Politico Massachusetts Playbook: PRIMARY DAY — DEVAL gets DISSED — TRUMP’s Massachusetts conspiracy theory

PRIMARY DAY — DEVAL gets DISSED — TRUMP’s Massachusetts conspiracy theory

By Stephanie Murray

Presented by Transportation for Massachusetts

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. IT'S FINALLY HERE — It's first-in-the-nation primary day in New Hampshire! For the record, there are actually four Massachusetts candidates on the presidential primary ballot today. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Gov. Deval Patrick are running on the Democratic ticket. Former Gov. Bill Weld is running as a Republican, and so is a candidate you may not have heard of: Rowley resident Stephen B. Comley, Sr. It's pretty easy to get on the ballot in New Hampshire, a $1,000 check to the secretary of state does the trick. Tonight, I'll be watching for whether Warren can rebound from a third-place finish in Iowa, if Patrick can exceed low expectations in his longshot bid, and whether Weld can peel support away from President Donald Trump a mere 24 hours after the president held a blockbuster rally in downtown Manchester, N.H. DEVAL GETS DISSED — Deval Patrick has tried everything. He invited reporters on a six-day, all-access bus tour across New Hampshire. He says yes to the podcast interviews and television offers that come his way. He flooded a New Hampshire Democratic dinner with 800 supporters. But news outlets keep leaving him out of their coverage, and his campaign is fed up. Patrick's campaign says being overlooked by some members of the media has made a steep climb to the nomination even more difficult. "The View" and "The Daily Show" have refused to book him. As far as Sunday shows go, Patrick was only able to nab a spot on MSNBC's "Meet The Press" when he entered the race in November. That puts Patrick in a tough position as his rivals saturate the airwaves — Pete Buttigieg, by comparison, pulled what's known in Washington as a "Full Ginsburg" and appeared on every Sunday morning talk show last week. A number of the Patrick campaign's gripes are with the New York Times. The paper's editorial board interviewed Patrick for its presidential endorsement series, but left him and Tom Steyer out of "The Weekly" endorsement episode. The paper did include New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who had already dropped out of the race by time the episode aired. A New York Times spokesperson said the board ranked the candidates and left the bottom two -- Patrick and Steyer -- out of the television episode, but published their interviews online. After California Sen. Kamala Harris dropped out of the race, the Times noted Booker was the last remaining African American candidate in the race. The paper had overlooked Patrick, and corrected the story when his campaign reached out. And most recently, the paper left Patrick and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet off its voter guide a few days before the New Hampshire primary. The paper added both candidates after receiving pushback. Regardless, some Patrick allies believe the governor can break through despite being snubbed. Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist in South Carolina, said Patrick could gain traction in the Southern state. "While the media may have one narrative, the voters may have another," Seawright said. "It may have delayed some of the early progress but I don't think progress delayed is progress denied." Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attend a "Black Excellence on the Hill" event with state lawmakers. Former Gov. Deval Patrick visits voting sites in Manchester and Dover, and holds an election night party in Manchester, N.H. Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter opens an office in Springfield for Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign.

A message from Transportation for Massachusetts: Massachusetts is facing a transportation crisis. Roads, bridges, and transit statewide urgently need investment. The gas tax, which has increased by only 3 cents since 1991, is a proven, stable, and immediate solution to make our commutes better. Learn more.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

- "Baker Not Planning Endorsement Ahead of N.H. Vote," by Michael P. Norton, State House News Service: "As he aims for an upset win in New Hampshire over President Donald Trump, William Weld hasn't netted the support of Gov. Charlie Baker but over the weekend secured the endorsement of former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a moderate Republican whose tenure in office overlapped with Weld's. "I have known Bill Weld since we worked together as Governors, and I watched as he worked across the aisle to cut taxes, protect the environment and put Massachusetts on a path to tremendous job and economic growth," Whitman said in a statement." - "Health officials oppose expanded booze sales," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "A proposal by Cumberland Farms, which has already cleared several hurdles toward the November ballot, would gradually lift the state's cap on off-premise beer and wine licenses. It would allow thousands more liquor licenses for "food stores" to be issued while giving cities and towns more control over the licensing process. Under the ballot referendum process, lawmakers get a crack at approving the proposed changes before they're put before voters." - "A youth activist calls for a lower voting age," by Meghan Sorensen, Boston Globe: "High School senior Sydney Down provided key support recently as the Cambridge City Council voted to send a home-rule petition to the Legislature seeking to lower the municipal election voting age from 18 to 16. Down, who attends Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, is a co-chair of the Cambridge Youth Council, which educates young people on how to advocate for themselves and to become leaders. Metro Minute reached out to Down to discuss why she feels youth activism is so crucial." - "Legalizing debt service companies in Mass. raises concerns," by Jenifer B. McKim, WGBH News: "A proposal to legalize for-profit debt relief services in Massachusetts could win approval by the Legislature over the next few weeks, raising concerns among consumer advocates and nonprofit competitors, who say these firms prey on the poor, indebted, and desperate. Massachusetts only allows nonprofit debt counseling services, which try to help financially struggling people get out of debt, to operate in the state. Since 1971, Massachusetts has outlawed for-profit debt counselors because of unscrupulous practices by some that exacted high fees and left consumers deeper in debt."

