Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates met for the second to last time Thursday in Chicopee in hopes of wooing Western Massachusetts voters as the Nov. 2 elections looms on the horizon.
The debate focused on the economy after new jobs numbers released Friday from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics sparked discussion on how to create lasting, sustainable jobs.
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts dropped from 8.8 to 8.4 percent last month as one of five states to experience “statistically significant unemployment rate decreases from August,” according to the report.
Incumbent Gov. Deval Patrick opened the debate, telling the commonwealth that Massachusetts has made progress since he took office in 2006.
“I want to finish what we started,” Patrick said. “And I hope that tonight we have an opportunity to do it together.”
Republican candidate Charlie Baker, who trails Patrick narrowly in voter polls, opened by emphasizing the ambiguity of job growth statics, saying “September saw the single largest job loss in over 20 years.”
Baker, who has signed a “no new taxes” pledge, said the only true way to create job growth is to cut taxes.
“If we truly want to turn this state around, we’ve got to stop presuming we can go back to the tax payers,” Baker said. “I am the only candidate in this race who has proposed one billion in savings.”
Green-Rainbow party nominee Jill Stein responded to Baker, telling him that she too has proposed one billion dollars in savings by “cutting the wasteful healthcare bureaucracy.”
Stein said she remained committed to the idea of a green job economy, while the other three candidates focused more on conventional job creation.
Independent Tim Cahill, who had six percent support in the most recent Rasmussen poll, left the Democratic Party in 2009 to run against Patrick.
“I’m calling for an entrepreneurial tax relief to incent people to start their own businesses like I did in 1992,” Cahill said in response to a question about green job creation.
All four candidates agreed that voters should not pass Massachusetts Question 3, also known as the 3 Percent Sales Tax Relief Act. The Act would reduce the state sales tax rate from 6.25 to 3 percent.
Patrick warned voters “what a calamity it would be if Question 3 passed,” while the rest of the candidates said that the question went too far.
However, the candidates’ agreement ended with the discussion of Question 3.
Both Baker and Cahill agreed that the death penalty was necessary in select cases, while Patrick and Stein believe the death penalty is not a successful crime deterrent.
When asked about the $2 billion budget deficit predicted for next year, Patrick insisted that the budget is balanced.
“We’ve used rainy day funds and federal stimulus funds,” Patrick said. “Because we made those investments in things that grow, we are seeing the growth.”
Baker disagreed, claiming that Patrick avoided the question and will raise taxes to end the deficit.
Baker began the closing statements reminding voters that “the simple fact is that more people are out of work.”
“I think Massachusetts can do a lot better and I don’t think Massachusetts is heading in the right direction,” Baker said.
Patrick got the final word, warning the public to watch out for his opponents’ “slogans, clich?s and empty promises.”
“I didn’t cause the global economic crisis,” Patrick said. “But nobody is working harder to get us out of it.”
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