|
 |
|
|
Presented by Transportation for Massachusetts
|
GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Monday!
DECODING BUTTIGEIG'S EXIT — Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the presidential race last night, a move that could help consolidate the moderate lane of the Democratic primary.
So what does that mean for Massachusetts, where home state Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are in a battle for first place on Tuesday? The Buttigieg exit may be a high-stakes test of whether Warren's play to be a second choice candidate can help her edge out Sanders, who is leading here, or it could give former Vice President Joe Biden a chance to scoop up delegates after gaining momentum in South Carolina.
Buttigieg was polling at around 14 percent in Massachusetts, according to a WBUR poll released on Friday that showed him as the third most popular candidate. His base of support was just shy 15 percent threshold needed to take delegates, but large enough to be a valuable bloc for the remaining candidates.
The candidates Buttigieg's supporters move to is particularly important as the remaining campaigns aim to collect as many delegates as possible heading into the Democratic National Convention. Massachusetts has 91 delegates at stake on Super Tuesday.
If some of Buttigieg's supporters move Warren's way, his departure could be crucial boost for her fortunes here. The poll released Friday showed Sanders 8 percentage points ahead of Warren, who pitched herself as a "unity" candidate, though a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll showed them closer together.
If Buttigieg's Bay State supporters move to Sanders on Tuesday, it won't be because he sent them. Buttigieg offered some pretty sharp criticism of the Vermont senator in his speech last night . While he didn't mention Sanders by name, a line where Buttigieg said the country needs "leadership to heal a divided nation, not drive us further apart," was similar to what he said about Sanders at the debate.
Two candidates who may have something to gain in Massachusetts are moderates: Bloomberg and Biden, who poll in fourth and fifth place. If some Massachusetts voters stick to ideological lanes when they cast ballots tomorrow, it would make sense to move from Buttigieg to Biden or Bloomberg.
Bloomberg had 13 percent of support, and Biden had 9 percent of support among Massachusetts voters, according to the WBUR poll. If either candidate can pull support from Buttigieg's backers, it could put them over the 15 percent threshold needed to collect a portion of the Massachusetts delegates.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR - The Horse Race podcast is taping a live post-Super Tuesday episode with Gina Christo and Wilnelia Rivera of the Deep Democracy podcast on March 4 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Boston. The live show is free to attend, but guests must register in advance. The details.
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 celebrates Read Across America Day in Revere. Secretary of State Bill Galvin talks to reporters ahead of Super Tuesday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren campaigns in California. Former Gov. Bill Weld campaigns in Scituate, Avon and Weymouth.
|
|
A message from Transportation for Massachusetts:
Massachusetts is facing a transportation crisis on our roads, bridges, transit, bikeways, and in neighborhoods that suffer from pollution and congestion. The Massachusetts House is about to debate landmark legislation to reform and revitalize transportation across the Commonwealth. Your voice matters, so please take action today at www.t4ma.org/takeaction. |
| |
|
 | HEALTH CHECK |
|
- "Newton students, school staff returning from Italy ordered to stay home amid coronavirus fears," by Abigail Feldman, Boston Globe: "Newton Public School officials told community members Sunday that students and staff who recently returned from a school trip to Italy must stay home while officials monitor for coronavirus. "[T]oday we made a decision to require students and staff from Newton North who returned from Italy on Saturday, Feb. 29th, to stay home from school beginning tomorrow, March 2nd, until further notice," Superintendent David Fleishman said in a letter to Newton parents that was also posted online. Fleishman said the decision was made out of "an abundance of caution," and that the school is working with state and local health officials and observing federal travel guidance about returning travelers."
|
| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
|
- "Governor Baker working to regain control of Mass. GOP," by Frank Phillips, Boston Globe: "Governor Charlie Baker's political team is using hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed funds to wage a bitter intra-party battle to regain control of the Massachusetts GOP, a critical fight that could help determine whether he will run for an unprecedented third term. The contest is playing out in an obscure corner of Massachusetts politics: the races for 80 seats on the Massachusetts State Republican Committee in Tuesday's election, down-ballot contests that are overshadowed by the presidential race but could significantly shape the state's electoral politics."
- "Beacon Hill's secretive committee voting process," by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: "IT TOOK A couple days of calling, but the House Ways and Means Committee eventually disclosed how committee members voted last week on a major transportation bill containing hefty tax and fee increases. The information, however, had some holes in it. According to committee spokesman Blake Webber, the vote was 22 in favor, one against, and eight reserving their rights, or abstaining from taking a position. Webber refused to say how individual members voted other than Republican Rep. Todd Smola of Warren, who was the lone no vote. He said the committee's policy is not to release how individual members voted, other than those who vote no."
