Editor's note: First in a series on the candidates for U.S. Senate. Voters go to the polls Dec. 8 for the primary election.
NEWBURYPORT — Job growth and health care are key issues Steve Pagliuca is pushing as he campaigns for the United States Senate seat.
Pagliuca, 54, of Weston, is a managing director of Bain Capital and co-owner and managing partner of the Boston Celtics. With a personal fortune that exceeds $400 million, he says his track record of success is one of the reasons voters should cast their ballot for him in next month's primary.
"I am the only candidate with over 20 years of on-the-ground experience building experience and building jobs," Pagliuca said. "I have over 20 years of consulting and investing experience in health care companies and understand the health care system in a very detailed level."
Pagliuca is running for the Senate seat left vacant by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. He's running against Attorney General and front-runner Martha Coakley, Rep. Michael Capuano and City Year co-founder Alan Khazei in the Dec. 8 primary election. State Sen. Scott Brown and Duxbury businessman Jack E. Robinson are competing for the Republican nomination.
"The campaign is going very well; we moved into the second position," Pagliuca said of recent poll numbers. "Now we need to move into first."
Pagliuca says health care must be passed right away, and he will push to do so, something he doesn't believe his opponents will do.
"Candidates Coakley and Capuano will not pass health care," Pagliuca said. "I will pass health care and, once everyone is covered, will work with the incentives in the system to take costs out."
Pagliuca differs from Coakley and Capuano on one controversial piece of health care reform: While they say they'd vote against it if it bars insurance payments for abortion, Pagliuca said he would vote for it.
Pagliuca said the issues facing Newburyport are similar to those facing the state.
"There are 320,000 people unemployed — that's the largest number in three decades," Pagliuca said. "We need to bring jobs back, and I have proposals to do that in Massachusetts and in the nation. Secondly, we have to bring health care costs down so small businesses can afford to hire people."
Pagliuca has financed his campaign from his personal fortune, buying millions of dollars of campaign ads, and said the fact that he doesn't take money from special interest groups sets him apart from his opponents. His opponents, meanwhile, have accused him of hypocrisy, saying his firm Bain Capital has spent heavily on lobbyists in attempts to steer favorable legislation.
For his part, Pagliuca said he sees no conflict between his stand on special interest money and lobbyists — he argues lobbyists are an important part of the legislative process and help provide valuable information to lawmakers.
Pagliuca, who unlike Capuano and Coakley has never held an elected office, said his record of business success and not necessarily his connection with the Boston Celtics is what helps him in the race.
Having become part-owner of the Celtics seven years ago, Pagliuca said he went into the partnership with three goals: bring home a championship, better the fan experience and found a charity organization.
Now president of the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, Pagliuca says the foundation has become an asset for the community.
"Having a record of success does help you," Pagliuca said. "Also trying to help people makes a difference."
Pagliuca was brought into Bain Capital in 1982 by Mitt Romney, who served as governor from 2003 to 2007. He briefly joined the GOP party in the mid-1990s, in part out of loyalty to Romney.
His success at Bain has also gained him criticism from his opponents, in particular Capuano. Bain bought KB Toys in 2000, then in a recapitalization plan, paid $85 million to Bain investors and $36 million to senior managers. Four years after the purchase, it went out of business.
Capuano says Pagliuca "made a fortune in part by gutting KB Toys, a great Massachusetts company, costing thousands of workers their jobs and their health insurance."
Pagliuca says KB Toys was unable to compete with larger competitors like Kmart and would likely have gone out of business with or without the recapitalization plan.
The father of four said he chose to run for the Senate seat because the nation is in crisis.
"I have the passion and skills to make a difference, and I want our children to have health care and have jobs," Pagliuca said. "We haven't had job growth in 10 years."
As the primary looms, Pagliuca said he is urging voters to think of him as someone who will fight to bring health care and jobs back to the state.
"I have the skills and on-the-ground experience to make change happen," Pagliuca said. "It can't be business as usual anymore."
Facts about Steve Pagliuca
Age: 54
Home: Weston
Family: wife Judy, four children: Joe, 24; Stephanie, 19; Jesse, 17; Nick, 15
Experience: Executive at Bain Capital, part-owner of Boston Celtics, Celtics Shamrock Foundation
Key Issue: Supports health care reform, even if it bars insurance payments for abortions
