Mass. Governor-elect Maura Healey meets with Charlie Baker to begin transition after historic win
BOSTON - Massachusetts Governor-elect Maura Healey met with Governor Charlie Baker at the State House Wednesday afternoon, planning for what both sides anticipate will be a smooth transition to the new administration.
It was their first official meeting since Healey became the first woman and first openly gay candidate to be elected governor in state history.
"No matter who you voted for, we're going to be an administration that will work with everyone, and that will work hard to work for everyone," Healey said after the meeting.
Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito did not run for re-election. They met with Healey and Lt. Governor-elect Kim Driscoll to discuss transition plans. Baker said as part of the transition, he invited Healey to participate in the upcoming winter planning meeting.
"You ran a good race and I'm sure after some downtime, like maybe this afternoon, you'll be ready to hit the ground running and working on the transition," Baker said. "We've been planning for this transition for several months and we want to make this process as seamless and as organized as we can"
Healey easily beat Republican Geoff Diehl in Tuesday's election. She will not be the first woman to serve in the governor's office. Republican Jane Swift, then lieutenant governor, became acting governor in 2001 when Gov. Paul Cellucci resigned to become ambassador to Canada. Swift was never elected governor.
Polito said she felt grateful to be participating in what she called a "historic moment."
"I feel very grateful that we have once again have a historic moment with two women leading in these positions," she said. "That is very important for women and girls to know that their voices matter and to be able to see themselves in positions of leadership like this. It is a very important and big opportunity to show that this is possible."
Baker said his biggest piece of advice for Healey is to "get out of the building and spend time with the people of Massachusetts."