|
| FROM THE HUB |
|
- "Walsh, Touting Reforms, Wants To Move Past Zoning Scandal, But Wu Among Critics Saying: Not So Fast," by Isaiah Thompson, WGBH News: "Just over half a year since a bribery scandal rocked Boston's Zoning Board of Appeal, Mayor Marty Walsh said Monday the city is "moving forward" with reforms to the ZBA. On Monday, Walsh signed an executive order aimed at bringing more transparency and accountability to the embattled agency, including new ethics restrictions to prevent conflicts of interest and requirements that more of the ZBA's decisions and process be posted online and made accessible to the public. But not everyone is ready to put the scandal in the past."
|
| PRIMARY SOURCES |
|
- "Tuesday may not be very super for Massachusetts candidates," by Jim Hand, The Sun Chronicle: "There are three Massachusetts political figures on Tuesday's presidential primary ballot and the latest polls show all three could lose. Supporters of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are still hoping she can pull out a victory in the Democratic race, although polls show Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, is the favorite. Although some polls have shown the Massachusetts race is close, a poll Friday by WBUR put Sanders on top at 25 percent and Warren second at 17 percent, followed by several others. Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick could still get some votes as his name tops the ballot, but he has already quit the race."
- "Historic photos: When candidates for president campaigned in Worcester," Telegram & Gazette. Link.
- "'This is about saving the country': US Rep. Jim McGovern leads Northampton canvassers for presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren ahead of Super Tuesday," by Dave Canton, Springfield Republican: "Between 40 and 50 volunteers packed a narrow campaign headquarters on Center Street on Saturday morning, getting ready to spread out across the city, knock on doors and spread the word about presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Northampton push kicked off just one of 80 such weekend drives in Massachusetts to get people out to vote in the primaries March 3."
- "Bernie Sanders rallies huge crowd in Springfield," by Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe: "Buoyed by his front-runner status, US Senator Bernie Sanders brought his populist, progressive message Friday to a big, raucous crowd that cheered wildly throughout his pledges to champion the working class. "This is just not a campaign," Sanders said to nearly 5,000 people at the MassMutual Center. "This is a movement that says to the corporate elite, you cannot have it all. We're coming back." The crowd responded with chants of "Bernie! Bernie!" as he told them the political and corporate elites are "getting nervous" about the early success of his primary campaign."
- "Kennedy holds narrow lead over Markey in Senate race, new Suffolk/Globe poll finds," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "Five months into his audacious primary challenge against a seasoned incumbent, Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III is leading Senator Edward J. Markey in the Democratic contest for Senate, according to a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll of likely voters in the Sept. 1 primary. The survey found Kennedy ahead of Markey 42 percent to 36 percent, a difference that is within the poll's margin of error."
|
| DAY IN COURT |
|
- "Court: State not liable for assault at DYS facility," by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: "A STATE APPEALS COURT agreed to dismiss a case against the state's Department of Youth Services for an assault that occurred at a now-shuttered facility for youth in state custody, resolving one of several legal headaches state officials are facing due to problems at Casa Isla. Casa Isla, a Department of Youth Services facility for juvenile delinquent boys in Boston, was closed in 2014 and eight former staff members were arrested in 2015 on charges that they abused boys under their care."
- "In Souza Case, Judge Delivers Scathing Ruling In Prisoners' Favor," by Deborah Becker, WBUR: "In a scathing ruling, a Suffolk Superior Court judge sided Friday with attorneys representing some men incarcerated at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in a lawsuit against the state's Department of Correction. The lawsuit filed on behalf of three inmates at the maximum security prison in Lancaster, Mass., alleged DOC officials had violated prisoners' constitutional rights during a weeks-long lockdown last month. In the Jan. 31 complaint, lawyers for the prisoners alleged DOC restrictions on attorney visits and phone calls during the lockdown was unconstitutional and violated the prisoners' civil rights."
- "Judge orders Boston law firm to repay millions in inflated legal fees," by Andrea Estes, Boston Globe: "A federal judge has ordered Boston-based Thornton Law Firm and a New York firm to give back nearly $15 million they collected by dramatically inflating their bills. Judge Mark L. Wolf concluded that Thornton, along with the Labaton Sucharow law firm of New York, double-billed for some attorneys working on a class-action lawsuit involving State Street Bank, and billed for others that didn't even work for them, boosting their overall legal charges by millions."
|
| WARREN REPORT |
|
- "Inside Warren's Hail Mary strategy for the nomination," by Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "Elizabeth Warren can win debates, but not states: There's a chance she will walk away from Super Tuesday having not carried any of the first 18 contests, including in her home of Massachusetts. Yet she, her campaign, and their close allies say she's in the race all the way to the convention, despite her latest drubbing in South Carolina on Saturday. They insist she still has a path to the nomination, narrow as it is. Warren's strategy, laid out in conversations with more than a half-dozen of her aides and close allies, relies largely on outlasting several of her less well-financed rivals and trying to collect their supporters when they drop out."
