Falchuk talks of ‘change’ when he takes the corner office

Hot on the heels of a fiery debate performance with four of other gubernatorial candidates last Wednesday, Evan Falchuk told the Reporter, “This is the way it’s been for me. It’s about being real and genuine.”
Widely considered the frontrunner among the three independent candidates for governor, the 44-year-old Falchuk has struggled to break into the overall conversation with Republican Charlie Baker and Democrat Martha Coakley as he has sought during his campaign to get out in front in debates and forums and with the media leading up to voting in November.

“It’s about reminding voters that ‘look, this is exactly the problem. These people are saying really nice things,’ but nothing is actually going to happen until the people in office change. ”

The former healthcare executive and attorney adds a new factor to the mix of his candidacy: As the founder of the United Independence Party of Massachusetts, he hopes his bid for governor will not only put an independent candidate in the corner office for the first time ever, but also garner him more than three percent of the votes cast, a result that would make his fledgling party official in Massachusetts.

“I’ve got this crazy combination of ideas that everybody is equal, everybody’s civil rights have to be protected, and that the government has to spend taxpayer money wisely,” Falchuk said, adding that his candidacy, and his party as a whole, seek to engage the state’s majority of unenrolled voters who are unengaged with the state’s current political process. “It’s a combination that most people don’t think is represented by the establishment parties any more and it’s why most people aren’t in them.”

He said he would seek to cut a number of corporate tax breaks to increase investment in education and also establish a tax fairness commission to break out of what he called the state’s “regressive” tax code.
An Auburndale resident, he and his wife Felicia have three children, which may speak to his hard push on educational issues during his campaign. He describes the recent troubles at Boston’s Madison Park Vocational and Technical High School as “really distressing. If this were happening in a suburban community, this would have been dealt with more quickly,” he said, adding that the state should be ready to step in and help if the city cannot resolve the scheduling and staffing issues at the school.

“If I lived in that community and was affected by this, why would I believe anything that the elected officials said about how they prioritized education?”

Falchuk then took aim at the recently approved $1 billion Boston Convention Center expansion, which he said he would veto as governor, as well as the renovations to the governor’s, House, and Senate chambers at the State House at a cost of millions to update the crumbling sections of the centuries-old building. “It makes you really question lawmakers’ priorities.”

Falchuk said he and running mate, Angus Jennings, are “running to win,” and that his message has resonated, allowing him to pick up more staffers, interns, and volunteers. Once the party makes it onto the ballot, he says, “we’re going to have all kinds of smart, independent people in 2016 running for the Legislature and we can be not some third party, not a protest party, not something fringe, but instead, a second party in Massachusetts, replacing the Republican party.”
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Charlie Baker courted labor over the last week beginning with another visit to Dorchester, a Thursday stop at Florian Hall to accept an endorsement from a corrections officers union. The Massachusetts Corrections Officers Federated Union, a Milton-based statewide union, endorsed the Republican ticket, a break from the 2010 election when it endorsed Gov. Deval Patrick.

“They could have sat on their hands, but instead they chose to endorse Karyn and my vision for Massachusetts and we appreciate that,” Baker said. Chants of “Chah-lie, Chah-lie” from union members broke out after Baker and running mate Karyn Polito finished speaking to the press.

Baker was back in town on Wednesday with another union connection, this time for a spin through Grove Hall with Larry Ellison, president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers.
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For their part, the Democrats have pulled out the big guns, bringing superstar US Senator Elizabeth Warren to Dorchester on Saturday morning to activate supporters in Lower Mills. Despite recent poll numbers showing a tightening gubernatorial race – various polls put Coakley and Baker in a tie, with the Globe’s latest having Baker up two percentage points. Warren told the Reporter that she was focusing on the ground action, not the numbers.

“The candidate will do as much as she can, but at the end of the day, on our side, it comes down to people getting out the vote. If everybody votes, we’re going to win. If people stay home, then all the guys with all the money and all the power win.”

When asked if Baker’s continued presence in the neighborhood was a concern, Warren said she took no issue: “I think he is right to contest every vote in the same way the Democrats go out and contest every vote. When it comes right down to it on issues – sick time, early childhood education, women’s access to birth control – I believe the people of Dorchester are with Martha Coakley and want her making decisions, not Charlie Baker.”

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In addition to Warren, the Democrats have gotten one of the biggest weapons from their arsenal on the stump to fundraise for Coakley this week: Michelle Obama is coming to the Strand Theatre in Uphams Corner on Friday morning.

“I am honored to have the support of the first lady, a leader in creating economic and social justice,” Coakley said in a statement. “I look forward to joining [her] and thousands of our grassroots supporters in Uphams Corner, to discuss how we will turn our economy around for all of our families.”

Tickets are available to the public through the Coakley campaign, which anticipates thousands will show up at the theatre. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m.


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