Charlie Baker, Jay Gonzalez offer clear choice in governor’s race

Oct. 19--In less than three weeks, voters will decide between incumbent Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, and challenger Jay Gonzalez, a Democrat.

The Nov. 6 vote will determine who will lead Massachusetts through the next four years. The two men are offering different approaches, which were spelled out during separate editorial meetings with several GateHouse Media newspapers on Thursday.

"We're offering two different paths," Gonzalez said, pointedly.

Baker, a Republican leading a state dominated by Democrats, is looking to continue to build on his track record of getting things done through bipartisanship.

"We have spent a ton of time out of the Statehouse, out of Greater Boston and around the commonwealth face to face with decision makers," Baker said. "I think that has a lot to do with why so many of them, most of whom are Democrats and independents, are supporting us."

The first-term governor says he's focused on improving the state's transportation system, mitigating the fallout of the gas-fueled explosions in Merrimack Valley and advocating for social issues that at times pit him against more conservative members of his party.

Gonzalez, meanwhile, is presenting himself as a progressive Democrat, who would push Massachusetts beyond what he calls the "status quo."

"We need a governor who sees the world the way it should be and who will take us to that place," he said.

Gonzalez's picture for Massachusetts includes ambitious policy initiatives, including overhauling the transportation system, implementing single-payer health care and lowering the cost of early-childhood education.

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The editorial meetings, which lasted several hours, covered a broad range of other issues, including climate change and how to deal with ongoing scandals at the Massachusetts State Police.

Charlie Baker

Baker, who first took office in 2015, describes himself as a "Ronald Reagan Republican."

"I'm most comfortable in the place I've been, which is fiscally disciplined and socially inclusive and tolerant," Baker said. "I happen to believe that's where a lot of voters are, too."

The stance has worked well for him. He's largely popular in both Massachusetts and elsewhere. So far this election cycle, he's maintained a sizeable lead over Gonzalez in the polls, even among Democrats.

But it does sometimes land him in hot water, including during a televised debate Wednesday hosted by WGBH when Gonzalez asked him whether he would vote for Geoff Diehl, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate.

Baker, of Swampscott, stumbled over his response, despite having already endorsed the candidate, which opponents pounced on as a sign the governor supported party over policies. Diehl, a supporter of President Donald Trump, supports many controversial policy issues Baker has opposed.

When asked about it, Baker clarified himself.

"I misspoke," he said. "I endorse him and I'm going to vote for him."

Beyond party politics, Baker --who was joined by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito --discussed ongoing work his administration has undertaken to improve the transportation systems in different parts of the state.

The work, he explained, is not flashy, involving the replacement of railroad ties, platforms and investing in electronic systems and third rails. The state is on track, he said, to invest $8 billion over the next five years to make the MBTA more dependable.

The state is also studying the feasibility of building a high-speed train to connect the western part of the state to Boston. By 2025, Baker added, the South Coast Rail project will be up and running. When asked whether the line might connect to Cape Cod, however, Baker stopped short of promising anything.

"I'm trying not to get too many balls in the air at once on this," he said.

The governor also spoke to the current level of oversight on natural gas-line infrastructure. A moratorium has been placed on new gas-line infrastructure conducted by National Grid Massachusetts and Columbia Gas.

The latter utility company is the operator of gas lines in Merrimack Valley, where last month an over-pressurized line led to explosions that damaged dozens of homes and resulted in the death of a teenager. The state has made available hundreds of RVs and apartments, along with hotel rooms throughout the region, to victims of the disaster and about 1,800 people have asked for assistance.

"We're monitoring this closely," Baker said.

Finally, Baker defended his handling of the embattled State Police, which is entangled with an ongoing scandal involving troopers who collected overtime pay for work that was never done. He said he was satisfied with the investigation into the issue so far, saying the state had hired an outside auditing firm to do a top-to-bottom review of the agency.

He also defended the troopers not involved.

"The vast majority of them do some really important work every day," he said.

Jay Gonzalez

Gonzalez, a former health insurance executive, served as the secretary of administration and finance under former Gov. Deval Patrick.

A Needham resident, Gonzalez is aiming high with ambitious, progressive policy ideas that he's hopeful voters will see as an improvement on what's being accomplished by the current administration.

"It's important we have public leaders who are forcefully fighting back to preserve our values and to protect our people," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez received a positive public response to his performance during Wednesday's televised debate, giving him a much-needed boost in a race that's largely been led by Baker.

"We're feeling great about where things stand," Gonzalez said. "I don't put a lot of stock in polls these days. ... There's an energy out there that is not being captured by the polls in terms of the people turning out and voting."

Gonzalez's proposed policies have been the discussion of much of the race, including his hope to overhaul and replace the current systems of transportation, health care and early-childhood education. He's upfront about the high cost that would be required to fund such projects, saying he would immediately work toward implementing two new taxes.

The first, known commonly as the millionaire tax, would assess income on wealthier individuals, which he would use to pay for transportation and education. A similar plan was making its way to become a ballot question this election cycle before the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court threw it out earlier this year.

The second tax would be a 1.6 percent assessment on the total value of endowments operated by universities and colleges that exceed $1 billion in value.

The tax, he argues, is something the otherwise tax-exempt educational institutions can afford, especially as the endowments --after operational costs and financial aid --have increased in value between 4.8 percent and 8.4 percent annually over the last 15 years.

"Working families in this state are the ones who aren't feeling any of the benefit of that, and we're failing them," he said.

When it comes to transportation, Gonzalez said he would use the newfound money --which he bills at about $3 billion each year --to pay for improvements to the MBTA and commuter rail. He said the current system is not working for Massachusetts residents

"People are fed up, and we've just come to tolerate this substandard system," he said.

On the subject of climate change, Gonzalez said he wants to see more resources going toward mitigation and preparing for sea-level rise. He supports the idea of a carbon tax, and says he'd work with other states to try and get something accomplished regionally to ensure Massachusetts could maintain a competitive economic edge throughout New England.

As for the state police, Gonzalez said he believes there's a need to bring in someone from the outside to lead the agency. The move is currently prohibited under state law, which Gonzalez said he would work to change legislatively, or work around, if necessary.

"Not that the state police union would drive the decision on this, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were supportive," he said. "The troops feel like they've been stained with this corruption and many, if not most, have nothing to do with it."

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