By Aidan McGovern, news correspondent

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and his Democratic challenger, Jay Gonzalez, faced off in their third and final debate Nov. 1. Baker defended his record on public transportation and his stance on President Donald J. Trump, while Gonzalez argued the incumbent hasn’t been “aggressive” enough in tackling these issues.    

WCVB Channel 5 Boston hosted the debate at their Boston headquarters in partnership with the Boston Globe, WBUR, the UMASS Boston McCormack Graduate School and Western Mass News. This third and final debate offered both candidates the opportunity to share their positions and plans to address some of the Commonwealth’s most pertinent concerns.

Familiar moments of contention from previous debates emerged as Gonzalez and Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker questioned Baker’s support for this election’s Republican ticket, particularly Geoff Diehl, the former Massachusetts co-chairman of Trump’s 2016 campaign and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Republican challenger.

“Time and time again on immigration, DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals], TPS [Temporary Protected Status] and a whole series of issues, I have worked collaboratively with my colleagues across the aisle to push back against presidential policies that I don’t support,” Baker said.

In response, Gonzalez accused Baker of being politically inconsistent.

“He is blindly supporting the Republican ticket no matter what the consequences, no matter that we would be sending the co-chair of Donald Trump’s campaign in Massachusetts to [the] United States Senate, who would […] be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s agenda,” Gonzalez said. “You can’t have it both ways.”  

Gonzalez also called for immediate action to confront the Commonwealth’s aging public transportation infrastructure and commuter traffic. He argued Baker’s “status quo approach” has neglected a need to expand regional bus service statewide in addition to the MBTA.

Baker referred to his $8 billion investment plan to reform the MBTA, and the T specifically, as a long-term but necessary plan to get people off the roads in a movement toward more efficient public transportation. Baker also argued that, to limit the travel time for Massachusetts commuters and cut down on traffic, people need their public transportation to be a “reliable, dependable alternative.”

“[The plan] will increase the capacity on the system on the Orange Line and the Red Line by about 50 percent during rush hour and about 15 percent on the Green Line, and significantly increase our ability to expand commuter rail service as well,” Baker said.

Near the end of the debate, both candidates were asked to describe Trump with three words.

Gonzalez characterized Trump as “hateful, racist [and] un-American,” and Baker criticized Trump for being “outrageous, disgraceful and a divider.”

Baker and Gonzalez were also asked to use three words to describe each other.

Gonzalez called l Baker a “status-quo governor,” while Baker described Gonzalez as “smart, ambitious and public servant.”

Voters will make their final decision Tuesday.