open up with more common sense and not the multiple phases that many governors have used,” said Cavaretta.
Baker announced a threephase plan to reopen the state last month. On Saturday, he said retail shops, outdoor seating at restaurants, and child-care centers can get back to work Monday if they meet certain conditions under Phase 2.
Baker has said that the phased approach ensures that the health officials can keep a close eye on the ongoing coronavirus crisis to ensure hospitals aren’t overwhelmed. But Cavaretta and others have criticized Baker and other governors’ decisions to allow some businesses to open while others remain shuttered.
“Government isn’t supposed to be picking winners and losers,” said Cavaretta, who also served as President Trump’s Massachusetts campaign chairman during the 2016 election. The Open America PAC will focus on electing federal pro-business candidates across the country and has already targeted seats in New Hampshire and Maine.