As Rob Cunningham, executive director of the state Republican Party, explains, the actual percentage attributed to Fisher “depends on what your definition of ‘blank’ is.” According to the state party’s official tally, Charlie Baker — the clear favorite of the party establishment — received 2,095 votes, while Fisher, a Tea Party candidate, received 374 votes. Another 64 people voted for an option labeled “blank.” If those blanks aren’t counted, the total is 2,469, and Fisher’s share is 15.1 percent; if blanks are counted, the total is 2,533, and Fisher’s share is 14.8 percent.
On Saturday, blanks were counted as votes. Cunningham said explicit instructions were relayed to the Baker and Fisher campaigns, as well as to convention delegates, that “a blank vote is the equivalent of ‘present’ ” and would be counted as part of the overall tally. State party rules appear cloudier on that point, however, and Fisher is threatening to sue the state Republican Party and dispute the convention results in court.
Should that happen, party leaders may wish they’d used their convention to confer the party’s official endorsement — but without giving power brokers a way to knock Fisher off the ballot by maneuvering behind the scenes. Baker’s camp — and his allies in party leadership — clearly hoped to ignore the faction that pulls his party to the right, especially on social issues like abortion and gay marriage, so he can concentrate on the Democrats.
Whether clearing the field is a wise campaign strategy is, at best, a matter of debate. As former governor William F. Weld, a Baker adviser who doesn’t agree with the strategy, told the Globe, a primary fight against a social conservative like Fisher could actually strengthen Baker’s case with independents. Unfortunately, just like their Democratic counterparts, Massachusetts Republicans can’t resist the urge to engineer what they believe is the best shot at victory.