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Fourteen political moments of 2014

Gluekit for the Boston Globe

It was a big year for politics in Massachusetts and beyond. Here’s a look at 14 of 2014’s most interesting, important, and entertaining moments in state politics.

Baker and the fisherman

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker became emotional during a debate with Democratic candidate Martha Coakley. /WCVB-TV Channel 5/AP

If one moment stands out from the governor’s race, it’s probably this one: Charlie Baker tearfully recalling his encounter with a New Bedford fisherman. The emotional display in the last big televised debate injected a dose of drama into the final week of the race and sent reporters on an Ahab-ian mission to find the mysterious, salt-crusted mountain of a man. They never did, and Baker was forced to acknowledge that “I may have gotten some of the details wrong, but the essence of the story is true.”

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Farewell to a mayor

A funeral mass was held in Hyde Park for former Mayor Thomas Menino.John Tlumacki/Globe staff

The crowds told the tale. Diverse multitudes witnessed former mayor Thomas M. Menino’s funeral procession pass City Hall, where he worked for 30 years; Bowdoin-Geneva, the Dorchester neighborhood he visited every Christmas Eve; and Roslindale Square, where he fulfilled his first campaign promise, to reinvigorate the business district. The thousands who waved signs, wept, or stood silently bore testimony to the end of an era and to Menino’s enduring bond with the city he led for 20 years.

An emotional meeting

Political crises are usually tightly managed affairs. But when Jean Yang, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector Authority, broke down in tears at a board meeting, the unbridled display of emotion crystallized the shame and high stakes involved in trying to fix the state’s broken health insurance marketplace, which was once a national model. It had just been disclosed that 50,000 applications for health insurance were sitting in a pile, yet to be entered into a computer system. Yang said her staff was working tirelessly but were “embarrassed to tell friends and family that they work for the Health Connector.”

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A humble politician

Seth Moulton.John Blanding/Globe staff/Globe Staff

Nothing symbolized the rise of Seth Moulton quite like the revelation that the former Marine had been covering up his . . . combat medals. The Globe, investigating Moulton’s record, made the unusual discovery that he had not publicly discussed, and had not told his family, that he had been awarded the Bronze Star and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medal while serving in Iraq. Moulton had already defeated US Representative John F. Tierney in the Democratic primary, becoming the first challenger in Massachusetts to oust a sitting congressman from his own party in 22 years. A few weeks later, he rolled past Republican Richard Tisei on his way to Washington.

A night out of the spotlight

Martha Coakley did not appear at her election night party.John Tlumacki/Globe staff

Where did she go? After a hard-fought race in which she campaigned vigorously and rebuilt her image, Martha Coakley seemed to revert to type when she pulled an election-night disappearing act. The Democratic nominee for governor, with the race down to a slim margin, never came out to address her supporters at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, disappointing them as they waited past midnight to hear from their standard-bearer. When she did emerge in public, it was the next morning at her headquarters, where she conceded the race to Charlie Baker, ending her dream of a political comeback and dashing Democrats’ hopes of holding the governor’s office for another four years.

A voice for liberals

Sen. Elizabeth Warren.J. Scott Applewhite/Associated press

“Enough is enough!” Elizabeth Warren thundered. The freshman senator had just lost a major fight to strip a provision out of a massive budget bill that would weaken regulations on Wall Street banks. Now, she was railing against her favorite targets: Wall Street insiders landing key positions in government, cronyism, and special favors for Citigroup. The fiery floor speech epitomized Warren’s emergence as the unquestioned voice of the liberal wing of her party and a rising force willing to battle President Obama and members of her own party, even if it meant nearly derailing a trillion-dollar spending bill.

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Promises from a new mayor

Mayor Martin Walsh.Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff/Matthew J. Lee

The new era dawned with some Celtic touches. Yo-Yo Ma played “Danny Boy.” Ronan Tynan sang. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley prayed. The inauguration of Martin J. Walsh as Boston’s first new mayor in a generation came with pledges to improve schools, reduce crime, and democratize the city’s development process. Walsh also made clear he wanted to take a different tack than Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who could be thin-skinned and a notorious micromanager. Walsh promised to be inclusive, collaborative, and even humble. “I will listen. I will learn. I will lead,” he said.

