| | |  | BY STEPHANIE MURRAY | Presented by Brilliant | GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: SANTIAGO RAISES $274K — State Rep. Jon Santiago raised $274,000 in the month of February, according to his campaign. The haul appears to be the largest first-month fundraising number for a Boston mayoral candidate this cycle. The race is getting pretty expensive. The September preliminary election is still six months away and the four candidates running for mayor have a collective $2.3 million in their campaign accounts. And as they pack their war chests, others rumored to be eyeing the race may feel the pressure to jump in soon. Santiago is a newcomer to a citywide race. He got in at the end of February and has been lauded as a well-connected fundraiser by political insiders. But the voting base that elected Santiago as a state representative (around 13,600 voters last November) is still relatively small compared to the citywide electorate (between 34,000 and 41,000 voters) that has cast ballots for Wu and Essaibi George as at-large councilors. Santiago began the month of March with $400,000 in cash on hand, according to his campaign. At the front of the fundraising pack this month is City Councilor Andrea Campbell, who reports $841,000 in cash on hand after raising $157,000 in February. She's followed by City Councilor Michelle Wu, who raised $136,000 last month and has $833,000 to spend. City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George, who entered the race at the end of January, raised $192,000 in February and has $270,000 in her war chest. TURCO WINS DEM PRIMARY — Progressives are reeling after self-proclaimed "Reagan Democrat" Jeff Turco won a four-way Democratic primary last night. Former House Speaker Robert DeLeo recently left Beacon Hill to take a job at Northeastern University, and his seat representing Winthrop and Revere is open for the first time in decades. Union representative Juan Jaramillo came in second place, followed by Alicia DelVento, a former State House aide who came in third, and Winthrop School Committee member Valentino Capobianco. All three had more in common with each other than Turco, who has made anti-abortion and pro-Trump statements online. It's a familiar theme in Democratic primary races — a well-funded moderate or conservative Democrat has their own lane, while the candidates running to their left split the rest of the vote. Take the primary race to replace Rep. Joe Kennedy III last fall. While Turco and Rep. Jake Auchincloss are not at all ideologically similar, both were seen as the more moderate option in a field of progressives. And they both had plenty of cash. Just like after that congressional race, Turco's victory quickly sparked another round of calls for ranked-choice voting, a measure voters shot down when it was on the ballot last year. Turco's victory was not a shock to local political observers. He lives in Winthrop and won the city, while Jaramillo won his hometown of Revere. But Winthrop, the whiter, more affluent and slightly more conservative of the two cities, followed a historical trend and voted at a higher rate. Turnout was pretty low across the district — only 4,700 people voted in the primary. Turco earned 1,700 votes, and Jaramillo won 1,400 votes. Turco moves on to the March 30 general election . He will face Republican Paul Caruccio and independent candidate Richard Fucillo, Jr. 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 tours West Parish Elementary School in Gloucester, and makes a Covid-19 vaccine announcement. Sen. Ed Markey is a guest on WBUR. State Senate President Karen Spilka attends state Sen. Joe Boncore’s virtual winter reception. Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins is a guest on GBH’s “Greater Boston.” | |
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| – “Massachusetts reports 980 new COVID cases, 37 deaths on Tuesday as hospitals confirm shipments of Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “State health officials confirmed another 980 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, which is based on 56,007 new molecular tests, according to the Department of Public Health. Officials also announced another 37 COVID-related fatalities, bringing the death toll from the pandemic to 551,667.” | | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| – “Catching up with Majority Leader Claire Cronin,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “House Majority Leader Claire Cronin, a Democrat from Easton, has become a key player in the House this session as the newly elevated majority leader – the number two job in the House, and the role now-House Speaker Ron Mariano previously held before he became speaker .” – “State's online alcohol deliveries soared in pandemic,” The Associated Press: “Massachusetts residents have increasingly been going online during the COVID-19 crisis to purchase nearly everything under the sun — including