BOSTON — Bay State Republicans lost one seat in the House and one seat in the Senate this cycle, remaining firmly entrenched in the minority on Beacon Hill.
But while the Massachusetts Republican Party tries to fundraise by echoing President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and a stolen election, Gov. Charlie Baker said last week that his party needs to focus on issues closer to home.
“I think it’s important for people who run for statewide office to understand what the voters care about here are statewide or local issues and that’s really where our focus as a party needs to be,” Baker said Tuesday, after excoriating Trump and national Republicans for sowing distrust in the electoral process without any proof of fraud.
Baker, who didn’t vote for Trump or President-elect Biden, was asked whether his state party needed a new message or leadership after Chairman Jim Lyons leaned heavily toward Trump this election, while
Baker distanced himself. Baker didn’t answer the question directly, but said, “Obviously, I think going forward to be successful in 2022, which is now what everybody’s going to start thinking about, we need to recruit some candidates who build a base of support in local communities, make the case that their presence in the Legislature, which is where I really am focused, can be successful and do the work and focus on the issues people care about.”
Baker endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Kevin O’Connor in Massachusetts and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, but said his biggest focus this cycle was on legislative races.
“We came very close to winning some races that I was hoping we would win in the Legislature,” he said, without naming names. “I was disappointed to see a couple folks go down, but given what happened at the top of the ticket I think the state legislative folks that we supported actually did pretty well given the headwinds.”
One candidate he might have been referring to was Chip Harrington, who has requested a partial recount after coming up about 134 votes shy of his Democratic opponent Jake Oliveira in the open 7th Hampden District.
Despite being a vocal ally of Trump in a state where the president is not very popular, MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons said the party used an “aggressive approach” and “took our best shots.”
“We’re going to continue to play offense and are going to continue to force the Democrats to defend their unpopular positions,” Lyons said. “It’s telling to me when Beacon Hill Democratic leadership postpones much of their legislative agenda until after the election.”