(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) Charlie Baker, the former GOP Massachusetts governor, apparently stands a good chance of defeating U.S. Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren should he decide to challenge her in Election 2024.
That is the findings of a new poll about a hypothetical U.S. Senate contest between the two-term governor and the two-term senator that was published on Thursday by the nonprofit Fiscal Alliance Foundation, whose declared mission is to promote “individual liberty and greater fiscal responsibility and transparency in government for a better New England.”
Based on a survey of 750 state voters (including 382 independents) contacted by landline and cell phone, Baker, who currently heads the NCAA, has 49% support as opposed to Democrat Warren’s lackluster 34% in the poll results.
Far-left Sen. Warren, 73, who former President Trump famously dubbed “Pocahontas” over her false claims of Native American heritage, has already announced her reelection bid.
A Baker advisor has insisted that the ex-gov has no plans to seek public office next year, which is consistent with what Baker himself has previously said.
There is, however, a long history of ambitious politicians across the country who deny interest in running for higher office right up to moment when they abruptly change their minds.
While in office, Baker’s COVID policies were practically indistinguishable from authoritarian Democrat governors.
Against this backdrop, he likely decided against seeking a third term in part because of anticipated difficulties in getting through a GOP primary in the blue state where he seemed to otherwise maintain popularity with voters unaffiliated with a political party.
Reacting to the polling data that suggests a 15-point lead for the ex-governor, a Fiscal Alliance Foundation spokesperson commented that “Senator Warren has significantly higher unfavorable numbers than her fellow Democrats statewide and that seems to be creating an opening for Baker, who always enjoyed large amounts of cross-party appeal,” the Boston Herald reported.
2024 Massachusetts Senate GE:
Charlie Baker (R) 49% (+15)
Elizabeth Warren (D-Inc) 34%Advantage, Inc/@FiscalAlliance, 750 LV, 5/6-7https://t.co/NCLiy4JkmW pic.twitter.com/ykA13tKN7m
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) May 11, 2023
He added that “It’s interesting that Baker receives such solid support from Republicans, a group that he began having such trouble with during his second term. Senator Warren may be doing more to unite the state Republican party than anyone might realize.”
The spokesperson also noted that “Looking at the cross tabs, Republicans seem to coalesce behind Baker (79%) in a way that Democrats do not around Warren (56%), and Baker leads with independent/unenrolled voters 2-1 at 57-26%.”
As a potential U.S. Senator, Baker, 66, would presumably cast himself ideologically similar to another former Massachusetts governor, namely Mitt Romney, who now represents Utah in the upper congressional chamber.
Sen. Romney has disappointed conservatives with his RINO tendencies.
A rep for the Mass GOP, an organization that fielded a candidate in the 2022 governor’s race who lost in a landslide to Democrat Maura Healey, the state attorney general, told the Herald “that the polling demonstrates there is room in the state for a moderate Republican to position themselves against a vulnerable Democrat.”
The same candidate, Geoff Diehl, lost to Warren in 2018.
