MASSACHUSETTS
      Nov. 4, 2014 Governor

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 Sen.2
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+Charlie Baker/Karyn Polito (R)
1,044,573
 48.40%
Martha Coakley/Steve Kerrigan (D)
 1,004,408
 46.54%
Evan Falchuk/Angus Jennings (UIP)
 71,814
 3.33%
Scott Lively/Shelly Saunders (Unenr.)
 19,378
 0.90%
Jeff McCormick/Tracy Post (Unenr.)
 16,295
 0.75%
all others
 1,858
 0.09%

2,158,326
Total votes: 2,186,789 including 28,463 blank.
Plurality: 40,165 votes (1.86 percentage points).
MA Secretary of the Commonwealth




REPUBLICAN PICK-UP
Notes: This was an open seat as Gov. Deval Patrick (D) opted not to seek a third term.  Charlie Baker (R) defeated Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) and three other candidates.

Baker served in the administrations of Gov. Bill Weld and Gov. Paul Celucci.  He then took the position as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and restored the company to profitablity.  He was also elected to the Swampscott board of selectmen in 2006.  In 2010 he was the Republican nominee against Gov. Patrick, but lost by 48.4% to 42.0%.  He formally launched his second bid on Sept. 4, 2013.

Coakley was elected Attorney General in 2006 after serving as the District Attorney in Middlesex County.  In Sept. 2009 she entered the race to fill the seat held by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.  She won the Dec. 8 primary, but lost to Scott Brown (R) in the Jan. 19, 2010 special election.  In Nov. 2010 she was elected to a second term as Attorney General.  Coakley launched her gubernatorial campaign on Sept. 15, 2013 (>).
Major party candidates needed to obtain support of 15 percent of delegates at their state party conventions to appear on the Sept. primary ballots.  The Massachusetts Republican Party held its convention in March 2014 and endorsed Baker; Tea Party candidate Mark Fisher also made the ballot.  The Massachusetts Democratic Party convention met on June 13-14, 2014 in Worcester; five candidates were competing.  Delegates endorsed Treasurer Steve Grossman for governor, while Coakley and Don Berwick, a former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also made the cut. 

In the Sept. 9 primaries, Coakley won by 42.4% to 36.4% for Grossman and 21.1% for Berwick, while Baker defeated Fisher by 74.1% to 25.7%.  In the lieutenant governor slot, Steve Kerrigan won 50.7% of the vote against two others on the Democratic side, while Karyn Polito faced no opponent on the Republican side.

In addition to Coakley and Baker, Massachusetts voters had three other choices on the November ballot: 

In Jan. 2013 Evan Falchuk, an executive at Best Doctors, Inc., launched the United Independent Party "to challenge the status quo."  He wrote, "In the private sector, an industry that worked like politics would be disrupted by new innovation and that's what the UIP is about. We are devoted to empowerment and civic engagement; to authenticity, civil rights and wise spending of taxpayer money."  Falchuk ran for Governor "to build a platform for a new, independent voice that could create competitive elections at a time when nearly two-thirds of state elected officials run unopposed."

Pastor Scott Lively, founder of Abiding Truth Ministries, launched an independent campaign based on Biblical values on Sept. 30, 2013.  Lively, a former practicing attorney, was  known for his anti-gay activism.

Venture capitalist Jeff McCormick launched his independent campaign on Feb. 4, 2014.  McCormick, a founding partner of Saturn Partners, which helped build Boston Duck Tours,
Constant Contact, and other companies, initially appeared as if he might be a strong candidate in the model of, for example, Mitt Romney.  Despite a significant effort (>), his campaign fizzled.

There were five debates:

Sept. 29 - all five candidates participated in the Western Massachusetts Media Consortium debate at CityStage theater in Springfield (>);

Oct. 7 - all five candidates participated in a debate at WBZ-TV studios in Springfield (>); 

Oct. 17 - Coakley and Baker debated at UMass Dartmouth, hosted by the SouthCoast Alliance;

Oct. 21 - Coakley and Baker debated at WGBH-TV studios in Brighton (1, 2); and

Oct. 27 - Coakley and Baker debated in the NECN debate, hosted by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, in Worcester  (>).

 
Campaign Managers:
Charlie Baker:  Jim Conroy
(2013)  Principal at Victory Strategies from 2007.  Campaign manager on Tom Smith for Senate, Inc. (PA), 2011-12.  Executive director of the Connecticut Republican Party, 2011.  Campaign manager on Fedele for Governor (CT), May-Sept. 2010.  Deputy director of Election Day operations at the RNC, Nov. 2007-Aug. 2008.  Deputy campaign manager on Simmons for Senate (CT), Apr. 2009-May 2010.  Consultant at Capitol Strategies Group, 2006-07.  Director of Victory 2006 for Connecticut Republicans, 2005-06.  Program manager at Stonington Institute, 2004-05.  Political director for Connecticut Republicans, 2002-03.  Graduate of Syracuse University, 2002.
Martha Coakley:  Tim Foley
(Oct. 2013)  Political director (from July 2010) and communications director (Jan. 2009-July 2010) of SEIU 1199.  Editor of Universal Health Care Blog for Change.org., Dec. 2008-Oct. 2009.  NY new media director (Jan.-Feb. 2008), NH new media director (June 2007-Jan. 2008) and NH director of operations (Mar.-June 2007) on Obama for America.  Senior web project manager for Fly Communications, Feb. 2005-Mar. 2007.  Interactive producer for Mt. Sinai School of Medicine Educational Technology Group, Jan. 2004-Feb. 2005.  Multimedia project manager for Pearson Education, Dec. 1999-Jan. 2004.  Program coordinator for the Young Authors Foundation, July 1998-Sept. 1999.  B.A. in English from Harvard University, 1998.

Evan Falchuk:  Jennifer Beltz
(2013)  Came to the campaign from position as vice president of public affairs and media relations at Best Doctors, 2011-13.  Founder/principal at Front Burner PR, LLC, 2005-11.  Senior legislative representative, speechwriter at AARP, 2000-04.  Director of communications for U.S. Rep. Jim Turner (TX), 1998-2000.  Communications director/legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Bruce Vento (MN), 1996-98.  B.S. in political science from Belmont University, 1992.


See also:
Paul McMorrow.  "Meet the Republican Who Might Run Massachusetts."  Time, Nov. 4, 2014.

Shirley Leung.  "Yes, Jeff McCormick is still running for governor."  Boston Globe, Oct. 22, 2014.

Jim Levulis.  "Mass Democrats Sending Three Gubernatorial Candidates To Primary; Endorse Grossman."  WAMC, June 16, 2014.

Paul Tuthill.  "Massachusetts Republicans Back Baker For Governor."  WAMC, Mar. 24, 2014.

Batya Ungar-Sargon.  "His Mom Ran Hadassah. His Brother Made 'Glee.' Now Evan Falchuk Is Going Into Politics."  Tablet, Dec. 29, 2013.
 
 
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