Baker's Out

So much for a contested Republican gubernatorial primary. The AP is reporting that Charlie Baker has decided not to run for governor. This is good and bad news for Massachusetts Democrats. Some people believed that Baker would have been a more difficult candidate for a Democrat to beat. The best part of a Baker candidacy, however, would have been that Republicans would finally have to spend some money beating each other up. I suspect the prospect of having to raise enough money to compete with Healey's massive warchest was too much for Baker. I have to imagine, though, that there are more than a few Republicans who are not going to be happy if Kerry Healey is given a free pass to the nomination, just as there were Republicans in 2002 who wanted then-Governor Jane Swift off the ballot. Will they be able to find another good-looking, wealthy CEO type to challenge Healey before next September?

This news comes shortly after Wayne Woodlief's Friday column in the Herald where he suggested that Baker should challenge Ted Kennedy for the Senate instead. That would help ease Baker's fundraising problems -- the campaign finance limits for federal elections are much greater than the limits for state elections -- but he would still have to quit his job to compete in an election he has an even smaller chance of winning. While it's true that Baker could set himself up to follow the Mitt Romney path of losing to Kennedy and going on to bigger things, he could just as easily end up like Kennedy's 2000 challenger Jack E. Robinson, who was last seen getting trounced by Bill Galvin in the 2002 Secretary of State race.

Baker's Dilemma

Today's Globe also has an article on the difficulties that Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charlie Baker faces should he decide he wants to run for governor.

[P]olitical strategists -- and some of Baker's supporters, speaking privately -- said the 48-year-old healthcare executive should not wait for Romney, who could put off his decision until late fall. Baker, they said, may have to move out of his job sooner and jump into the political arena if he wants to challenge Healey for the nomination.

The pressing issue for him is building a fund-raising operation and raising significant cash before the end of the year to compete with Healey's fund-raising and her personal wealth. Campaign finance laws limit donations from individuals to $500 each year.

That pretty much echoes the sentiments I noted earlier this week. Baker is in a bit of a bind. He can't raise money himself without quitting his job, and while people could, in theory, raise money for him, they'd be subject to the $500 contribution limit. I'm sure that someone could find a loophole in Massachusetts election law to help Baker if they had a team of lawyers, but they'd be out of luck if Baker decides not to run or refuses to accept the help.

In some way, though, Kerry Healey's vast wealth takes the pressure off of Baker to fund raise. There's no way that he could compete with her dollar for dollar, so no matter how much money is campaign is able to get, he'll still have to use it more efficiently.