Let me start this off by stating what I feel we need in a Lt. Gov and why I think Mike Lake fits the bill.
What does the Lt. Gov Actually Do?
Great question. According to just Chapter 2, Section 2 in our Commonwealth’s Constitution, only three short articles define what the LG does. The first establishes that he or she is elected in the same manner as the Governor (the requirement that he must be a Christian was thankfully amended later), the second that he serves as chair of the Governor’s Council in the Governor’s absence or death and is always a member regardless, and the third that he takes over in the event the Governor dies, is removed from, or resigns the office.
In reality, and in contrast to what morons like Jeff Jacoby say, this is actually an important position.
Really? It doesn’t sound important?
But it is! Two LG’s in a row ascended to the Corner Office after the resignation’s of their predecessor in recent history (Cellucci after Weld and Swift after Cellucci). Recent obituaries of Paul Cellucci laud how he served as a bridge between the legislature (where he also served) and Gov. Weld and how he was instrumental in getting important priorities of that administration passed. It’s also a great stepping stone to other offices as Governors Volpe and Sargent could attest to, and Sen. Kerry as well. In short, while largely ceremonial, the position can be important if the right candidate can expand it’s duties in a constructive way.
Why Mike Lake then?
For three key reasons:
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1) Powerful Policy Experience
Mike Lake has five undergraduate degrees and a public policy masters from Northeastern. He has worked in both the Clinton and Obama administrations in senior policy roles, worked as a research analyst for an Irish Prime Minister, and currently is the CEO of Leading Cities, a very innovative urban public policy initiative affiliated with Northeastern University. He was previously a Director of Development at the United Way of Boston and has worked with Gov. Patrick on boards to attract European businesses to the Bay State. His experience demonstrates he has the breadth of policy knowledge in a lot of important fields while also key connections to the MA non profit community, labor community, and business. In short, he will help the next Governor bridge across a multitude of sectors to continue Tim Murray’s legacy of bringing more businesses to the state, investing in our gateway cities, and getting key public transit investments secured.
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2) Innovative Ideas
Like other policymakers I respect including Gov. Patrick, former Lt. Gov Murray, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, Mike Lake understands the importance of our cities. As part of his existing organization he pushes to get cities around the globe connected. This is important since it will be cities, not nations, that will be at the forefront of solving our climate crisis, promoting smart growth, creating transit solutions, and creating educational innovation. All of these ideas are important and Mike Lake is a consistent evangelist for them. We need more smart growth, we need more transit, and we need better schools. All three will lead to better jobs, reduced pollution, and a better environment for all of us to live and thrive in. He gets this. The next Governor and the legislature need to get this to, and Mike Lake will be a key bridge to forging that consensus.
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3) Balance to the Ticket
He lives in Boston but has deep roots in Melrose, which the most recent special election showed, is a key geographic center in vote rich Middlesex County which always delivers the winner for gubernatorial elections. He already has key support from municipal leaders across the state, something David Bernstein said was essential to the success of Tim Murray and the potential Curtatone candidacy. He has connections to the business community, but lost his father when he was five and knows how crucial a strong safety net can be. This personal quality will allow him to win over wonky supporters in the business and tech corridors along 495 while also appealing to blue collar families in our gateway cities.
Regardless of who is at the top, it’s important to have Mike at the bottom. He would provide age and gender balance if Coakley is the nominee, experience and empathy balance if Grossman is the nominee, and a more generalist wonkishness to balance the specialists in Berwick and Kayyem. His focus on gateway cities provides great links to key demographics and sections of the state Democrats need to win.
For these reasons I like Mike, and you should to!
*Full disclaimer-not affiliated with the candidate or campaign and he has not solicited this endorsement.
when he ran for (was it?) treasurer. I saw him at John Olver’s house in Amherst at that time. He gave a great talk. I think he was good at the convention as well.
Wasn’t with him then, but am for this race.
Jconway says “He has worked in both the Clinton and Obama administrations in senior policy roles”. What were these senior policy roles?
Why would anybody need 5 undergrad degrees?
I have nothing against him I just have questions.
Lynn
If I were running his campaign, I’d bury the multiple undergraduate degrees. If anyone brought them up, I’d explain them away as youthful enthusiasm.
His website specifies the jobs, though I can’t remember what they are.
…and it puts my three to shame:) I think it is something to be proud of though I suspect as in my case a lot of courses counted toward multiple majors.
Or my two Bachelor’s Degrees.
But as educator who teaches some high-achievers, and is pretty well-educated himself, I have to say that you stop talking about your undergraduate stuff after your first job, like putting your grade point average on your resume.
One BA five majors, that was my mistake. He was a Special Operations Assistant in the Clinton White House, Policy Research Analyst for a former Irish Prime Minister.
Looking at his LinkedIn profile, he graduated from Northeastern in 2002. He worked in Ireland from Sept 99 – Jan 2000 and in the WH from Jan 2000 – Mar 2001. All of those were completed before he graduated.
I have a very hard time believing those were senior policy roles and not just competitive internships.
LinkedIn also says:
“First graduate in Massachusetts history to complete 5 majors simultaneously. Graduated Summa Cum Laude.”
Stuff like that is just weird for someone ten+ years out of college.
Here are my initial impressions of the campaign to date:
1. Mike has been campaigning everywhere from Agawam to Franklin.
2. These efforts have paid off. His grassroots campaign has half the state organized with 20 senate district coordinators.
3. The reason for this is simple: he is running as a proud progressive populist.
Fred Rich LaRiccia
Senior Advisor, Mike Lake for Lt. Governor Campaign
Dukakis did it. And to some extent, the way Patrick did it.
