Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The elephant not in the debate room

Thursday, July 21, 2022

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The elephant not in the debate room

REPUBLICAN RUMBLE — Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty can’t win the GOP primary for governor with Charlie Baker, but they also can’t win a general election without him.

That’s one takeaway from the first — and potentially only — Republican primary debate, held last night on Howie Carr’s radio show .

Baker’s name got nary a mention at the MassGOP convention in May, a testament to how far the party’s base has moved away from the moderate Republican — or, as some GOP activists feel, the governor has moved away from them.

But he came up repeatedly during last night’s showdown. That included some jabs: Both candidates dragged the outgoing governor over his vaccine mandate for state workers and pledged to rehire those who were fired. Diehl knocked Baker’s support for the now-moribund Transportation and Climate Initiative.

Yet there was also a surprising level of deference to the party’s top elected official by Diehl, who’s been endorsed by Baker nemesis former President Donald Trump, and Doughty, who’s distanced himself from Baker as he works to thread the needle between conservative activists and more moderate Republicans and independents who can pull ballots to vote in the GOP primary.

Asked whether they aspired to be a leader in the style of Baker or Trump, the candidates drew on elements of both instead of taking a hard right turn away from Baker. Diehl talked of supporting Baker in all three of his runs for governor because he “talked about being in the weeds and trying to make sure government was more efficient. … I wanted that, but also with a strong hand, which I thought President Trump had.” Doughty lauded how Baker “held the line on taxes” while also likening his own business background to Trump’s.

It’s an acknowledgment that Baker remains exceedingly popular in the Bay State, even if he’s no longer embraced by some in his party’s base. While hewing too closely to Baker could spell trouble in the Republican primary, the GOP nominee will need to marshal the same coalition of independents and more moderate Democrats that backed Baker if they want to keep the corner office come November.

Massachusetts GOP gubernatorial rivals Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty face off in a debate on Howie Carr's radio show sponsored by Mass Fiscal. | POLITICO screenshot

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Rep. Stephen Lynch is endorsing Andrea Campbell for attorney general.

“Massachusetts needs someone who is not afraid to tackle some very challenging situations and who is committed to enforcing the law to keep our families safe, with an approach that is both firm but fair. And I truly believe we have that person in Andrea Campbell,” Lynch said in a statement shared first with Playbook.

Lynch is the latest delegation member to endorse Campbell, following Sen. Ed Markey and Reps. Katherine Clark, Ayanna Pressley and Jake Auchincloss. The South Boston congressman has also endorsed Kevin Hayden for a full term in the contentious Suffolk district attorney race. But Campbell’s campaign said that doesn’t mean the two candidates’ views on law enforcement align, telling Playbook “Andrea has been a leader in her own right on criminal justice reform.”

TODAY — Baker is on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” at 12:30 p.m. and joins state and local officials for the opening of a driver recruitment and training center in Lawrence at 2:30 p.m. Diehl hosts a media availability at his Plymouth campaign office at 10 a.m. AG Maura Healey campaigns in the Berkshires with state Sen. Adam Hinds and local officials.

Tips? Scoops? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com .

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BIDEN TIME

President Joe Biden speaks about climate change and clean energy at Brayton Power Station in Somerset, Mass., yesterday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo

DATELINE, SOMERSET — President Joe Biden took the first steps in trying to salvage his climate agenda on Wednesday, announcing a series of modest actions that fell short of climate activists’ and Democrats’ demands.

Biden couldn’t have asked for a better setting to declare climate change an “existential threat to our nation and to the world.” He delivered his 18-minute speech from a small stage atop a pile of dirt and rubble near a former coal power plant being retooled for offshore wind manufacturing. Both the president and his audience were sweating profusely under an unrelentingly hot sun.

Biden said his administration will clear the way for new offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, spend $2.3 billion to bolster communities’ defenses against climate change and make it easier for low-income households to purchase efficient air conditioners to combat searing heat.

But the fact that he stopped short of declaring a climate emergency left Democrats, environmental groups and some in his own party wanting, even as they cheered the president’s pledge to issue “appropriate proclamations [and] executive orders” in the “coming weeks.”

“As we face congressional obstruction on climate and clean energy, we need immediate executive action to take serious and significant steps to save our planet from this five-alarm climate fire. President Biden made his commitment to this clear today in Somerset,” Sen. Ed Markey said in a statement to Playbook. “I look forward to seeing the Biden administration mobilize every possible tool and resource to launch a response on all fronts — manufacturing, resiliency, clean procurement, job training, and regulatory action on pollution and leasing.”

