STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker acknowledged yesterday that an emotional story he told about a struggling fisherman during a debate Tuesday night dates back to his 2010 campaign for governor.
During the Tuesday night debate, Baker and Democratic opponent Martha Coakley were asked about the last time they cried.
Baker began telling a story, at times pausing and appearing visibly choked up.
“I got asked the other day … to tell somebody some interesting stories of people I’ve met over the course of the campaign and I told the story about a fisherman I met in New Bedford,” Baker said. He never said that he met the fisherman during the 2010 campaign when he challenged Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick.
Baker said yesterday that he was simply trying to answer the question. He said he was retelling the story to people gathered at his home on Saturday and began to cry.
“The story itself was based on an encounter that I had in the campaign in 2010,” Baker said. He said he couldn’t recall if the meeting in New Bedford happened in 2009 or 2010.
“He certainly existed and I certainly talked to him,” Baker said yesterday. “The reason this story stuck with me was because I’m a dad and I have kids and I can’t imagine being in a situation where you feel like you made the wrong call on behalf of your kids. That’s why the story was so important to me.”
During Tuesday’s debate Baker recalled how the fisherman was overcome with regret for pressing his sons to become fishermen. The fishing industry in Massachusetts has fallen on tough times, in part due to federal fishing limits and declining stocks.
Baker recalled how the man pointed to his two sons and said they were both spectacular football players at New Bedford High School who were given colleges.
“I told them no. I said you’re going to be fishermen. I was a fisherman. My brothers were fishermen. My father was a fisherman. You’re going to be fishermen. And I ruined their lives,” Baker said, quoting the man.
In response to the same question, Coakley said she had cried earlier Tuesday during a memorial service for a union organizer who died of leukemia.
“My mom died from leukemia,” Coakley said.
Both attended a youth forum in Boston yesterday along with two of the three independent candidates running for governor — Evan Falchuk and Jeff McCormick. Scott Lively is also on the ballot.
Coakley and Baker remain locked in a tight race.
A poll released Monday by the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and WHDH-TV found 45 percent of those polled favored Baker while 41 percent supported Coakley. The telephone poll of 601 likely Massachusetts voters was conducted between Oct. 21 and Oct. 25 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Eight percent said they are undecided. The independent candidates received a combined 6 percent.
A Boston Globe poll released last week showed Baker with the support of 45 percent of those polled compared with 36 percent for Coakley, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The election is Tuesday.
