Keller @ Large: How Close Are The State's Biggest Races?
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tuesday is Election Day across the country. In the Massachusetts gubernatorial race, Gov. Charlie Baker leads by a large margin over opposing Democratic candidate Jay Gonzalez, according to Jon Keller.
One poll even showed Gonazlez losing among Democratic voters. So Keller asked State House News reporters Katie Lannan and Matt Murphy: why?
Lannan: "One thing we've been seeing throughout this campaign is Jay has been making the argument that Charlie Baker isn't doing enough as governor. He's calling him a status quo governor and one thing that makes me wonder is if there are people who are [thinking], 'the status quo is working for me.' The governor is pointing to good economic times, things that are going well. While you have advocates still pushing for more around education, transportation, none of that really seems to be sticking directly to the governor."
Murphy: "I think Jay Gonzalez was running against two things. One, a very popular incumbent governor who had millions of dollars in his campaign account. He had millions of dollars more in support from the Republican Governor's Association, national groups. And then he's also running against this perception that this popular governor was unbeatable -- which is why I think a lot of Democrats either, if they liked Charlie Baker, felt like they could work with Charlie Baker, stayed with him, or kept their money out of this race because they didn't want to waste it on someone that they weren't quite sure had a chance to beat the incumbent governor. And so he really just struggled to gain traction throughout this whole campaign."
Question 1 on the Massachusetts ballot has proved to be a very controversial and confusing decision among voters. Voting yes on Question 1 would set a statewide limit on the number of patients one nurse can be assigned to in hospitals or healthcare facilities. According to Keller, just days before the election, voters appeared to be just slightly favoring "no." In the past, the legislation has voted down similar proposals.
Murphy: "It does surprise me. Going into this when this started I thought it was going to be one of those ballot questions that seemed like an easy sell: do you want more nurses caring for you when you're in the hospital? But one of the recent polls I thought was interesting found that it asked people what helped them make up their mind and over 45 percent I think it was said talking to a nurse that they know. And there's where the confusion is. You have the nurses union, the biggest nurses union in the MNA behind this ballot question, you have other nurses appearing in TV commercials saying that they don't support it. It's created this confusion and I think people don't know what do and you have nurses depending on who you talk to on both sides giving people different advice."
Polls show U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has a comfortable lead over Republican challenger Geoff Diehl but Massachusetts voters appear to be against a Warren White House run.
Lannan: "There's a lot of things those numbers could mean. It could mean people want to keep Elizabeth Warren in the Senate, representing Massachusetts. They could mean that they favor another Massachusetts candidate, like Deval Patrick who's name has been floated out there. And they could just mean people aren't ready to start thinking about that yet, but you know, they don't mean that the rest of the country wouldn't be interested in an Elizabeth Warren presidency or presidential bid."
Keller asked if Warren wins by less than double digits, is it almost considered a defeat?
Murphy: "She's up in the polls by what looks like 20 plus points and I think a single digit win would be a disappointing result for her. But I do think you hit on something with that "hangover idea." When you [Keller] held the debate here I talked to a union worker outside of the studio that night and he was a big Warren supporter, he was cheering her on when she arrived for the debate and he told me that he actually would prefer to see her stay in the Senate. He doesn't think that she would necessarily play nationally, maybe a little too liberal. So I think some people like her where she is. They think that she is, she fits Massachusetts, and she's doing well in her role as a foil to the national Republicans but they're not sure that that star might not fade if she brings it out onto the national stage."