Openly Gay Republican Joins Campaign to be Mass. Lt. Gov.
Massachusetts businessman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker selected state Senator Richard Tisei as his runningmate and nominee for Lieutenant Governor. Tisei who is openly gay, serves as the Republican Leader in the Massachusetts State Senate. If elected, he would be the first openly gay Liuetenant Governor in the nation. In 2002, former Log Cabin President President Patrick Guirrero, then serving as mayor of Melrose, Massachusetts, was then Governor Jane Swift’s runningmate, before withdrawing.
From the Boston Globe:
The choice drew immediate comparisons to William Weld’s selection of another veteran legislator, Paul Cellucci, to be his running mate in the 1990 and 1994 governor’s races. Tisei, 47, who was first elected to the House at the age of 22, has served in the Senate since 1990. He is a realtor by trade.
“He’s got 20 years of a fabulous record of a guy who fights for the taxpayers, fights for citizens, knows what’s on regular people’s minds, represents a district that looks a lot like the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I’m very excited to have him on board,” Baker said with Tisei by his side outside the Americal Civic Center in Tisei’s hometown of Wakefield.
Tisei cites as his major accomplishments helping to craft an overhaul of the state’s welfare laws in 1993, and his sponsorship of a whistleblower protection law. In the 40-member Senate, he leads a vastly outnumbered band of five Republicans.
Under Massachusetts law, Tisei will run separately from Baker for the position of lieutenant governor. But the two are following a longtime state Republican tradition of teaming up on a ticket to try to build momentum and discourage insurgent candidates for lieutenant governor.
“I’m really doing this to help Charlie govern the state,” Tisei said at the event, where about 40 supporters held newly printed blue Baker/Tisei placards. “Whoever wins this election is going to have a huge job trying to turn the ship around and get us headed in the right direction. And that’s where I think I can help Charlie. I understand the legislative process, the ebb and flows, why things get done and why they don’t get done.”
Baker, a former top official in the Weld administration and former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care president, said he was following Weld’s model in selecting someone who knows the intricacies of the Legislature.
“The goal here if we win — when we win — in November is going to be to get stuff done and part of getting stuff done is understanding how the building works and working reform through the process and Richard’s been doing that for his entire career,” Baker said.
Posted: November 23rd, 2009 under GOP Progress, In the States.