Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Today's specials

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Today's specials

Editor's Note: Massachusetts Playbook has been updated to reflect that the Salem mayor's race is on May 16.

BOSTON’S SHIFTING POLITICS ON THE BALLOT — Two new state representatives will effectively be crowned in today's special elections.

With no Republicans on the ballot in either race, the May 30 general election is expected to be little more than a formality for the Democrats who come out on top in the 9th and 10th Suffolk district primaries.

South End Democrat John Moran is all but certain to take over the 9th Suffolk seat Jon Santiago left to become veterans secretary. Moran's only opponent, Amparo “Chary” Ortiz, dropped out last month and endorsed him.

The 10th Suffolk is more of a battle. Three candidates — Bill MacGregor of West Roxbury, Robert Orthman of Roslindale and Celia Segel of Jamaica Plain — are vying for the seat Ed Coppinger vacated when he joined MassBio in March.

It’s a race that reflects Boston’s changing politics — and that puts the leftward shift seen in the 2021 mayoral and council races to the test in one of the city’s last conservative-leaning bastions.

The West Roxbury-based district, which includes parts of Jamaica Plain and Roslindale and a slice of Brookline, has historically been more conservative than other parts of Boston. And Coppinger was considered a centrist Democrat who was willing to break with his party to back Republican Gov. Charlie Baker in 2014.

But redistricting made the 10th Suffolk more progressive by adding precincts in JP and Roslindale. So, too, has “an increasing progressive-activist presence," said Jon Cohn, policy director at Progressive Massachusetts, which has endorsed Orthman.

Unions have largely lined up behind MacGregor, a loan officer and former chief of staff for past Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley. MacGregor, who's seen as the more moderate pick, has O’Malley and Coppinger’s backing. He's also got support from state Sen. Lydia Edwards, state Reps. Sean Garballey and Christopher Worrell, and former state Rep. Liz Malia.

Progressive groups are pulling for Orthman, the deputy general counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. The Boston Globe Editorial Board is backing Orthman, as are Boston City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune and state Rep. Samantha Montaño.

Reproductive-rights groups are backing Segel, an associate director at the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. She’s also won support from the state’s largest teacher’s union, former Rep. Barney Frank and state lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem and Rep. Russell Holmes.

The condensed timeline of special elections and the low voter turnout they typically bring makes it harder to draw big conclusions from tonight’s results. But the 10th Suffolk still offers an early glimpse into the dynamics that will shape this year’s council races.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll are increasingly getting involved in municipal races. Besides campaigning for Dominick Pangallo in the Salem mayor's race, Driscoll was spotted at Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga’s reelection campaign kickoff.

NOW, FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Healey and Driscoll are endorsing Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn for reelection as she looks to fend off a challenger from the City Council.

Driscoll said in a statement that she’s “been honored” to work alongside Lungo-Koehn and that the Medford mayor has “more than earned another term in office.”

TODAY — Healey is in Maryland for the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Driscoll is acting governor through Wednesday. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu holds a Chinatown coffee hour at 9:30 a.m. and a press conference on Open Streets events at noon in Allston. AG Andrea Campbell addresses the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce at 9:45 a.m. at the Fairmont Copley Plaza.

Rep. Jim McGovern visits Grafton Job Corps at 10:30 a.m. Rep. Richard Neal announces federal funding for Elms College at 11 a.m. Rep. Lori Trahan announces the winner of her district’s Congressional Art Competition at 4:30 p.m. in Chelmsford. Rep. Ayanna Pressley is on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio After Hours” at 6 p.m.

Tips? Scoops? Going to Aerosmith’s farewell tour? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com .

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— ALARM BELLS: The Massachusetts High Technology Council is warning that, per a new legal analysis, the House budget provision that would change Chapter 62F rebates from an income-based formula to a flat amount for each taxpayer is unconstitutional because it’s “effectively taxing income at different rates for different taxpayers.” Read the letter to top lawmakers and the Healey administration.

— “Momentum building for removing another barrier for immigrants,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Magazine: “[M]omentum is starting to build this year behind legislation that would allow undocumented immigrant students to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities.”

— "Little appetite for rent control on Beacon Hill," by Steve Brown, WBUR: "[T]o say the [Boston's home-rule petition] lacks momentum is an understatement. It’s been given a number, and has been assigned to the Joint Committee on Housing. But so far, no other lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors. Many are reluctant to even talk about it."

FROM THE HUB

— “‘We’re just going to come back’: Tents removed at Mass. and Cass as Wu administration sweeps area,” by Sean Cotter, Boston Globe: “Monday at Mass. and Cass began how a weekday typically does: Crews of workers from the city and the area’s business improvement district went tent to tent, encouraging unhoused people living in them to temporarily move so that they could clean the area, which has become an epicenter of the region’s drug and homelessness epidemic. … But starting Monday, in an effort to enforce its anti-encampment policy from January 2022, the city reverted back to no tents allowed.”

