Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Raising Massachusetts

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Raising Massachusetts

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PROGRAMMING NOTE: Massachusetts Playbook will not publish on Thursday, June 9 or Friday, June 10 — because I’m heading down to POLITICO HQ. D.C. Playbookers, email me at lkashinsky@politico.com to meet up! I’ll be back in your inbox on Monday, June 13.

SCOOP: SINEMA'S MASS. CASH DASH — One of the most polarizing politicians in the U.S. Senate is set to hold a fundraiser in Boston on Friday, and it’s not Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is dipping into Massachusetts’ deep pockets to raise money for her leadership fund, which splits donations between her primary and general reelection accounts and her Getting Stuff Done PAC. Tickets range from $2,900 to $10,800, according to an invitation to the Friday morning event obtained by Playbook.

Beyond that, the fundraiser is shrouded in mystery. The location is only available upon RSVP, though that’s typical for security reasons, and the invitation doesn’t list any hosts. Sinema’s spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Multiple prominent donors and operatives contacted by Playbook yesterday hadn’t heard of the event.

That Sinema — a moderate senator who, along with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, brought the Biden administration’s agenda to its knees and ignited a feud with progressives in the process — would be fundraising in liberal Massachusetts is shocking on the surface and raises questions about whether the event is still on. Her refusal to support the Build Back Better agenda led activists to protest Sinema at the 2021 Boston Marathon, though the senator sat out the race with a broken foot. She completed the course this year, without much fanfare.

Yet the Arizona senator has raised at least $133,093 from Bay State donors so far this cycle, including Bain Capital’s John Connaughton and Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish. She had a one-time ally in Massachusetts in former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, though a person close to him said he’s not involved in this event.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Yesterday, Playbook reported that the race was on for supportersof state Sen. Adam Hinds and Bret Bero after the two lieutenant governor hopefuls failed to advance from the state Democratic convention.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Four former Hinds supporters are now endorsing Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll for LG: Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer and state Reps. Patricia Haddad of Somerset and Bill Straus of Mattapoisett. Driscoll also picked up support from Amherst Town Councilors Ana Devlin Gauthier and Evan Ross since securing the party’s endorsement at the convention.

Driscoll’s post-convention inroads in western Massachusetts show she’s not ceding ground there to rival Eric Lesser, a state senator from Longmeadow. The Salem mayor said as much in a statement to Playbook pledging to partner with local leaders “to advance the top priorities for cities and towns across Massachusetts.”

TODAY — Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attends the State House Pride Flag Raising at 11 a.m., chairs a Governor’s Council meeting at noon and speaks at a FORWARD bill event at 3 p.m. at Malden City Hall. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu attends an Allston coffee hour at 9:30 a.m., Copley Connect at 5:15 p.m. and the BOP-ley Square Block Party at 5:45 p.m. in Copley Square Park. AG Maura Healey joins Senate President Karen Spilka and state Reps. David Linsky and Jack Patrick Lewis for a campaign stop and media availability at Wayside Youth & Family Support Network at 10 a.m. Rep. Ayanna Pressley participates in the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on gun violence at 10 a.m.

THIS WEEKEND (yeah, we’re early) — Wu is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Driscoll is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday.

GOOD LUCK — to the Celtics in Game 3 and to the poor Warriors players who got tasked with trying to pronounce the names of Massachusetts cities for this video.

A Celtics' NBA Finals banner hangs from the under-construction Massachusetts State House. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

A message from PhRMA:

Did you know more than half of every dollar spent on medicines goes to someone who doesn’t make them? There’s a long line of middlemen, like PBMs and insurers, collecting a significant portion of what you pay for medicine. The share of total spending for brand medicines received by the supply chain and other stakeholders increased from 33% in 2013 to 50.5% in 2020. Learn more.

ON THE STUMP

— CRUNCHING NUMBERS: State Attorney General Maura Healey outperformed state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz with delegates in all but one Senate district at the state Democratic convention, according to district-level results released by MassDems. Chang-Díaz edged Healey 54 percent to 46 percent in the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester district. But Healey bested Chang-Díaz in the senator’s home turf, the Second Suffolk district, 53 percent to 47 percent.

