Former Gov. Charlie Baker endorsed Taunton City Councilor Kelly Dooner, a Republican, in her bid for a southeastern Massachusetts Senate seat just as the state’s former chief executive said Thursday he was not ruling out a return to elected office.
The stamp of approval is one of only a few handed out this election cycle by Baker, who ended his time in office as one of the most popular governors in the country and having guided the state through the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also comes as early voting is set to start on Oct. 19 and more than 108,000 people have already cast their ballot by mail, according to state data.
In a statement shared first with the Herald, Baker said Dooner, who is running against Democratic Raynham selectman Joe Pacheco, “has the vision, the energy, and the experience to make a positive difference.”
“As the youngest woman to ever serve on the City Council and as the Council President, she has the proven track record we need at the State House. We can count on Kelly to protect our wallets, our paychecks, and our savings. She has the plans ready to hit the ground running on day one,” Baker said.
Baker is wielding his political power — not for the last time before the November general election — in an extremely competitive race and in a district that has grown more red after redistricting brought in the towns of Rehoboth and Seekonk and carved out Bridgewater.
In the 2022 statewide election, a Republican, Maria Collins, came close to ousting longtime incumbent and dean of the Massachusetts Sen. Marc Pacheco, who has no relation to Joe Pacheco, according to official election data from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Dooner said she was “grateful” for Baker’s support.
“It’s time to bring common sense back to government and start putting people ahead of party politics. Like he did as governor, I intend to work with everyone on issues like bringing tax relief to our citizens, supporting and strengthening our cities and towns, and ending the migrant crisis,” Dooner said in a statement to the Herald.
Republicans strategists and officials view Dooner’s candidacy as the best shot at growing their ranks in the Senate, where Democrats hold a super majority, outside of Plymouth Republican Rep. Matt Muratore’s candidacy for a South Shore and Cape Cod seat.
Wendy Wakeman, a local Republican strategist, said Baker’s endorsement is “like gold,” especially during a presidential election year when most down-ballot Republicans face difficulty getting elected to office.
“Charlie Baker was the most popular governor in America in poll after poll when he was governor of Massachusetts,” she told the Herald. “Lending his credibility and the warm feelings that we all have about Charlie to a candidate like Kelly, who’s young and fresh and a little bit untested, really gives her a whole lot of heft and weight.”
Dooner’s opponent, Joe Pacheco, has also earned a wide array of endorsements, including from Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Sen. Marc Pacheco, and a large share of public safety unions in Massachusetts like the Massachusetts State Police Association.
In an interview with the Herald, Pacheco said he is “working hard” ahead of the November general election.
“I think we’re doing more of what we were doing in the primary, and that is reaching out to the voters, talking to them about the issues that are important to them, and hearing what their feedback is about how we can make Massachusetts a better place to live and work,” he said.
Joe Pacheco had more than $83,000 stashed away in his campaign account as of the end of September compared to Dooner’s $36,000-plus, according to state campaign finance data.
Baker’s endorsement of Dooner is not his first this cycle. He also threw his weight this week behind Rep. Steve Xiarhos, a Republican from Barnstable running for reelection.
But his backing of Dooner did happen to line up with an appearance in downtown Boston Thursday morning where he told a crowd that he would “never rule anything out” when it comes to a future return to politics.
“But I think we live in really challenging times, and it’s important [for] really good people to step up,” Baker, the president of the NCAA, said, according to the State House News Service. “If someone told me, literally, in October of ’22, rolling into the end of my term … you’re going to be president of the NCAA, I would have said, ‘yeah right.’ So, I never rule anything out.”
Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald
A Kelly Dooner sign is placed along Summer Street in Taunton.
