Charlie Baker, the 2010 Republican candidate for Massachusetts Governor, is running for the state’s top office and will be getting significant attention from voters. Initially, the 52-year-old former head of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare and secretary of Administration and Finance under Governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci may seem like an uptight, Harvard-educated figure who smiles awkwardly and misses the punchline. Yet when he relaxes and opens up, a different side of Baker emerges—one that deserves greater visibility during his campaign. Baker visited the area recently, where he met with supporters and political activists considering his candidacy. At a local luncheon, he demonstrated himself to be a level-headed fiscal conservative while maintaining the social liberalism of his former mentors Weld and Cellucci. He supports reproductive choice, same-sex marriage, and health care reform, though he acknowledges the state faces a severe fiscal crisis and believes job creation must be his administration’s priority for economic recovery. Like his predecessors Weld and Cellucci, Baker has attracted Democratic backing. Democrats find his government experience—he was actually asked to be Cellucci’s running mate in 1998 but declined, and was described as the ‘heart and soul’ of the Weld-Cellucci administration by both former governors—and his Harvard Pilgrim CEO background compelling, particularly as current Democratic Governor Deval Patrick’s support erodes among both the public and legislature. When Baker assumed leadership at Harvard Pilgrim, the organization faced severe financial troubles, with losses of $58 million in 1998 and projected losses exceeding $90 million in 1999. He promptly implemented “dramatic restructuring” in the company’s operations. His recovery strategy involved reducing staff by 90 employees, raising premiums, negotiating new physician contracts, outsourcing information technology functions, and conducting a financial reassessment with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under Baker’s leadership, Harvard Pilgrim reversed its decline, achieving “two dozen consecutive profitable quarters” and receiving “America’s Best Health Plan” from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for five consecutive years. Baker has noted polling data suggesting voters would support electing a former CEO or businessman—someone with a business background similar to Mitt Romney’s—to address the state’s fiscal challenges and guide recovery. His fundraising efforts have generated nearly $500,000 since he announced his candidacy in July, with a single recent event raising approximately $50,000. “It’s been going very well so far,” Baker stated.