Here are a couple other tidbits from the district-level data:

— Quentin Palfrey beat attorney general rival and former Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell in 31 of the 40 Senate districts and tied her in one other to win the second ballot and the party's endorsement. But on the first ballot, which included Shannon Liss-Riordan, Palfrey only won 21 of the 40, and tied Campbell in two other districts. Campbell won the first ballot overall.

— NAACP Boston Branch President Tanisha Sullivan, who secured the party’s endorsement for secretary of state, bested incumbent Bill Galvin in all but six of the 40 Senate districts.

— WATCH: State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz discusses tax relief, gun regulations, fare-free transit and how she would ease labor shortages during an Elect North Central Gubernatorial Forum.

— "Enough with Trumpism: Mass. Dems rally to Healey in governor's race," by Lisa Kashinsky and Madison Fernandez, POLITICO: "It’s not that activists on the left don’t like what [state Attorney General Maura] Healey’s rival, Sonia Chang-Díaz — a progressive state senator championing causes from single-payer health care to debt-free public college — is selling. They do. It’s that Massachusetts Democrats, above all else, are wary of Republican rule from the executive suite. They’re scarred by Donald Trump’s years in the White House and are facing the prospect of a Republican nominee for governor endorsed by the former president. They just want someone who can win."

THE LATEST NUMBERS

— “More than 80 million COVID vaccine doses have been wasted, Massachusetts virus cases drop 24%,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “More than 82 million COVID vaccine doses have been wasted in the U.S. since December 2020, according to new data from the CDC. … Meanwhile, Bay State health officials on Tuesday reported 2,040 new COVID cases, a 24% drop from 2,693 infections recorded two Tuesdays ago.”

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Push on at Massachusetts state house for Boston’s real-estate transfer fee,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu summited Beacon Hill on Tuesday to testify before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Revenue in favor of the home-rule petition that would allow that city to levy a 2% transfer tax on deals over $1 million in the city where renting and buying housing both are so expensive.”

— “Omnibus DCF bill still in the works,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “With less than two months left to the legislative session, the House’s lead lawmaker on child welfare policy is continuing work on an omnibus bill that he says would make the Office of the Child Advocate more independent, improve educational oversight at the Department of Children and Families, and establish rights for foster parents.”

— “Advocates renew push to tighten child sex abuse laws,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Nearly every day, for the past few weeks, advocates for child sexual abuse victims have flooded the inboxes of state lawmakers with pleas to close loopholes in state law that they say are allowing predators to go undetected.”

— “Why Black women die from childbirth twice as often as white women,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “In Massachusetts, a Black woman is nearly twice as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause as a White woman. Black women are 70 percent more likely than White women to have severe health consequences related to pregnancy and childbirth. The legislatively formed Special Commission on Racial Inequities in Maternal Health recently released a 74-page report exploring why these disparities exist and what can be done about them. … The Committee on Health Care Financing recently sent to study, or legislatively killed, two bills that would have set up a licensed, regulated system of professional midwives while requiring that midwives be covered by insurance and paid the same amount as other medical providers for the same services.”

VAX-ACHUSETTS

— “CDC says COVID-19 subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 now account for more than 7 percent of New England cases,” by Martin Finucane, Boston Globe: “The BA.4 subvariant accounts for 4.4 percent of cases, while the BA.5 subvariant accounts for 2.8 percent, the public health agency estimates. … In New England, BA.2.12.1 accounts for 64.5 percent of cases and BA. 2 accounts for 28.3 percent of cases.”

— “Many children who contracted COVID-19 during pandemic did not develop antibodies to ward off Omicron, study says,” by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “A new study from researchers at Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows that fewer than 10 percent of kids who contracted COVID-19 in 2020 or early 2021 developed antibodies capable of warding off the Omicron variant of the virus, according to a statement posted to the medical school’s website.”

FROM THE HUB

— “Boston parents ask federal appeals court to overturn exam school admission decision and let their children attend,” by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: “A group of white and Asian parents in Boston is seeking to have at least five students admitted to the city’s exam schools after they failed to secure seats under a temporary admission policy last year, according to documents filed Tuesday in the federal appeals court.”