alcohol. State alcohol regulators have seen a 300% uptick in direct-to-consumer alcohol deliveries throughout the pandemic, state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg said during a virtual hearing on the state budget Tuesday.” – “Will Massachusetts business owners with COVID grants face larger tax bills? Baker administration supports legislative ‘fix,’” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “While the federal government made forgiven loans under the Paycheck Protection Program tax-free, small business owners in Massachusetts could still face a larger tax bill due to a forgiven PPP loan or state business grant.” – “Finegold, Campbell co-lead cyber committee,” by Bill Kirk, Eagle-Tribune: “Massachusetts Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, and Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, D-Methuen, said Monday that as co-chairs of the newly established Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity, they will push for more laws to protect consumers from cybercrime.” | | VAX-ACHUSETTS |
| – “Boston considering moving mass vaccination site out of Fenway Park,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Mobile coronavirus vaccination sites and clinics geared toward essential workers are in and the mass vax site at Fenway might be out as Boston rolls out more information about its vaccination plans and an upcoming public-awareness campaign.” – “Questions of equity raised on state’s offer of leftover vaccine doses to civilians at clinic for first responders,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “As vaccine-seekers across Massachusetts were encouraged to hunt for appointments online, officials in the Baker administration offered hundreds of residents shots at a COVID-19 vaccination site that was reserved for state first responders and not open to the wider public.” – “In Push For Vaccine Equity, Boston COVID Vaccination Hits The Road,” by Adam Reilly, GBH News: “The city of Boston will deploy mobile COVID-19 vaccination teams as it pushes to protect residents from all neighborhoods and demographic groups from the disease, Health and Human Services chief Marty Martinez said Tuesday.” – “CareWell clinics in Massachusetts plan to resume COVID-19 vaccinations next week,” by Robert Weisman, Boston Globe: “CareWell Urgent Care, which abruptly canceled hundreds of second-shot vaccine appointments set for this week, said Tuesday that it plans to reschedule residents anxious for COVID-19 injections at its 16 clinics in Massachusetts.” | | BIDEN TIME |
| – “Biden launches blitz of action to prod schools to reopen,” by Emily Cadei and Natasha Korecki, POLITICO: “Joe Biden is tapping a federal agency to facilitate vaccinations for teachers and child care workers. He is using his bully pulpit to push states to get shots into teachers’ arms by the end of the month. The administration is even considering creating a ‘school reopening’ czar.” – “Massachusetts Teachers Association wants state to speed up educator COVID vaccines after directive from President Joe Biden,” by Melissa Hanson, MassLive.com: “The Massachusetts Teachers Association is continuing to put pressure on the state to speed up educator COVID-19 vaccinations after President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was directing each to prioritize inoculations for teachers and school staff.” – “Senate President Karen Spilka calls for Baker administration to reserve vaccine doses for teachers as state calls them back to classrooms,” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “Senate President Karen Spilka joined calls for teachers to be put at the front of the line for COVID-19 vaccine doses as the state calls for K-12 schools to fully reopen.” | | FROM THE HUB |
| – “Campbell Seeks Details On Boston Officer Who May Have Participated In Capitol Riot,” by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell has filed a formal request for information on the status of a Boston police officer who may have taken part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Campbell's request — known as a 17F, as labeled in the City Charter — came Tuesday after officials from the police department and the Walsh administration failed to appear at a committee hearing on public safety and criminal justice.” – “Q&A: Karilyn Crockett on what steps have been made since she was named Boston’s first-ever chief of equity,” by Dialynn Dwyer, Boston.com: “Karilyn Crockett was appointed to serve as the first chief of equity for the City of Boston last summer. The Dorchester native and lifelong Bostonian spoke with Boston.com a few months into her appointment to the new cabinet-level position.” | |
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| | | | | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL |
| – “Mayoral candidate Michelle Wu calls for universal preschool, city office coordinating early education,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “Mayoral candidate and City Councilor at Large Michelle Wu Tuesday will release an ambitious plan to create universal preschool and affordable child care for Boston children younger than 5 through a centralized city office that would guide parents through both processes.” | | WARREN REPORT |
| – “Sen. Warren on wealth tax: ‘I think most people would rather be rich’ and pay 2 or 3 cents more,” Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren defended her latest wealth-tax proposal Tuesday, telling CNBC she believes most Americans won’t mind being rich enough to pay it. The Massachusetts Democrat made the comments in an interview on ‘Squawk Box’” one day after rolling out a proposal for an annual tax of 2%, or 2 cents, on every dollar of people’s wealth worth above $50 million.” – “Warren and Markey want Biden to include recurring direct payments in his wider economic package,” by Shannon Larson, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are calling on President Biden to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in his Build Back Better plan.” | | THE CLARK CAUCUS |
| – “Katherine Clark Is the Adult in the Room,” by Tom McGrath, Boston Magazine: “To spend time with Clark is to be reminded just how much power—power in politics, power in boardrooms, power in DC, power in Boston, power everywhere—remains male turf, the election of Vice President Kamala Harris notwithstanding. It’s not just the numbers; it’s the approach, the tone, the issues that get taken up. Talking with Clark is a reminder, too, post–Donald Trump, post–January 6, that there are forces in America that need to be stood up to.” | | ABOVE THE FOLD |
| — Herald: “HEAD OF THE CLASS,” — Globe: “Biden sees shots for all adults by end of May," "Hardest-hit city areas have lowest vaccine rates.” | | FROM THE 413 |
| – “Northampton City Council President Gina-Louise Sciarra to run for mayor,” by Greta Jochem, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “City Council President Gina-Louise Sciarra announced Tuesday that she’s running for mayor, becoming the first candidate for the position since Mayor David Narkewicz announced in January he would not seek reelection.” | | THE LOCAL ANGLE |
| – “Becker College’s financial woes could make it the next school to close,” by Deirdre Fernandes and Laura Krantz, Boston Globe: “Becker College, a small private college in Worcester known for its video game design program, is quickly running low on cash and may not be able to remain open much longer, state higher education regulators warned on Tuesday.” – “Methuen School Committee member's livestream prompts complaint,” by Bill Kirk, Eagle-Tribune: “School Committee member Ryan DiZoglio was having trouble getting a solid video connection with his audience during a Facebook Live broadcast in late January. As a result, he said, he turned off the broadcast. Or so he thought.” – “Worcester School Committee retreat to focus on racism, implicit bias,” by Scott O'Connell, Telegram & Gazette: “The School Committee Thursday will be taking a rare retreat to address potential racism and implicit bias in its governance of the district. According to committee member Tracy O’Connell Novick, whose motion last year spurred the scheduling of the meeting, she and her colleagues will be hearing a presentation by diversity consultant Kalise Wornum.” – “Should Taunton-area students have to turn their cameras on? Feelings run high on both sides,” by Susannah Sudborough, The Taunton Daily Gazette: “In February, the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District instituted a new policy regarding webcams during remote learning. Children are now required to keep their cameras on during remote learning if the teacher so asks.” HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Grace Nowakoski. NEW EPISODE: SOCIAL DISTANCING STUDIES – On this week’s Horse Race podcast, hosts Jennifer Smith and Stephanie Murray discuss the state’s push for in-person learning, and discuss the House race to fill former Speaker Bob DeLeo’s seat with GBH’s Tori Bedford and the Boston Herald’s Lisa Kashinsky. 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. | |
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| | JOIN TODAY FOR A PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH NRCC CHAIR TOM EMMER : House Republicans surprised many observers in November flipping 15 seats and defeating several Democratic freshmen who delivered the House majority in 2018. Then the Jan. 6 insurrection set off an internal battle within the GOP, including among top House leaders. Join Playbook co-author Rachael Bade for a conversation with Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, to discuss his strategy for the 2022 midterm elections, President Donald Trump's role in the party, and the continued fallout from the assault on the Capitol. REGISTER HERE | | | | | | |
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