FROM THE HUB

- "Fundraising effort underway in Hyde Park to honor Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, first Black woman to earn M.D. degree in the U.S." by Emily Sweeney, Boston Globe: "Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, who made history as the first Black woman in the United States to earn an M.D. degree in 1864, is buried in an unmarked grave in Hyde Park. A local nonprofit wants to change that. The Friends of the Hyde Park Library has teamed up with the Hyde Park Historical Society to raise money to install a headstone at Crumpler's gravesite. "This woman is not only important to Hyde Park, she's important to Boston, to medicine, and to the African-American and Black community...she deserves something," said Victoria Gall, president of the Friends of the Hyde Park Library, which launched the fundraising campaign to honor the Civil War-era physician last week." - "Marcelo Suarez-Orozco named next UMass Boston chancellor," by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, 63, was named chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston on Monday, making him the first Latino to lead a campus in the state's public university system. The system's board of trustees unanimously supported Suárez-Orozco's appointment, and described it as a turning point for the 16,000-student Boston university that has been dogged by financial problems and leadership turnover. "UMass Boston is a special place and needs and deserves a special leader," said UMass president Martin T. Meehan in backing Suárez-Orozco."

PRIMARY SOURCES

- "Campaigns ditch DNC voter protection program," by Stephanie Murray, POLITICO: "The leading Democratic presidential campaigns have quietly banded together to run a joint voter protection program on Tuesday — a program designed to bypass a similar operation run by the Democratic National Committee and the New Hampshire Democratic Party. In a sign of unease with the Democratic National Committee, the campaigns will utilize a neutral boiler room set-up helmed by Boston lawyer Quentin Palfrey, a former Obama adviser, to share reports of voter rights infringements from legal observers across the state." - "Next Election, Massachusetts Should Have the First Primary," by Spencer Buell, Boston Magazine: "And while our sales-tax-hating neighbors to the north in New Hampshire have the sense to let the person with the most votes win (imagine that!), many of the same arguments about demographic representation apply, as the Boston Globe's editorial board pointed out last week. If we can all agree that this farce has gone on long enough—and I think we can—something needs to change. And if some other state does have to go first, well, I think it should be Massachusetts." - "New Hampshire Progressives Take Sides In Warren-Sanders Divide," by Adam Reilly, WGBH News: "Before Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke at a get-out-the-vote event in Manchester, New Hampshire, Saturday, a long line of people queued patiently outside for a chance to see her in action. Will Moore of Hanover was one of them — but he is not a Warren voter. "I've always liked Warren and her policies and I'm running out of chances to see her," Moore said. "I remember, I think sometime last year, Warren was really surging in the polls, and I thought she might run away with the nomination." But Moore said he is committed to another candidate: Bernie Sanders ."

ALL ABOARD

- "How T plans to balance its budget for next 5 years," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "WITH THE LEGISLATURE preparing to debate new transportation revenues, the MBTA on Monday released a five-year projection of its operating budget needs that concludes rising revenues should keep pace with expenses until fiscal 2024, when the transit authority is currently forecast to run a small $6 million deficit. At a meeting of the Fiscal and Management Control Board, state officials said sales tax revenues that flow to the T are surging, and are expected to rise from $1.06 billion this fiscal year to $1.21 billion in fiscal 2024."

DAY IN COURT

- "Attorneys, prisoners say limits still being imposed at Souza-Baranowksi," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "ATTORNEYS REPRESENTING INMATES at the maximum security state prison in Shirley are disputing claims by prison officials that restrictions on attorney visits and prisoner access to legal documents following a January disturbance at the prison have been lifted. Lawyers for the Massachusetts Department of Correction, in a filing late Friday, called a case filed on behalf of three inmates at the state's maximum security prison in Shirley "moot" after restrictions on attorney visits and access to legal documents were removed." - "Fake credentials submitted for Lori Loughlin's daughter claim she competed at the Head of the Charles. Twice." by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: "Federal prosecutors have filed in court the bogus rowing credentials submitted to the University of Southern California on behalf of Hollywood star Lori Loughlin's younger daughter, as Loughlin and her husband prepare for trial over allegations that they paid bribes to get their children into the prestigious institution. The fake sports résumé for Olivia Jade Giannulli, filed Friday in US District Court in Boston, says she finished in 11th place at the Head of the Charles Regatta in 2016 and in 14th place at the iconic race in 2017, among other accolades. None of that is true."

