Will Baker Give Ohio Republican Same Tacit Approval as Trump, Walker and Cruz While Stumping in Bay State?

BOSTON—With fellow Republican Governor and presidential candidate John Kasich of Ohio coming to Massachusetts this afternoon, voters are left wondering if Republican Gov. Baker will provide his out-of-touch and harmful positions with the same tacit approval he has extended to Donald Trump, Scott Walker and Ted Cruz during similar visits.

“Bay Staters are surely looking to Gov. Baker to rebuke the harmful stances of his fellow Republican Governor and presidential candidate John Kasich as he swings through Massachusetts today,” said MassDems Spokesman Pat Beaudry. “Perhaps Baker’s tacit support for Kasich is due to his fundraising for top Baker cheerleader and Republican front group Mass Fiscal Alliances, but until he speaks up voters will continue to wonder why their governor remains silent in the face of Kasich’s out-of-touch positions.”

Gov. Kasich is holding a fundraiser today for the Mass Fiscal Alliance – a Republican front group that has spent significant dark political money promoting Baker policy stances and Baker-endorsed candidates.
 
Kasich’s divisive, controversial stances include:

1.     Women’s Rights: As Governor, Kasich signed some of the most restrictive abortion regulations in the country.

2.     On Labor: Kasich pushed a 2011 law that banned public sector workers – including police and firefighters – from collectively bargaining that was overturned by voters the following year, as well as recently stripping independent home healthcare and in-home childcare workers of their union rights.

3.     Marriage Equality: Kasich’s appointee was the defendant in the eventual marriage equality-legalizing case heard before the Supreme Court, due to his administrations refusal to recognize a gay man’s spouse on his death certificate.

Voters also will recall in less than a year since his election, Republican Baker has already traveled to Florida, Colorado and Pennsylvania to raise money and support national Republicans. Republican Baker even went so far as to make the curious claim he visited Pennsylvania to thank the state for helping during last winter’s devastating snowstorms. In reality, Pennsylvania’s governor, Tom Wolf, who sent assistance and may need to send help again this year, is a Democrat and Republican Baker was in Pennsylvania to raise money for Wolf’s opponent.  

###