Charlie Baker ‘not focused’ on 2022 campaign, but not ruling out

Gov. Charlie Baker brushed off concerns that former President Donald Trump could derail his re-election — should he choose to run for a third term, saying the 2022 campaign is “so far down the road” he’s not yet thinking about it yet.

“There will be plenty of opportunities to talk about campaign 2022 if it becomes something that the lieutenant governor and I are part of, but I’m not focused on that stuff at this point at all,” Baker said in response to a question by WBZ’s Jon Keller asking him about Trump’s potential support for gubernatorial candidate and former state Rep. Geoff Diehl.

Trump last month told MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons that he’d be inclined to support Diehl, a loyal supporter of the former president, in a primary with Baker, the Herald first reported last month.

There’s little love lost between the Massachusetts Republican governor and Trump, who frequently engaged in public mudslinging during the former president’s tenure in office.

Baker, a constant critic of the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, told reporters he “blanked” his selection for president on his 2020 ballot. Two months later the Trump-supporting faction of the Republican State Committee, which includes Lyons, would seek a censure for Baker after he said he supported a second Trump impeachment following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump clapped back at times, once calling him a “RINO” — or a Republican-in-name-only. Baker on Sunday called himself a “moderate” in the party.

Diehl has branded himself as the conservative counterweight in the upcoming governor’s race.

On the Democratic side, State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, former state Sen. Ben Downing and Harvard professor and political adviser Danielle Allen, all progressive Democrats, have announced 2022 bids. Attorney General Maura Healey is also widely thought to be considering a run.

On the Republican side, Lowell’s Darius Mitchell has also launched a campaign and Quincy’s Kimberly Duffy recently filed candidacy paperwork with the state Office of Campaign Finance.

Baker remains one of the nation’s most popular governors, but he has yet to announce his re-election plans.

The two-term Republican governor raised $46,775 in August, according to state campaign finance data. In the first eight months of the year, Baker raised $371,086 — less than a sixth of what he raised during the same period in 2017.

But Baker signaled he could ramp up fundraising quickly and also talked up his No. 2, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who he said he as a “tremendous amount of respect” and admiration for.

Polito’s fundraising far outpaces Baker’s at this point, leading to speculation she might try to take the reins in 2022.