FROM THE DELEGATION

- "House passes McGovern's pro-Tibet bill," by Domenic Poli, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "A pro-Tibet bill championed by Congressman Jim McGovern to put pressure on China heads to the U.S. Senate after passing in the House of Representatives by a 392-22 vote late last month. The Democrat representing the 2nd Congressional District of Massachusetts had introduced H.R. 4331 to update and strengthen the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 and address what he called the Chinese government's ongoing oppression of Tibetans. Communist Chinese troops invaded Tibet in 1950 and the region has since been rife with accusations of human rights abuses."

TRUMPACHUSETTS

- "Trump brought up a debunked theory about Massachusetts while in N.H. tonight," by Jaclyn Reiss, Boston Globe: "Minutes into a rally in New Hampshire on Monday, President Trump brought up a debunked theory about Massachusetts — and later appeared to get Concord, N.H., confused with Concord, Mass. When speaking about the Democratic presidential primary taking place on Tuesday, Trump said that he couldn't predict what would happen, "because you know, you have some strange election laws here." He continued: "Remember last time? We won the primary tremendously. We should've won the [general] election, but they had buses being shipped up from Massachusetts, hundreds and hundreds. And it was very close, even though they did."

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN - "In landmark agreement, GE agrees to pay for additional Housatonic cleanup," by David Abel, Boston Globe: "From the Great Depression until the 1970s, General Electric Co. dumped massive amounts of toxic chemicals from its industrial plant in Pittsfield into the Housatonic River, contaminating miles of the waterway on its path through the Berkshires. On Monday, the Boston company agreed to pay $63 million to five towns along the river as compensation and launch a massive project to remove polluted sediment, a landmark settlement in a case that resolves two decades of litigation. The settlement, mediated by the Environmental Protection Agency, allows GE to dispose much of the contaminated sediment in a facility near the river, a concession the company had sought for years over fierce local opposition." ABOVE THE FOLD — Herald: "GRANITE TEST," — Globe: "GRAPPLING IN GRANITE STATE." THE LOCAL ANGLE - "Westford School Committee member quits mid-meeting," by Luke O'Roark, The Lowell Sun: "Tension over the decision not to renew longtime Superintendent Everett "Bill" Olsen's contract boiled over during Monday night's packed School Committee meeting, with one member of the board resigning abruptly mid-meeting. Megan Eckroth, who gave an emotional statement during the beginning of the meeting, resigned abruptly after resident Nancy Cook asked about a previous email exchange Eckroth had with another resident. "I don't want to hurt you in any way as a decision-maker and volunteer," Cook started, adding that after an email sent to Eckroth, the sender apologized to Eckroth." MEDIA MATTERS - "Why this New Hampshire newspaper isn't making a primary endorsement," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "With less than 24 hours until voting begins, editorial boards of all the major New Hampshire newspapers are making their presidential primary picks. Well, nearly all of them. The Union Leader, Keene Sentinel, and Seacoast Media Group all endorsed Sen. Amy Klobuchar; the Conway Daily Sun backed Sen. Bernie Sanders. And the Concord Monitor is endorsing no one. In an era of declining subscribers and dwindling revenue, the daily newspaper based in New Hampshire's capital city announced that it decided to devote its limited resources elsewhere." TRANSITIONS - FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Matt Brodeur and Willie Burnley Jr. join Sen. Ed Markey's reelection campaign. Brodeur will serve as the regional organizing director in Middlesex County, and Burnley will serve as the regional organizing director for Suffolk County. - Craig Harrington joins Serve America PAC as national political director. He most recently was political director at Foreign Policy for America. SPOTTED: Sen. Ed Markey at a McDonald's on the Mass Pike in the Berkshires on Monday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Governor's Councilor Terrence Kennedy, Olga Davidson and Cameron Merritt. FOR YOUR COMMUTE: NET ZERO TO HERO - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith talk with Senate President Karen Spilka and Sen. Mike Barrett about climate bills passed by the state Senate last week. Spilka also offers a look ahead at her chamber's next big priority: mental health. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.   A message from Transportation for Massachusetts: In every corner of the Commonwealth, people are frustrated with our transportation system. From potholed and congested roads, to delayed trains, to regional transit buses that don't run on the weekends, transportation is holding back our economy, hurting our quality of life, and polluting our air. The gas tax must be part of the solution. Each one-penny increase in the gas tax raises $30 million per year for transportation improvements statewide, including an increase to Chapter 90 local road repairs, dedicated funding for Regional Transit Authorities, and upgrades to the MBTA. Learn more.     Follow us on Twitter Stephanie Murray @StephMurr_Jour   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters Follow us

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