— “A big building. Over the Pike. For the first time in a long time,” by Catherine Carlock, Boston Globe: “The first Mass. Pike ‘air rights’ development in decades has completed its deck over the highway.”

— “Housing is in short supply. Here’s why that matters,” by Emily Judem and Stephanie Leydon, GBH News: “Competition for housing has driven up home prices to record levels across Massachusetts. Some of the biggest gains have happened in communities where residents can least afford to pay more.”

A message from PhRMA:

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “Transit Ambassadors complain about working conditions,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Some of the MBTA’s Transit Ambassadors, the people in the red shirts who assist passengers at train stations, are not that thrilled with their working conditions and rumbling about forming a union.”

— “Straus on Big Changes Coming to SouthCoast Transportation,” by Marcus Ferro, WBSM: “[State Rep. Bill] Straus also discussed The Work and Family Mobility Act, legislation that will allow undocumented residents of the Commonwealth to obtain drivers' licenses. The bill was recently vetoed by Governor Charlie Baker, who cited concerns that it would allow unauthorized voting, concerns that have been rebuffed by Straus and Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin. Baker's veto is expected to be overridden by the House on June 8.”

HEALEY WATCH

— “Following Democratic convention win, Healey promises to tackle affordability, housing,” by Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe: “Fresh off a Democratic convention where she trounced her opponent for the party’s endorsement in the primary for governor, Attorney General Maura Healey on Tuesday committed to addressing the rising cost of living in the state by first tackling housing. … The South End Democrat argued that the state must increase housing stock, relax zoning barriers, expand down payment assistance programs and housing counseling, and create more housing units around public transit.”

— “Healey charges Mass. labs and others with defrauding state using urine samples,” by Ross Cristantiello, Boston.com.

THE LOCAL ELECTIONS ROUNDUP

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia is endorsing Sydney Levin-Epstein for Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester state senator and is one of the hosts of a fundraiser for her this evening in East Longmeadow.

— NEW: 11th Suffolk state representative candidate and Chelsea City Councilor Judith Garcia has named Manuel Teshe, a Latino Chelsea activist and immigration paralegal, as campaign manager.

— ENDORSEMENT ALERT: Former Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey is wading into Rhode Island politics, endorsing Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune for Providence mayor.

LINDSEY ESSER IS A REPUBLICAN
In 2018, when Esser was a Republican candidate for state Senate, she failed to file required fundraising reports, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Esser ended her campaign in May of that year, citing a “serious health issue.”

— “Monson Select Board candidate Lindsey Esser removed from ballot over past campaign finance violation,” by Jim Russell, Springfield Republican: “Select Board candidate Lindsey K. Esser submitted nomination papers and was placed on the June 14 municipal election ballot even though she had no right to run for office, according to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. New ballots are being prepared without Esser’s name, at a cost to the town of $2,800, the Monson town clerk confirmed.”

— “John Dombrowski, a former Leominster city councilor, running as unenrolled candidate for state representative,” by Marco Cartolano, Telegram & Gazette: “Pitching himself as the ‘true moderate,’ John M. Dombrowski, a former Leominster city councilor, is running as an unenrolled candidate for state representative in the 4th Worcester District.”

— “Fontaine flubs deadline, won't be on ballot for new, all-Brockton House seat,” by Chris Helms, Brockton Enterprise: “Fred Fontaine missed a crucial election paperwork deadline. As a result, the independent will not be on the Nov. 8 ballot when Brockton voters choose who will represent them in the new 11th Plymouth House district. … The Brockton businessman and city employee said he will stay in the race as a sticker and write-in candidate.”

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THE PRESSLEY PARTY

— ALL ABOUT ACCESS: Rep. Ayanna Pressley is cosponsoring the Affordability is Access Act to expand access to over-the-counter birth control pills. The bill would require the FDA to quickly approve over-the-counter birth control options once they’re deemed safe and would require insurance to cover the medication without any out-of-pocket costs.

