Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Georgia on their minds ... again

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Georgia on their minds ... again

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PEACHY KEEN — Bay Staters are going all-in for another Georgia U.S. Senate runoff.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey joined President Joe Biden for a fundraiser for incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock at the swanky Beacon Hill abode of Jim and Cathy Stone on Friday. The DSCC event came after the trio helped union members make calls to Georgia voters from the IBEW Local 103 in Dorchester.

In other Massachusetts connections, Sydney Levin-Epstein, a local Democratic operative who lost her 413 state Senate bid this fall, is in Georgia serving as Warnock’s national events director. Embattled MassGOP Chair Jim Lyons is also getting in on the action, calling on Republicans to funnel money toward GOP nominee Herschel Walker — though he listed the wrong day for the election in one of his fundraising emails (it’s Tuesday).

And UMass Lowell is out today with a new poll of the Peach State showing Warnock slightly ahead of Walker. The Democrat leads the Republican 51 percent to 46 percent in the poll of 1,300 likely voters conducted Nov. 18-28 with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. Warnock led Walker by less than one point in the November election — an indication tomorrow’s results will be close. Emerson College also showed a tight race in its late November poll .

President Joe Biden speaks on the phone while visiting a phone bank at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, in Boston. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks on a phone at right. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) | AP

Biden laid out the runoff stakes in simple terms when he was here Friday. Right now, control of the Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris giving Democrats the edge through her tie-breaking votes. Democrats and the independents who caucus with them won 50 seats in the November election, while Republicans won 49. If Walker wins the Georgia runoff, the power balance in the Senate remains as it is now while the House shifts to Republican control in January. If Warnock holds his seat, Democrats gain a little wiggle room after, as Biden put it at the IBEW, navigating the demands of “50 presidents” within their own party — hint: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — for the past two years. “We need that 51st seat,” the president said.

But the Warnock element of Biden’s visit was largely overshadowed by his meeting with Prince William and the protest he faced over his controversial deal to avert a potentially crippling freight rail workers’ strike. A couple hundred rail workers and advocates, organized by the local Democratic Socialists of America, picketed outside the JFK Library where the president was meeting the prince. And they provided an intriguing split screen with the show of union support Biden was putting on over at the IBEW, where he got a warm welcome, as his administration works to soothe its relationships with the rail unions.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell is rolling out her transition team today, a diverse group of office alums, former mayors, ex-law enforcement officials, criminal justice advocates and partners at major local firms. It’s chaired by former first assistant attorneys general Mary Strother and Stephanie Lovell, former Suffolk District Attorney Ralph Martin and Brent Henry, health care partner at Mintz.

The transition team — directed by Campbell campaign manager Will Stockton — consists of a hiring committee and a “Ready on Day One” committee split into five subcommittees focused on different bureaus of the attorney general’s office.

Notable names include Lawyers for Civil Rights Executive Director Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal; state Sen. Lydia Edwards; former Plymouth DA candidate Rahsaan Hall; former state Sen. Ben Downing and Michael Curry of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, who both serve on Gov.-elect Maura Healey’s transition team; former state Sen. Barbara L’Italien, now the executive director of the Disability Law Center; and Environmental League of Massachusetts President Elizabeth Turnbull Henry.

TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attend a South Coast Rail ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. in Assonet. Polito and EEA Secretary Beth Card announce the creation of the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation at 4 p.m. at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton.

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

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Getting our ‘Fair Share’ will take unified approach, lawmakers say,” by Nino Mtchedlishvili, BU Statehouse Program/Berkshire Eagle: “Western Massachusetts lawmakers say they need a unified approach to advocate for their communities’ needs creatively and persuasively as decisions are made on Beacon Hill on how to divvy up the money that will be generated by passage of the Fair Share Amendment.”

FROM THE HUB

Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, greet U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry as they attend the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway, in Boston, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (Brian Snyder/Pool Photo via AP) | AP

— ROLLING OUT THE GREEN CARPET: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ trip across the pond culminated Friday evening with their Earthshot Prize awards ceremony at the MGM Music Hall in Fenway. The red carpet was green. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu wore a sustainable gown made of 1970s rug yarns with audio cassette tape woven into the fabric and a sash made of repurposed fallen umbrellas. Five international climate innovators won $1.2 million (1 million pounds) apiece to help expand their work . David Beckham, Catherine O’Hara, Rami Malek, Shailene Woodley, Daniel Dae Kim, Ellie Goulding, Chloe x Halle and Annie Lennox presented or performed. Billie Eilish, to the dismay of many, videoed her performance in. Former Massachusetts governor and current Utah Sen. Mitt Romney shaved his beard.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and her husband Conor Pewarski pose for a photo as they arrive at the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at the MGM Music Hall, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) | AP

The royals entered the room to someone in the audience apparently shouting "Free Ireland," but it was quickly followed by a scream of "We love you, Kate." The ceremony opened with a land acknowledgment from a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. While most of Massachusetts’ big names were seated at tables on the first floor, Romney was at a table on the second-floor balcony, POLITICO’s Ally Mutnick writes in. The Boston Globe’s Mark Shanahan and the Boston Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter have more details.