Biden may not have delivered everything on the climate wish list, but his Bay State visit did prompt House and Senate negotiators to finally reach an agreement on their chambers’ climate bills . The compromise , which could come up for votes as soon as today, “aims to ramp up clean power, especially offshore wind but also solar, storage and networked geothermal, and run it through cars, trucks, buses, and buildings, the biggest sources of emissions in the state,” lead negotiators state Rep. Jeff Roy and state Sen. Mike Barrett said in a joint statement.

“We thank President Biden for issuing a call to action to the entire country today,” they continued. “Massachusetts legislators hear him, and we’re going all out.”

— “Biden praises Somerset's role in growth of renewable energy, touts jobs,” by Audrey Cooney, Herald News.

— ”Love him or hate him, locals made most of a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to see Biden,” by Greg Sullivan, Herald News.

— “How do you pronounce Rep. Jake Auchincloss' last name? Biden flubbed it,” by Caitlyn Kelleher, Herald News.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “State House staffers have to wait months for health insurance to kick in. Their bosses nixed part of a bill to give them coverage on day one,” by Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe: “The day state senators and representatives are sworn into office, they are covered by Massachusetts’ employee health insurance. But legislative staff — the chiefs of staff, legislative aides, policy directors, and others who play a large role in crafting laws — are subject to a minimum 60-day new hire waiting period before coverage is effective. A Senate-backed proposal to immediately cover staffers was included in the chamber’s state budget bill but was killed in negotiations with the House, to the chagrin of staffers who had hoped their concerns about the gap in coverage would be addressed this year. ... Now, Senate President Karen E. Spilka said she will be calling on state insurance administrators to ‘figure out a way’ to make health insurance available for legislative staff on their first day of work after the Legislature unanimously voted to pass a budget that didn’t include a provision to do so.”

— “The search for the next higher education commissioner in Massachusetts led one search firm to reach out to thousands of potential candidates,” by Chris Van Buskirk, MassLive: “A search firm seeking the next Massachusetts higher education commissioner has been in touch with thousands of potential candidates days ahead of a ‘soft’ deadline for applications to the position, the head of a search firm told an advisory council Monday afternoon."

— “State delays bonds to keep jobless fund solvent,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Massachusetts is delaying plans to borrow more money to help replenish a state fund that pays out unemployment benefits. … Sales of the municipal bonds were expected to get underway on Wednesday, but the state Treasury abruptly pulled the plug on the process citing disagreement between the House and Senate over funding in an economic development bill to offset the trust fund debt.”

VAX-ACHUSETTS

— “BA.5 variant will keep Massachusetts at a COVID-19 plateau through the summer, experts predict,” by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: “Experts disagree on whether BA.5 is more contagious or troublesome than previous subvariants of Omicron. But they’re unified in predicting there will be no summer lull.”

FROM THE HUB

— “How Mayor Wu chose Boston’s new police commissioner,” by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “It’s been one week since Boston Mayor Michelle Wu named Michael Cox the new police commissioner. The process, from the time of Wu’s announcement of a search committee to her announcement of Cox, took about seven months and was highly confidential. Even though the process involved more steps and communication than other police commissioner selections the city has seen in recent years, a few have acknowledged it was not as transparent as it could’ve been.”

— "Three top staffers set to depart BPDA, adding to dozens of agency openings," by Catherine Carlock, Boston Globe: "Three of the most senior remaining staffers at the Boston Planning and Development Agency are departing by summer’s end, the latest in a rolling wave of exits that have many in Boston’s real estate world worried that the agency that oversees big development in Boston has become woefully understaffed."

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YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: United Steelworkers District 4 has endorsed Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll for lieutenant governor.

— Former MA-03 congressional hopeful Natalia Linos is endorsing former Brookline Select Board Vice Chair Raul Fernandez for 15th Norfolk state representative.

— GETTING IN: Newburyport resident Dawne Shand is running as a write-in candidate on the Democratic primary ballot for the First Essex District state House seat vacated by GOP state Rep. Jim Kelcourse. Shand has taken a leave of absence as board president of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus to campaign for the seat with a focus on climate, equitable economic growth and education funding, she shared first with Playbook.

— “A super PAC for . . . Mass. lieutenant governor??? Strange but true, despite the position having little power,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “A super PAC created to back Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll’s bid for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor is wading into the little-watched race for Massachusetts government’s No. 2 role, including with the expected help of a Boston real estate investor and regular GOP donor. Organizers of the so-called Leadership for Mass Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee filed paperwork Wednesday with state campaign finance regulators. … [state Sen. Eric] Lesser and [state Rep. Tami] Gouveia both criticized the specter of the super PAC influencing the race and keyed in on the potential involvement of [Christopher] Collins and his past donations to Republicans.”