- "House Ways and Means chair endorses Elizabeth Warren," by Stephanie Murray, POLITICO: "House Ways and Means chairman Richard Neal endorsed Elizabeth Warren for president on Friday night, giving a boost to his home state senator on the eve of Tuesday's primary where she is at risk of losing Massachusetts to progressive rival Bernie Sanders. "Elizabeth Warren is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump on the economy," Neal said in a statement. "She has spent her life studying why working families can't get ahead and how too many get left behind." Warren has slipped behind Sanders in recent Massachusetts polls. In October, she held a 20-percentage point lead over Sanders but a poll released Friday shows Warren trailing the Vermont senator by 8 points."
|
| MOULTON MATTERS |
|
- "Coronavirus, college costs hot topics at Moulton town hall," by Michael Cronin, The Salem News: "U.S. Rep Seth Moulton, D-Salem, sounded off on the coronavirus COVID-19, public transportation and education at a Cape Ann town hall event Saturday morning. Before opening the floor to questions, the Salem Democrat told the crowd of around 40 constituents about what his office is doing to address the virus that is quickly spreading across the world. Currently, there is one reported case in Massachusetts."
|
| FROM THE DELEGATION |
|
- "Report: Trahan launches legal expense fund," by Robert Mills, The Lowell Sun: "U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan launched a special fund to help her pay legal costs that have already reached about $380,000 as she contests a House Ethics Committee probe into whether her campaign improperly accepted donations from her husband as she ran for the 3rd District House seat in 2018. According to a report published Friday in Roll Call, a Washington-based political publication, Trahan set up the Lori Trahan Legal Expense Trust on Feb. 20. Roll Call reported that such funds are allowed by the House Ethics Committee to help representatives pay for legal fees connected to their candidacy, official duties, criminal prosecutions or civil matters related to the representatives fitness for office."
|
| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
|
- "Minority-Owned Marijuana Business Owners In Mass. Are Being Crushed By The Wait For Licenses," by Tori Bedford, WGBH News: "Chauncy Spencer is the proud tenant of roughly 10,000 square feet of empty space on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan. An old Payless Shoes sign still hangs out front, and inside, bright orange Home Depot buckets catch drops of water from a leaky ceiling. "Essentially, this is just carpet ... and wall," Spencer said, surveying the space where he hopes to one day open "The 420," his recreational marijuana shop."
|
| ABOVE THE FOLD |
|
— Herald: "NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT," — Globe: "Law firms must repay millions in fees," "Buttigieg drops out, reshaping primary." |
| MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE |
|
- "By the numbers: Could purple NH turn a more permanent blue?" by Garry Ryano, Eagle-Tribune: "Last week the Secretary of State's office released the figures for the number of registered voters in New Hampshire, and Democrats now outnumber Republicans for the first time in a decade. But before Democrats begin celebrating, the number of undeclared voters is higher still, as it has been for some time. Undeclared voters are the largest group and have been for a couple of decades."
|
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
|
- "Middlesex opioid-related overdose deaths decline more than the state's average," by Anju Miura, MetroWest Daily News: "Middlesex County has reduced the number of overdose deaths by 25% over the last four years, five times greater than the state average of 5%, according to the District Attorney's Office. And a MetroWest lawmaker says the county's system and practice to achieve that result can be the state's model. The Middlesex Opioid Task Force's annual survey, released on Feb. 19 during a meeting in Newton, found the number of overdose deaths declined from 251 in 2016 to 184 in 2019. Through mid-February, 24 overdose deaths have been recorded."
- "Guv takes 'h' out Worcester in Gloucester," by Sean Horgan, Gloucester Daily Times: "The Baker administration had its own "Bur-ger King" moment last week when Gov. Charlie Baker tooled into town to bestow a bunch of grants - including more than $940K to Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute's Gloucester Biotechnology Academy - to 54 academic institutions, including Worcester Technical High School. Only one problem: The envelope containing the $750,000 award to Worcester Tech butchered the spelling of Worcester into "Worchester."
SPOTTED: at a Dryft Revere for a Rep. Joe Kennedy III campaign event on Sunday night ... State Sen. Joe Boncore, Revere City Councilors Patrick Keefe, Steve Morabito, John Powers and Gerry Visconti, and Winthrop School Committee member Valentino Capobianco.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to Dan Mead, who celebrated Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to former Rep. Brian Donnelly, who is 74.
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: BERNING DOWN THE HOUSE - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray talk all things Super Tuesday. Beth Huang from the Boston chapter of Democratic Socialists of America discusses Bernie Sanders and the possibility of a brokered Democratic National Convention. 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:
All throughout the Commonwealth, in our cities and rural towns, people are frustrated with the transportation status quo. Now the Massachusetts House is about to debate legislation to tackle our toughest transportation challenges.The proposals will fund expanded public transit statewide, make our roads and bridges safer, encourage clean transportation, and improve our daily commutes. This is a time when your voice will make a difference. Please take action, and contact your State Representative today at www.t4ma.org/takeaction. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Follow us on Twitter
|
| |
Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family
|
Follow us
|
|
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.