Under Fire For Outsourcing COVID Response, Charlie ‘Barely-There’ Baker Raised a Pitiful $9,400 in April

After an anemic fundraising total of about $25,000 in March, increasingly vulnerable Governor Charlie Baker’s fundraising for April was a pitiful $9,400 – which was easily surpassed by numerous Democrats running for governor – or even considering a run – for governor. 

As Baker raised over $271,000 in the same month in 2017 when he was getting ready for the 2018 re-election, the Boston Herald reported this will only heat up the “debate whether his barely-there fundraising is a sign the two-term Republican might be ready to call it quits.” 

Massachusetts Playbook added that Baker’s dismal haul “marked the fourth consecutive month that Baker’s fundraising declined, raising questions about whether the Republican will seek a third term.” 

This comes as Baker is under fire for spending $20 million of taxpayer money to outsource his job as governor during the COVID-19 crisis to a consulting firm. Baker was also widely criticized for struggling with a vaccine rollout.

Baker was already facing sinking approval numbers with a rapidly changing political landscape in Massachusetts, with his approval dropping by 26 points and sitting at only 38% within his own party. Making his problems worse, Politico noted that Baker’s “standing within his own party is so strained that, in the event he seeks a third term next year, a Republican close to state GOP leadership is gearing up to challenge him in the primary.”

“Increasingly vulnerable Charlie ‘barely-there’ Baker’s pitiful fundraising sends a massive signal that he’s not ready for the grueling potential re-election campaign he’d face in 2022,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “As he continues to face sinking poll numbers and criticism for using taxpayer money to outsource his job in a crisis, Baker’s days as a Republican in a deep blue state appear to be increasingly numbered.” 

###