PHILIP MARCELO, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton is campaigning with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley in Boston as the race for Massachusetts governor remains extremely close.
The former secretary of state, senator, first lady and likely 2016 presidential candidate will join Coakley today at the Park Plaza hotel. Clinton’s visit comes after her husband, former President Bill Clinton, campaigned for Coakley in Worcester last week.
Clinton then heads to Providence, Rhode Island, to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state treasurer Gina Raimondo.
Coakley, the state’s attorney general, is looking to regain momentum in her race with Republican candidate Charlie Baker that has drawn national attention — and star power.
First lady Michelle Obama also campaigned for Coakley in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood earlier this month, and Vice President Joe Biden will headline a fundraiser on Oct. 29.
Baker, a former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, meanwhile, has had former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, head of the Republican Governors Association and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, stump for him this year.
Recent polls suggest Baker’s campaign has gained momentum as the Nov. 4 election approaches.
A poll released by The Boston Globe yesterday showed Baker with the support of 45 percent of those polled compared to 36 percent for Coakley, a 9 percentage point advantage in a survey that carried a margin of error of 4 percentage points. The live telephone survey of 500 likely Massachusetts voters was conducted between Oct. 19 and Oct. 22, according to the Globe.
Coakley’s campaign released a statement calling the Globe poll an “outlier” and said other public surveys, as well as the campaign’s own internal polling suggested, suggested a much closer race.
Democrats are looking to gain ground in state houses across the country this year. The party currently holds 21 governor’s offices to Republicans’ 29. There are 36 gubernatorial elections this November.
Coakley also is looking to erase the memory of her surprise 2010 defeat to then-state Sen. Scott Brown in the special election to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy in Congress.
Three independent candidates are also on the Massachusetts ballot.
Associated Press writer Steve LeBlanc in Boston contributed to this report.