Massachusetts Gov.-elect Maura Healey, center right, sits at The Earthshot Prize Awards at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway, in Boston, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool) | AP

— SPOTTED at the Earthshot awards: presidential climate envoy John Kerry and his daughter, Vanessa; Romney and his wife, Ann; Gov. Charlie Baker and his wife, Lauren; Wu and her husband, Conor Pewarski; Gov.-elect Maura Healey and her sister, Caitlin Healey; Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell ; Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her son and daughter; Sen. Ed Markey, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn, Boston City Councilor Kenzie Bok, state Sen. Lydia Edwards at the bar with fellow East Boston state Rep. Adrian Madaro and City Councilor Gigi Coletta; state Reps. Rob Consalvo, Jeff Roy and Andy Vargas; Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, Miss Massachusetts Katrina Kincade, BPDA Chief Arthur Jemison, former Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley and former Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone (h/t Mutnick and Cotter).

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PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “Walsh helped avoid a rail strike, but now must mend Biden administration relations with angry unions,” by Jim Puzzanghera and Jackie Kucinich, Boston Globe: “Despite the disappointment and anger from some rail workers and labor advocates — including about 200 who protested the deal outside an appearance by Biden in Boston Friday — [Labor Secretary Marty] Walsh said the [agreement with the rail unions] still represented a victory for unions [despite the lack of paid sick leave]. ‘It’s definitely a win because when we first got involved in this, this contract wasn’t going anywhere,’ he said in an interview. He noted that the five-year deal, retroactive to 2020, includes a total pay raise of 24 percent and improved health care benefits. But Walsh has work to do to smooth over relations with organized labor after forcing a deal on union members who had voted to reject it.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Katherine Clark, the House Democratic whip-elect, both faced questions about the rail deal on the Sunday politics shows. Warren, who voted against the deal because it didn't include additional paid sick days, told WCVB's "On the Record" that "the issue is not gone. I, along with a lot of other senators, said we have to stay on this question about forcing people to work sick and injured."

Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether she was "comfortable" with Democrats passing a bill preventing the addition of more sick time, Clark said it's a "national shame that we do not have paid sick leave in this country as a national policy for every single worker" and that her party would continue to push for it.

— “MassDOT, Amtrak, CSX seek $108 million in rail improvements between Springfield and Worcester,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “The state Department of Transportation and rail companies Amtrak and CSX Corp. applied [last] week for $108 million in federal transportation money to help fund improvements along the 53 miles of railroad between Springfield and Worcester. Once the improvements happen, the plan is to add two daily Amtrak trips between Boston, Worcester and Springfield as a first phase of east-west rail.”

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YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

— “Mass. 2022 midterm: Why did the poorest communities have a low voter turnout?” by Alvin Buyinza, MassLive: “In cities with high poverty rates like Lynn, New Bedford and Lawrence, no more than 35% of voters cast their vote in the midterm election. Meanwhile, in wealthy communities like Eastham, Carlisle and Mount Washington over 70% of registered voters turned out to the polls. Officials in some of the state’s poorest areas cite a high number of uncontested races in their municipality as one of the root causes behind their low voter turnout.”

DAY IN COURT

— “Former Natick official to serve 15 days in jail for her part in the Jan. 6 attack,” by Deborah Becker, WBUR: “The former Natick town official charged with participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol has been sentenced to 15 days in jail. Suzanne Ianni was sentenced in federal court in Washington, D.C. Friday for charges of entering the Capitol building last year to protest President Biden's election. She will have to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving the sentence. The date for her to report has not been set.”

— “Fall River city councilor seeks to have felony charges dropped in 'love triangle' case,” by Jo C. Goode, Herald News: “The obstruction and harassment case against City Councilor Pam Laliberte continues as a Fall River district court judge decides on her request to drop two felony charges and send the remaining misdemeanor counts to be handled in a closed-door magistrate clerk’s hearing. However, the Bristol County District Attorney’s office wants to pursue the felony charges against Laliberte, who was City Council president until the news of the criminal case against her emerged publicly.”

