Prof. running for governor
Baker hasn’t said, Polito not talking
A Harvard political science professor is the first candidate out of the gate for Massachusetts’ 2022 governor’s race as Gov. Charlie Baker keeps pundits guessing whether he’s angling for a third term.
“Watch the money and keep your eyes on Charlie Baker — who knows what’s going to happen with him,” GOP strategist Patrick Griffin said. “Does he stick around? Does he end up in Washington?”
Danielle Allen — an author, political theorist, a Democrat, and a Harvard University professor — on Monday was the first to formally announce she is exploring a 2022 bid for governor. Allen filed candidacy papers with the state’s Office of Campaign Finance on Monday afternoon and simultaneously launched a campaign website.
Calling the pandemic “the last straw,” Allen declared the commonwealth is “ready for change” and said she’s ready to play her part.
If the Republican governor opts to run, “it’s lights out” for almost anyone else, Griffin predicted.
The 64-year-old Baker has yet to announce his plans for re-election, with the rumblings of challengers from both sides growing louder by the day.
On Friday, an anonymous buyer bought up four website domains hinting that Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito could be making a swipe at the corner office, according to sales records.
The lieutenant governor’s campaign spokesman on Monday said it wasn’t her, but there are signs of a power shift going on inside the Baker-Polito administration.
Baker trails his lieutenant in fundraising this year by three-quarters of a million dollars. Baker raised $1.4 million in the first 11 months of the year compared to Polito’s $2.2 million.
By comparison, the governor outraised Polito 2-to-1 from 2015 to 2018.
The lieutenant governor — long a champion on issues like domestic violence — has stepped out from under the governor’s long shadow in recent months, speaking more at regular coronavirus briefings and earning a high-profile position overseeing the board in charge of the state’s four-phase reopening.
Baker has “not ruled out a third term,” Baker-Polito adviser James Conroy said in an email to the Herald on Monday.
“Right now, both he and Lt. Gov. Polito are focusing all of their energy on managing the commonwealth through the COVID-19 pandemic and saving lives,” Conroy said.
Democratic strategist Scott Ferson said a handful of heavy hitters are likely to try their luck for top office and declared Attorney General Maura Healey the “clear frontrunner.”
Other likely candidates include Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, who leaves Congress this month after losing a heated Senate bid against U.S. Sen Ed Markey, Ferson said.
Republican Senate candidate Rep. Geoff Diehl is also said to be mulling a run for the Corner Office.