After both of the state's leading incumbent Republicans Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito declined to run for governor next year, Democrats are hopeful they can retake the corner office amidst the state's changing political landscape.
With Baker and Polito out of the race, Democrats stand a much better chance of controlling each branch of Massachusetts government after 2022 with no incumbent moderate Republicans in their way.
The outsider in the race, Harvard political science professor Danielle Allen told GBH News the reason she first entered the field was because the status quo under Baker "is not an option."
"Today, the governor and the lieutenant governor confirmed that," she said. Allen said the state's politics have already changed, and it's time for its leaders to change with it.
"What's changed is the question of whether it's a time for transformation has been answered and it's now a question of how, what direction and are we going to be able to couple vision with execution?" Allen said.
Allen says she's now focused on the next chapter of the Democratic race: the start of local party caucuses on Feb. 4.
Boston Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, also a Democratic candidate, sees Baker's departure as a sign that voters want new leadership.
"Does it change the nature of the field? Of course it does, but the end goal is still the same," Chang-Díaz told GBH News Wednesday.
The Jamaica Plain progressive, known for often challenging fellow Democrats at the State House, says her agenda of bold progressive policy plans will mesh well with the social energy of the moment to build a movement to the corner office. Even better if it's an empty office.
"When you have an open seat, for whoever the Democratic nominee is, it does make it an incrementally easier process. But look, you should never take voters for granted," Chang-Díaz said.
Former Pittsfield Sen. Ben Downing, running for governor with a focus on systemic change around the government's response to climate change, said Democrats must reach out to unenrolled voters who may have favored Baker's moderate stances and bring them into a new coalition.
"We have to go out there and earn voters' trust and support. If we take this election for granted, if we think that we can win it in sound bites and in TV ads instead of door by door, conversation by conversation, community by community, then we're going to run the risk of [losing]," Downing said.
Downing agrees that Baker's withdrawal increases the chances for a Democrat to succeed him.
"I think it absolutely increases it. As to greatly, I'm not sure, but it certainly increases it. Governor Baker would have been a formidable opponent and challenger, no two ways about it," Downing said.
Even though the three Democrats already in the race see themsevles as poised to replace Baker, rank-and-file Democrats around Beacon Hill are still waiting to hear from Attorney General Maura Healey about whether she will throw her hat into the race.