— “Man charged for allegedly voting in Mass. and N.H. in 2016 election,” by Adam Sennott, Boston Globe: “A man who has residences in Massachusetts and New Hampshire has been indicted for allegedly voting in each state during the 2016 presidential election, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella’s office."

PARTY POLITICS

— “MassGOP leadership race heats up, with some candidates vowing to forgo $100G salary to get job done,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “MassGOP Chair Jim Lyons rakes in roughly $100,000 per year as leader of a party that failed to win a single statewide election this November, a salary that two candidates eyeing his job vowed not to take amid the state committee’s fundraising difficulties. ‘I have made a commitment to do the job without a salary,’ said Amy Carnevale, a longtime MassGOP committee member who is mulling a run for chair. Jon Fetherston, a former chair of the Ashland Republican Town Committee and longtime host of the ‘All Politics is Local’ podcast, said he would also forgo a salary and work the chair position as a volunteer.”

JOIN WEDNESDAY FOR A POLITICO DISCUSSION ON THE NEW TRAVEL EXPERIENCE : Americans are now traveling in record numbers — but the travel experience has changed drastically in recent years, not always for the better. What lessons can we learn from the pandemic and different responses around the globe? And in the face of a possible recession, what will help the travel industry remain vibrant and deliver jobs? Join POLITICO on Dec. 7 for “The Travel Experience Redefined” to discuss these questions and more. Breakfast and coffee will be provided. REGISTER HERE .

FROM THE 413

— “Pittsfield councilors want answers on whether a cell tower could be making people ill,” by Meg Britton-Mehlisch, Berkshire Eagle: “After months of silence — and the launch of a lawsuit with several city defendants — the Pittsfield City Council is wading back into the longstanding dispute between Verizon Wireless and Shacktown residents who say a cell tower makes them sick. [Last] week, the majority of city councilors voted to support petitions that ask either Mayor Linda Tyer or Council President Peter Marchetti to send letters to state and federal representatives asking them to advocate that the Federal Communications Commission reevaluate its radiofrequency exposure limits.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Massachusetts enacted its most ambitious housing law in decades. Now the hard part is enforcing it,” by Andrew Brinker, Boston Globe: “John Gollinger is scrambling. Two months ago, Gollinger, the executive director of the Waltham Housing Authority, learned that the state is cutting its contribution to his budget next year by more than $300,000. … Even more perplexing than the cuts, Gollinger says, is the reason for them: Waltham’s failure to comply with early procedural requirements of the state’s new MBTA Communities law, an ambitious effort to tackle Massachusetts’ housing crisis by mandating new multifamily zoning in communities served by the MBTA.”

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

— FITN IN JEOPARDY: "DNC moves forward with dramatic change to presidential primary calendar," by Elena Schneider, POLITICO: "Members of the party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, charged with recommending a new calendar, gave a near-unanimous vote of approval on Friday for [President Joe] Biden’s proposal, with only minor tweaks to the dates and two ‘no’ votes from Iowa and New Hampshire members. The revised proposal would see South Carolina host the first 2024 presidential primary on Feb. 3, a Saturday, followed three days later by New Hampshire and Nevada. Georgia would then hold an early primary on Feb. 13, and Michigan would hold its contest on Feb. 27. Iowa would be out of the early lineup altogether. ... [The proposal could] spell the end for New Hampshire, as Democrats there threaten to still hold their presidential primary first, a move they insist they must do to comply with state law."

— NOT RUNNING: New Hampshire GOP Chair Steve Stepanek, a former Trump campaign co-chair in the Granite state, says he won't seek a third term leading the party. State party Vice Chair Pamela Tucker is also stepping down. Stepanek was likely to face a leadership challenge after Republicans lost key races.

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HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Jennifer Benson is stepping down as president of the Alliance for Business Leadership to “pursue a new opportunity supporting Massachusetts’ growing clean energy industry,” according to the ABL. Benson will continue to serve on ABL’s Climate and Energy Council.

— New York state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett is leaving in January to return to Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, per The Associated Press .

— Jeff Cohen will start as WBUR's managing producer of local news shows in January.

— POLITICO's Shannon Young, a #mapoli alum, is joining Morning Brew as a health care reporter.

— Business Journals' higher education editor Hilary Burns is joining the Boston Globe as a higher ed reporter.

— Elana Ross is now director of strategic comms at the Health Resources and Services Administration at HHS. She previously was deputy comms director for Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Merrilee Rogers of Rep. Jake Auchincloss' office, Ellen Parker, Simon Jerome and Greg Timilty. Happy belated to MassLive's Alison Kuznitz and the Boston Globe’s Jackie Kucinich, who celebrated Sunday.

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