WEST NEWBURY — Local inventor and former Pentucket School Committee member Richard Baker is hoping to use his background to reinvent the way people feel about politics and Congress.
"Over the last seven years, I have watched Congress and the administration and am unhappy with the level of professionalism I see there," said Baker, 49, a lifelong Republican. "I think we can return to a Congress which is led by a body of statesmen and leaders of the community."
Baker may seem an unlikely candidate to challenge Congressman John Tierney, now in his sixth term representing the 6th Congressional District, which includes most of Essex County. The election is this fall; congressmen and congresswomen serve two-year terms.
"I'm not a politician," Baker said. "I have an engineering background, and I'm creative."
Baker and wife Leisa Mingo have lived at 288 Middle St. since 1992 and have one son at Page School. Baker holds a bachelor's in computer science and English from the University of New Hampshire and completed graduate work at Harvard University and Franklin Pierce Law Center. He is the director of intellectual property licensing at 3Com Corp. in Marlborough.
"Part of my job is to watch Congress and see what will impact my corporation and my job," Baker said. "I've spent the last eight years negotiating patents, and the community I am in has a culture of knowing how to have difficult conversations in a respectful way."
As the inventor of Ethernet and Web technologies, Baker said his creativity will help Congress with fiscal responsibilities and funneling more jobs into Massachusetts.
"There is so much grandstanding and partisan politics, and I think people are ready for someone to do a competent job of evaluating the issues," Baker said. "Once we can come to a creative solution, we will be able to add value to Congress and push the agenda."
Baker's agenda includes making sure money is spent properly and not cutting costs to a point where no services can be delivered.
"When I joined the Pentucket School Committee, it was a disaster," Baker said. "No one wanted to run for School Committee, but I saw a need I could help with. And we turned it around in two years and put it on solid financial footing."
Baker also hopes to make the region more economically viable by making sure residents of the 6th District have jobs and can compete in the world economy.
Baker notes that in his years in the high technology industry, he has seen jobs transferred to Asia and India and understands the allocating of the resources in order to save money.
"We have the best universities (in Massachusetts) in the world, and jobs at General Electric have dwindled over the years. We have to monetize our investments to make the state viable," Baker said, noting the General Electric plant in Lynn is not being used to its full potential.
Baker thinks Tierney is vulnerable given the dynamics of state and national politics.
"Congress has the lowest approval rating ever; it's at 20 percent," Baker said, noting he often feels Congress gets nothing done and discussions are like "talking to a wall."
"Tierney is not up to the level of a Teddy Kennedy or a Marty Meehan," Baker said. "He's not that strong of a congressman."
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Candidates To Date
The following people have taken out papers to run for the 6th Congressional District seat from Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin's office.
r John Tierney, D-Salem (incumbent)
r Richard A. Baker Jr., R-West Newbury
r Richard W. Barton, R-Manchester-by-the-Sea
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