Governor Charlie Baker Bobblehead with a Cause Unveiled

This morning, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled a bobblehead of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. The bobblehead is the first of the Bay State’s 72nd governor, a Republican, who assumed office on January 8, 2015. In late July, an overwhelming majority of Massachusetts residents approved how Baker responded to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a MassINC poll. Of the registered voters polled, 81 percent approved of Baker’s response to the pandemic locally, including 47 percent who strongly approved. In the poll, 77 percent of voters held a favorable view of Baker.

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum will be donating $5 from every Governor Baker Bobblehead sold to the Protect The Heroes fund in support of the 100 Million Mask Challenge. Since early April, the sales of bobbleheads featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, other Governors, Dr. Amy Acton, interpreters Marla Berkowitz and Virginia Moore, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and 35 different Essential Heroes have raised $275,000 and counting for the Protect the Heroes fund to provide PPE to the nation’s healthcare workers.

The bobbleheads are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. They are $25 each plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order and will ship in January. On a base bearing his name, the bobblehead features Baker, wearing a blue shirt and light blue tie, standing at a podium as he makes an announcement during a press briefing. The Massachusetts flag is on the front of the podium.

The bobblehead of Governor Baker joins bobbleheads of California Governor Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, which were previously released. Bobbleheads of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz were also unveiled today.

Born in Elmira, New York, the 63-year-old Baker is the fourth generation in the family to bear the forename Charles. Growing up in Needham, Mass., Baker earned degrees from Harvard and Northwestern before becoming the Massachusetts Undersecretary of Health and Human Services under Governor Bill Weld. In 1992, he was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services of Massachusetts. He later served as Secretary of Administration and Finance under Weld and his successor, Paul Cellucci.

After working in government for eight years, Baker left to become CEO of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and later Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a non-profit health benefits company. Baker, who considered a run for governor in 2006, stepped down in July of 2009 to run for governor on a platform of fiscal conservatism and cultural liberalism. He was unopposed in the Republican primary but lost in the 2010 general election to the Democratic incumbent Deval Patrick.

In 2014, Baker ran for the office again and won the election. In 2018, he was re-elected handily with 67 percent of the vote. With a job approval rating of 80 percent, Baker enjoyed the highest approval rating of any governor in the United States for 11 quarters in a row from the first quarter of 2017 through the third quarter of 2019.

"During these unprecedented times, we want to continue to raise funds for an amazing cause while putting a smile on people’s faces with bobbleheads,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “We received a lot of requests to make a bobblehead of Governor Baker and other governors who have been instrumental in the continued fight against COVID-19, so we’re excited to be releasing his bobblehead today.”

(above information and photo sent to WSBS from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum for online/on-air use)