Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Lively is facing an uphill battle in his quest to defeat Gov. Charlie Baker in the state primary next month.
Lively, a 60-year-old constitutional law attorney and pastor from Springfield, is widely considered a longshot to defeat Baker, who is considered the nation’s most popular governor and maintains a massive lead in the polls.
On his campaign website, Lively describes himself as “pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-Trump” and says he’s running because he wants his “state back.”
“Only someone immune to political corruption and unafraid of the establishment elites and their media toadies can lead that effort,” he writes. “That’s a rare combination, but it’s one I have by the grace of God. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or the Torah in which it is rooted. I trust His protection and guidance, and I’’ve proven through the test of fire in full view of the Massachusetts electorate that what I care about is not money, reputation or power, but God’s goodness being restored in people’s lives and our society.”
Lively goes on to say that he’s “not advocating a theocracy or the morphing of church and state, just a return to the family-centered, virtue seeking, ethically honorable society we had when we respected God’s standards and reaped the rewards of security and prosperity for doing so.”
Baker, 61, of Swampscott, was elected governor in 2014 after working as the CEO of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. He had formerly served as the state’s secretary of health and human services.
On his campaign website, Baker says he and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito have spent their first term being “committed to delivering bipartisan, commonsense, results-oriented leadership that has made the Commonwealth’s economy, communities, schools and families stronger than ever.