When the State Republican party convention ended on Saturday, Governor Charlie Baker had a primary challenger: Scott Lively, a little known attorney and Pastor from western Massachusetts.
Lively got 28-percent support from the state’s most conservative Republicans – significantly more than the 15-percent required to be on the ballot.
Lively’s reponse: “I got so much better of a percentage of the vote than anybody thought that it was a genuine, authentic rebuke to Charlie Baker.”
Lively is staunchly pro-life and has been a long time vocal opponent of gay rights, though he says he is moving on from that chapter in his life.
Asked if he had changed his views on homosexuality, Lively said, “No. The essential views that are biblical, I hold because I’m a Christian pastor, I believe the Bible.”
Asked how he thinks he can win in Massachusetts, one of the most progressive states in the country, Lively says the same way Ronald Reagan did it. By bringing social and the fiscal conservative‘s together, along with Catholics and union members.
And he adds, “I’ve got some fence mending to do with the homosexual community and I’m working through how I’m going to approach that.”
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As for his views on the current president, Lively says, “I love Donald Trump. I think Donald Trump is a political genius.”
Former state Republican party chair Gene Hartigan says Lively and his supporters are facing an uphill battle.
"They can shoot it out in the lifeboat, but in the end they’re not going to win the primary and after the election is over they're not going to be looked upon favorably I’m sure.”
It’s important to remember that Baker did receive 70-percent of the support at the convention.
Hartigan believes having Lively as a challenger will actually help Baker in the long run by reminding moderate/independents - that Baker is not an ultraconservative.