But is that good enough for him? I want to hear some good ideas, and I spend more time hearing about what he did in college in the last century. I’m not going to believe that a college kid had a big voice in policy in the Clinton White House.
What are his “proud progressive ideas”? For that matter, what motivates him to run for two very different offices, if not a desire to be elected to something, anything?
is basically logistical, making sure the White House has what it needs to operate. It’s completely separate from the political and policy side of things.
So he had a hand in running a medium-sized business. Not too shabby, but not exactly why we bombed Kosovo.
I get it — he’s not a kid (though he’s plagued by that whole boyish face thing, not his fault). So, move on. What is your plan for Mass?
Though I don’t know that Lake’s pushing all this stuff. JConway may have just mentioned it in his post.
details on the “proud progressive ideas” either. Lake is in his mid-30s and this is his second run for statewide office. It’s not hard to imagine he sees a future from himself as Governor or some such. Before jumping on board with giving him a step up that ladder, I’d like to know some things.
Unfortunately, the “Issues” tab on his website contains no such information. Instead there are links to “Fast Facts About Mike Lake” and “Massachusetts Needs a Proactive Lt. Governor.” So here are just a few questions (I do know from his Twitter feed that he supports our campaign to raise the minimum wage and provide earned sick leave):
-He wants to bring jobs to Massachusetts. Where does he stand on the “carrot” approach of giving companies, from here or from elsewhere, tax breaks with no obligation to keep jobs here?
-Where does he stand on a key issue facing Massachusetts going forward: revenue to repair our crumbling infrastructure and invest again in our state?
-Where does he stand on things like charter schools? Regional planning? Environmental protection? The recent EBT nonsense?
There are many more issues out there; this is just a sampling.
I would agree that his issue page could use some work and he should have detailed proposals and stances on those specific issues. I would say his vision for a proactive LG lays out some of that ethos. It involves a strategy focusing on building our cities, particularly our gateway cities, out, connecting them via transit, promoting smart growth, and attracting foreign investment to MA by highlighting the assets we already have and the assets we hope to have.
Gov. Patrick made being a ‘salesman for MA’ a key cornerstone of his campaign and administration, and I would say Lake would continue with this, he was also appointed to a board by the Governor focused on this very fact. I would presume he backed the Governor’s budget based on his strong commitment to smart growth and transit, though I would agree he should be more out front about that as well as his approach to education, healthcare, and regional planning and funding priorities more broadly.
is confirmed or expected to be in this fight? Hank Naughton was rumored, but now I guess he’s going for AG. LG elections are so strange. If I remember correctly, Goldberg ran 2nd to Murray, and Patrick was neutral in ’06.
I don’t know much about him except that I met him at the convention and then he came to Arlington Town Day. He seemed like a bright guy. He ran the last Democratic convention. He worked for Kennedy. He has been endorsed by the Victory Fund and if he wins he would be the first gay Lt. Gov. Both times I saw him he was with his partner. I think he is worth getting to know
I respect Steve and the work he has done developing the party, I just feel that Lake has better and more varied policy experiences and would really expand the portfolio of the office and serve as a worthy successor to Murray.
I don’t have a horse in this race yet, but I think it’s hard to say that Lake has better and more varied policy experiences than Kerrigan. The vast majority of Lake’s work has been on campaigns.
Lake’s jobs after college:
Finance Dir. Angus McQuilken Campaign – 1 year
Dep. Fin. Dir., Midwest Kerry Campaign – 6 mos.
National Advance Staff – Kerry – 4 mos.
Fin. Dir. Mike Festa Campaign – 1 year
Dir. of Dev. United Way – 2 years
Ran for State Auditor – 9 mos.
Exec. Dir. City 2 City – 2 years
Exec. Dir. World Class Cities – 5 years
CEO Leading Cities – 2 mos.
Kerrigan’s jobs:
Scheduling Director for Sen. Kennedy – 3 years
Political Director for Sen. Kennedy – 7 years
Chief of Staff Boston 2004 – 1 year
Chief of Staff for Tom Reilly – 3 years
Senior VP Lynch Associates – 1 year
Scheduling for Obama – 1 year
President, Corner 4 Solutions – 3 years
DNC – Convention Planning – 1 year
Military Heroes Fund President – 6 years
DNC Convention CEO – 2 years
Their career paths seem relatively similar, except that Kerrigan has more than a decade of extra experience and more work related to governing rather than just campaigning.
I think the vast majority of that experience for Kerrigan is campaigning or in a party building role. Lake was a Director of a statewide non profit AND is the founder and CEO of another non profit focused on bringing academic solutions to urban public policy problems. His website also illustrates how he has helped bring jobs to the state, worked with the incumbent Governor to do so, and helped Tim Murray on his initiatives with municipal pols.As David Bernstein pointed out, Murray and to a lesser extent Curtatone would’ve had that loyalty and now they will go to Lake in this race.
Lake is making working with municipalities, working on economic development in gateway cities, and attracting foreign companies to MA the cornerstone of his vision for the LG office. It’s totally doable and he has the resume and record to back these claims up.
If any candidate is simply running arbitrarily to pad an already padded resume it would be Kerrigan. Again, he has solid experience and is a hard worker for the party. I am not discounting the value of breaking a glass ceiling for the LGBTQ community either. I will fully support Steve if he is the nominee. But he has issues with what HW Bush called ‘the vision thing’.
Between the two, I think Lake has a definitive vision for what he wants to accomplish as LG and a record and resume that indicates he will actually deliver on those promises. I have yet to see that from Steve’s side. He is clearly a strong progressive with a lot of institutional party experience, but I don’t see how that translates into an innovative policy vision or implementation strategy. Hopefully a vigorous and civil campaign and debate can iron these differences out.
…he explored a race for CD5 during the 2007 special.