FROM THE 413

— “Great Barrington says yes to Airbnb rules that cap rental days at 150,” by Heather Bellow, Berkshire Eagle: “Great Barrington voters Monday night approved a short-term rental bylaw that restricts rental days to 150 a year and a tax on the rentals that would be plunged into affordable housing needs.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Raytheon to move its global headquarters from Waltham to Arlington, Va.,” by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: “Raytheon is moving its global headquarters from Waltham to Arlington, Va., although a spokesman said there would be no reduction in the defense company’s Massachusetts workforce as a result of the move. The pending move to the Washington area, announced on Tuesday morning, still represents a blow to Massachusetts in terms of prestige, just two years after the state won out in the merger between Raytheon and United Technologies Corp.”

— More: “As Raytheon relocates headquarters from Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker says company has programs that ‘would be really hard to move’,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive.

— “Cyberattack on a Mass.-based medical imaging company may have affected millions,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Globe: “A cyberattack on Shields Health Care Group Inc. may have compromised the identity and medical information of approximately 2 million people, the imaging and outpatient surgical center company disclosed. … The list of potentially affected facility partners included UMass Memorial Health, Baystate Health, and Tufts Medical Center.”

— “Controversial Saudi-backed golf tour coming to Massachusetts this summer,” by Adam Reilly, GBH News: “A controversial new golf tour with close ties to the Saudi Arabian government is slated to come to Bolton, Massachusetts later this year, putting the sleepy Worcester County town at the forefront of an escalating controversy that combines geopolitics and big-time professional sports.”

— “‘The numbers just continue to rise’: Patients awaiting psychiatric treatment crowd emergency rooms,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Globe: “Hospital officials throughout the state say they are seeing unprecedented volumes of behavioral health patients who are sicker than ever before, a leading contributor to emergency room crowding, which officials say has worsened in recent weeks.”

A message from PhRMA:

Did you know that PBMs, insurers, hospitals, the government, and others received a larger share of total spending on medicines than biopharmaceutical companies? That’s right, more than half of spending on brand medicines goes to someone who doesn’t make them. Let’s fix the system the right way and ensure more of the savings go to patients, not middlemen. Learn more.

WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING

— "Gas prices in Massachusetts climb to new record high $5.02 a gallon," by CBS Boston.

— “Short-staffed and strapped for cash, state parks struggle to handle surge of warm-weather crowds,” by Alexander Thompson, Boston Globe.

— “Cambridge City Council selects first Asian American city manager,” by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe.

— “Worcester drivers bad? They're worst in Mass. City ranks first in at-fault violations,” by Nicole Shih, Telegram & Gazette.

— “Massachusetts-based researchers find 'mortality gap' between Democratic, Republican counties,” by WCVB.

excerpt:

Mortality rates in Democratic Counties dropped from by 22% between 2001 and 2019, from 850 deaths per 100,000 people to 664. Meanwhile, mortality rates declined 11% in Republican counties, from 867 to 711.

"In an ideal world, politics and health would be independent of each other and it wouldn’t matter whether one lives in an area that voted for one party or another," said corresponding author Haider Warraich, MD, of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Brigham. "But that is no longer the case. From our data, we can see that the risk of premature death is higher for people living in a county that voted Republican."

In the announcement of their results, the research authors suggested that the widening gap in death rates could be linked to the politics of health policies. They cite as an example the Affordable Care Act, which was passed in 2010 and which led to Medicaid expansion in more Democratic states than Republican states.

TRANSITIONS — Olivia Roskill is Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s new finance director.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Joseph Prezioso, Bill Douvris, Ben Case, Dan Futterman, Michael Vallarelli, David Ciampi, and Hailey Reed of Rep. Jake Auchincloss' office.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY — to a lot of Playbookers: FEMA Region I Administrator and former state Rep. Lori Ehrlich, Calla Walsh, Sheila Ramirez, Jeff Solnet, John Dukakis, 90 West’s Harry Shipps and Kelsey Perkins, district director for Rep. Katherine Clark, who celebrate Thursday; state Sen. Adam Hinds and David Ball, president and founder of Ball Consulting Group, who celebrate Friday; AG hopeful and former Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell, Sam Tracy, Jim Mahoney, Rand Wilson and Tad Devine, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Campbell Curry-Ledbetter, Allison DeAngelis, Peter Francis and Lauren Fish.

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