— GOP DEBATE RECAP: “Diehl, Doughty face off in first — and maybe last — GOP gubernatorial debate,” by Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe: “The two Republican candidates for governor faced off Wednesday in a pointed debate, with Wrentham businessman Chris Doughty pitching himself as well-suited to juice Massachusetts’ economy and former Whitman state lawmaker Geoff Diehl presenting himself as a proven conservative who will fight and win culture-war battles. The hourlong radio forum featured several sharp exchanges. Diehl, a conservative backed by former president Donald Trump, framed Doughty, who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, as insufficiently loyal to the Republican Party. Doughty framed Diehl as a sure loser in the general election who is ‘running an Alabama campaign in Massachusetts.’”

DATELINE D.C.

— “Marty Walsh shares Labor office staff salaries; John Kerry does the opposite,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: “[Labor Secretary] Walsh, the former mayor of Boston, is the top earner in his office at $203,100 with others coming in at $183,100 and under. Walsh did bring a few locals down with him — and each is making six figures, according to the documents.”

FROM THE 413

— “A Pittsfield woman's death at the Chicopee regional jail becomes campaign issue in sheriff's race,” by Amanda Burke, Berkshire Eagle: “A Berkshire County woman who was being held at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center died of what officials term natural causes while in custody this month. A challenger for the office of sheriff believes the system failed her.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Homeschooling gains remain even as pandemic wanes,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “Only this month did DESE release updated data on the numbers of homeschoolers and students in private and parochial schools. That data showed that private and parochial school attendance, which had been declining for years pre-pandemic, increased slightly this year to 69,300 students in 2021-2022, compared to 67,900 last year, and 70,100 at the start of the last normal pre-pandemic year. Homeschooling, where the numbers were consistently around 7,500 pre-pandemic, continues to boom.”

— “Worcester City Council votes to support abortion rights, draft ordinance that would regulate crisis pregnancy centers,” by Kiernan Dunlop, MassLive: “Worcester city councilors narrowly voted to investigate regulating crisis pregnancy centers that steer women away from abortion and to stand in support of full abortion rights following a lengthy discussion."

— “Worcester takes next step toward policy to increase affordable housing,” by Sam Turken, GBH News: “Worcester is moving ahead with plans to mandate that a minimum percentage of new housing units within private development projects be affordable for low- and moderate-income households.”

— “Alan Dershowitz’s Martha’s Vineyard Cancellation,” by Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker: “Dershowitz has lately been going on television and Twitter to discuss cancel culture, specifically how he has been shunned on Martha’s Vineyard, his longtime summer getaway. He even released the text of what he said was an e-mail from someone who had been beaten up on the beach for reading one of his books.”

— “Free $50 for college going unclaimed in poorer communities,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “In the tony Boston suburb of Newton, with some of the best schools and highest high school graduation rates in the state, more than a quarter of the babies born the last two years already have college savings accounts in their names, seeded with $50 in public money from a program run by state Treasurer Deb Goldberg. In Lawrence, a poor city that is heavily Latino and immigrant, where students are far less likely to graduate from high school, fewer than 1 percent of babies born since 2020 have those savings accounts.”

— THE BRITISH ARE COMING: “Prince William and Kate Middleton Are Coming to Boston,” by Marc Fortier, NBC10 Boston.

— “In Harvard study of Jan. 6 rioters, top motivation is clear: Trump,” by Ben Collins, Ryan J. Reilly and Jacob Ward, NBC News.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

SPOTTED — among the roughly 500 people at the Communities of Color debates for Suffolk County sheriff, district attorney and Second Suffolk state senator at Hibernian Hall last night: COC’s Darryl Smith and Joe Feaster, WCVB’s Karen Holmes Ward, Boston City Councilors Tania Fernandes Anderson, Julia Mejia, Frank Baker, Ricardo Arroyo and Ruthzee Louijeune, Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden, Sheriff Steve Tompkins, Sandy Zamor Calixte, former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, Kristen Halbert, and state Reps. Russell Holmes, Jon Santiago, Chynah Tyler, Nika Elugardo and Liz Miranda. More from the debates in tomorrow’s Playbook.

ALSO SPOTTED — at President Joe Biden's climate speech in Somerset: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Reps. Jake Auchincloss and Bill Keating, state Senate President Karen Spilka, state House Speaker Ron Mariano, national climate advisor Gina McCarthy and special climate envoy John Kerry.

ICYMI — WBUR anchor Jack Lepiarz cracking the whip on Simon Cowell on "America's Got Talent."

TRANSITIONS — Jordan Maynard has been appointed to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to NBC 10 Boston digital producer Mary Markos, Dracut state Rep. Colleen Garry, former MassDems chair Phil Johnston, Sara Seager and Rachel Nieves.

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: UNSAFE HARBORS — Axios Boston's Mike Deehan breaks down the state budget for hosts Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela. The Boston Globe's Catherine Carlock dives into the recent ruling on Boston's municipal harbor plan. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud .

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