SWAMPSCOTT — Candidate for governor Charlie Baker of Swampscott has chosen veteran legislator Richard Tisei of Wakefield as his choice for lieutenant governor.
State Sen. Tisei was elected to the House in 1984 and is one of a dwindling number of Republicans in the Senate. He has a reputation as a fiscal conservative but social liberal.
Tisei announced only last week that he is gay, but the Baker camp is downplaying the significance of that, stressing instead the need for a governor who can create jobs and revive the state economy.
In Massachusetts, candidates for lieutenant governor un separately from their party's candidates for governor in the primary. They will run in tandem, however, in the general election next November. Baker's selection makes it likely that his voters will sustain his choice and that he will be serving with someone compatible.
Before he can face off against incumbent Gov. Deval Patrick, however, Baker must deal with a challenge in the Republican Party from former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority member Christy Mihos.
"I think Sen. Tisei is a good pick for a number of reasons," said Rep. Brad Hill, R-Ipswich, a Baker supporter whose district includes Manchester. "For one, he has an institutional knowledge of the (Statehouse) which will be a big help."
Hill compared the choice to former Gov. Bill Weld's selection of then-Sen. Paul Cellucci as a running mate in 1990. Cellucci's relationship with legislative leaders helped Weld push through reforms.
"Sen. Tisei is also a very good campaigner," Hill said.
Yesterday, Baker was unavailable for comment as he flew to Minnesota to raise money. Yet, his campaign manager, Lenny Alcivar, was quick to dispute a report in a Boston newspaper that Baker had first attempted to recruit State Treasurer Tim Cahill, now an independent candidate for governor, as his running mate.
"It's completely untrue," said Alcivar, who painted it as wishful thinking by Cahill, "who is an exact clone of Gov. Deval Patrick."
As to Tisei's homosexuality, Alcivar predicted that even the state's socially conservative voters would put such concerns aside in the face of the region's economic problems.
"When other legislators and politicians on Beacon Hill were debating the merits of making the Fluffernutter the state sandwich," he said, "Sen. Tisei was shouting from the rooftops about the need to get wasteful spending under control."
"I know they are good friends and they trust each other," said Dave Whelan, the former Swampscott School Committee chairman, an early Baker supporter. He expressed confidence in Baker's ability to gather good people around him.
Democratic strategist Michael Goldman of Marblehead answered flatly, "No," when asked if he could give an unbiased assessment of Baker's selection. But while he is not allied to any of the candidates, Goldman may offer a preview of the opposition's approach to the pairing.
Many candidates attempt to add diversity to the ticket when choosing a running mate, Goldman noted. "Here you have a 52-year-old, white, middle-class male from the North Shore reaching out to a 47-year-old, white, middle-class male from the North Shore."
"Nobody that knows Richard Tisei can say he's a business-as-usual politician," Alcivar retorted.
Much like his GOP counterparts, Goldman doubts that Tisei's revelations about his sexual orientation will matter much one way or the other.
Alan Burke may be contacted at aburke@gloucestertimes.com
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