October 15, 2018 — Gov. Charlie Baker said he and his wife, Lauren, have taken 20 vacation days over the last three years. On 17 of them, he said, they’ve visited Gloucester.
The affinity between the governor and the city continued on Saturday morning, when the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association held an event at the Gloucester House Restaurant to thank Baker for his support of the fishing industry.
The group has officially endorsed Baker, who is running for re-election against Democrat Jay Gonzalez in the November election. The governor, whose office listed the event as part of his campaign schedule, received both praise and a bouquet of flowers from Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association President Angela Sanfilippo and Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, the group’s vice president.
“We need representation and Charlie Baker is our representation,” Romeo Theken, who has also endorsed Baker, said. “He will listen to us and we will be heard.”
Sanfilippo said the governor’s ties to Gloucester and the fishing industry go back two decades, when Baker, then a health care executive, worked on a plan to obtain health insurance for fishermen.
When Baker decided to run for governor, Sanfilippo said he showed up in her office one day and said, “I want to learn all about the fishing industry because if I become governor I want to know what to do.”
In his remarks to the crowd of about 75 people, Baker, wearing a blue shirt and jeans, ran down several issues of concern to the fishing industry and ways the state is trying to help. He said the state has contributed about $500,000 to an industry-based survey, invested grant money in the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, and continues to work on making sure the fishing industry has access to health insurance.