Posted by Sara Heath
(MA): On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Massachusetts voters will choose the state’s next governor.
Attorney General Martha Coakley, after a grueling primary race, is the Democrat. Businessman Charlie Baker is the Republican. While polls vary a little, the latest Boston Globe poll gives Baker a lead of 44-percent to Coakley’s 37-percent.
Running as independents are Evan Falchuk, Jeff McCormick and Scott Lively. The Globe poll shows all are in the low single digits.
According to her website (http://www.marthacoakley.com/) Martha Coakley runs on the platform of equal opportunity for all. This includes investing in the community economically, providing equal opportunities in schools, balancing quality and affordability in healthcare, representing LGBTQ+ rights, funding clean energy, supporting gun control acts among many other things.
According to OnTheIssues.org, Charlie Baker supports lowering taxes, cutting government spending and focusing on business. He wants to increase the amount of charter/magnet/alternative public schools.
(Baker’s website: https://www.charliebaker2014.com/)
Both candidates support a woman’s right to choose.
According to ballotpedia.com, in an Oct. 7 debate, Coakley attacked Baker for accepting an exceptionally high salary at Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare while many seniors had funding cut from their programs. Baker countered that his salary was determined by a board with which we was not involved and that his time at Harvard Pilgrim is what helped it from going under, which in the long run would have hurt many.
During that same debate, Baker attacked Coakley for questionable support for child welfare in the Commonwealth. He specifically cited a time in which Coakley, as Attorney General, defended state reforms that did not favor child welfare and the foster care program. Coakley responded by saying that as Attorney General it was her job to defend the state’s best interests.
On Oct. 27 there was another gubernatorial debate in Worcester, Mass. During this debate televised by NECN, Charlie Baker proudly asserted he would not raise taxes for the general public.
Coakley countered this by saying his plans include making extreme tax cuts for big businesses, and that she plans to “invest in the people,” and not in big businesses.
When debating the issues at Harvard Pilgrim in the NECN debate, Coakley accused Baker of only seeing “the bottom line,” and not real people. Baker responded to this by asking her if she had a better solution to the Harvard Pilgrim problems.
http://www.necn.com/news/politics/Heated-Exchanges-at-Mass-Gov-Debate-280622042.html
Neither candidate has plans to run for office again if they lose the gubernatorial race.
THE AC301 