Baker takes the corner office

He was nicer. He waved his hands less. He was more inclusive. And it paid off. After striking an angry tone during his 2010 bid for governor, Charlie Baker remade his political profile and claimed a victory he had dreamed of since he was 28. Baker’s narrow win restored GOP rule to the governor’s office and dealt a blow to Governor Deval Patrick. More than any policy shift, Baker vowed to bring sharper management skills after Patrick’s second term was marred by problems with the state child welfare agency, unemployment system, medical marijuana licensing, and the state health care website.

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More trouble at DCF

Governor Deval Patrick called it a “ritual resignation” to mollify public anger. When Olga I. Roche quit as commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, it followed a string of tragedies, including the death of Jeremiah Oliver, a Fitchburg boy whose state social worker skipped eight mandatory monthly visits. Patrick ordered an outside review of the agency, appointed a new commissioner, and approved additional funding. But the social workers’ union says the department is still struggling. As of September, DCF workers, who are supposed to handle 15 cases each, were carrying 18 on average, and dozens had more than 25 cases each.

Voters affirm casinos’ future

For a time, it seemed the odds were squarely against the survival of the 2011 casino law, which had spawned more lawsuits and controversies than actual casinos. The economy was strengthening, easing the hunger for casino jobs. Four of the 12 casinos in Atlantic City had closed. Then the gambling industry helped pour in $14 million to defeat Question 3, the referendum that would have repealed the law. Antigambling forces spent a relatively paltry $690,000. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the question, securing the future for Vegas-style gambling in the former Puritan colony.

Watch what you say

It was just one question too many for Charlie Baker. “OK, this is going to be the last one, sweetheart,” he said, cutting off FOX 25 reporter Sharman Sacchetti. His off-handed remark became one of the most talked-about moments of the campaign, raising questions about Baker’s attitude toward women as he battled Martha Coakley, who was trying to become the first woman elected governor. Baker apologized. A month earlier, in the attorney general’s race, Warren Tolman had sparked a similar furor when he called Maura Healey’s aggressive questioning in a debate “unbecoming.” He, too, apologized, but ended up losing the race in a landslide.

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Strong win for Healey

Maura Healey. Elise Amendola/Associated Press

It was supposed to be the race to watch, the one that split Democrats’ hearts and minds. Warren Tolman was the former senator who had passed significant tobacco, campaign finance, and ethics laws, and was backed by the AFL-CIO and Governor Deval Patrick. Maura Healey was the fresh-faced newcomer, the former professional basketball player turned gay rights advocate. But on election night, the final margin showed the race wasn’t even a close contest: Healey trounced Tolman, 62 percent to 38 percent. That margin made clear: Healey was the new power player in state politics.

Brown’s geography stumble

Pop quiz: Do you know where Sullivan County, N.H., is? Scott Brown appeared not to know, during a debate in the final days of his unsuccessful campaign for the US Senate against Jeanne Shaheen. Asked about the county’s economy, he spoke of the challenges “up north,” even though Sullivan County is in the western part of the state. The apparent confusion crystallized the ultimately insurmountable climb the former Massachusetts senator faced trying to shake off the carpetbagger label and resurrect his political fortunes in another state.

Speaker vs. US attorney

House Speaker Robert DeLeo spoke at a press conference in November. Elise Amendola/Associated press

It was the war of words that transfixed the political world. When federal prosecutors, in the closing days of the probation trial, accused Speaker Robert A. DeLeo of trading legislative favors for jobs in the probation department, DeLeo was incensed, and probably worried. After all, the three previous speakers had all been ensnared in legal troubles. So DeLeo fired back at US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, blasting her for several days and demanding that “the repetition of inaccurate and scurrilous statements cease immediately.” Ortiz did no such thing, calmly asserting, “We made allegations based on the evidence.”