— “Boston to close three COVID-19 vaccination and testing sites,” by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe.

PARTY POLITICS

— BATTLE LINES DRAWN: The new chairs of the state Democratic and Republican parties sparred over abortion and the economy on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” yesterday, in a preview of the issues and party-line arguments that are likely to be driving forces in the 2024 election.

MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale claims her party is the one that “stands for freedom.” But both MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan and GBH host Margery Eagan questioned that stance as Republicans move to restrict abortion access in states and nationally.

“[The party platform] does talk about how the issue of abortion is tragic — that a woman is experiencing an abortion is a tragedy, and the Republican Party believes in programs to care for women in that situation,” Carnevale said. When Eagan nodded at data that shows women seeking abortions are often poorer, Carnevale said she’d support “increased efforts” around programs to help them, like SNAP.

Carnevale also declined, again, to distance herself and the state GOP from former President Donald Trump as his legal woes mount. GBH’s Adam Reilly has more .

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “Woman taken to hospital after equipment falls at Harvard T stop,” by Michael Yoshida, 7 News.

DAY IN COURT

— “In a new shift, Massachusetts district attorneys are asking witnesses who are police officers about complaints against them,” by Sean Cotter, Boston Globe: “In a significant shift in the way prosecutors handle police witnesses, district attorneys in Massachusetts are more thoroughly screening officers who testify for the prosecution for any pending complaints against them, underscoring a heightened scrutiny resulting from a recent state court ruling.”

FROM THE 413

— “After ‘ladies’ controversy, Easthampton school officials restart search for leader,” by Luis Fieldman, MassLive: “For now, officials will move forward in installing an interim superintendent in a much more condensed search with the goal of hiring a temporary leader for a year or two. The search for a permanent leader will likely begin again at the start of the new school year or in the winter.”

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THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “People leaving Mass. jumped 72% in 2021,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Massachusetts saw its outward migration of taxpayers and income skyrocket by nearly 72% in 2021, according to newly released Census data. Massachusetts’ net loss of adjusted gross income to other states grew from $2.5 billion in 2020 to $4.3 billion in 2021, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service data. More than 67% of the outward migration was to income tax-free Florida and New Hampshire, with a combined net loss of 12,700 residents leaving for those two states, according to the IRS.”

— “FBI affidavit: ‘Good cause’ to believe Mass. National Guard member may have more classified records,” by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: “A Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of violating the Espionage Act for posting classified military secrets online may have more documents at two addresses where he lives in Dighton, investigators said in court papers.”

— "Cambridge will start giving low-income families $500 cash monthly," by Zeninjor Enwemeka, WBUR.

— “JP Morgan’s acquisition of First Republic may put it among the top banks in Mass.,” by Meera Raman, Boston Business Journal.

— "Why JPMorgan’s deal for a failing bank has Elizabeth Warren upset," by Ben White, POLITICO.

— “The drag show during North Brookfield's Pride celebration will go on,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News.

— “‘Move to Cape Cod’ bumper sticker riles affordable housing proponents on Nantucket,” by Abby Patkin, Boston.com.

MEDIA MATTERS

— “Boston Globe Media Partners is sued over sports betting deal; Globe calls it a ‘meritless suit’,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “Boston Globe Media Partners is facing a lawsuit over a sports betting deal with a Danish company, which claims the Globe owes it more than $750,000 after the multimedia organization apparently broke the contract and went with DraftKings instead.”

2024 WATCH

— TRAIL MARKERS: Former President Donald Trump returns to the Granite State next week for a CNN town hall at Saint Anselm College, in what our colleague Alex Isenstadt reports is an implicit rebuke of Fox News .

Businessman Perry Johnson was at Saint Anselm on Monday , while Vivek Ramaswamy is on his second bus tour of the state.

— TRUMP PAC ENTERS THE CHAT: Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. is looking to get up on the airwaves in New Hampshire, buying about $657,600 in ad time, per tracker AdImpact.

— GOV RACE TAKES SHAPE: Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig is taking a big step toward running for New Hampshire governor in 2024. And the Democrats’ 2022 nominee, former state Sen. Tom Sherman , is out, per WMUR .

Craig formed an exploratory committee Monday led by former Gov. John Lynch and his wife, Susan Lynch , as the Democrat takes aim at potential presidential hopeful Gov. Chris Sununu ’s seat.

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

— “Inside the multi-car pileup to replace Cicilline,” by Madison Fernandez, POLITICO.

— “In Maine village, locals ponder future of summer resident Tucker Carlson following ouster from Fox News,” by Shannon Larson, Boston Globe.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Zach Donah will succeed Amy Pitter as president and CEO of MassCPAs in January. Donah has been promoted to deputy CEO.

— Meghan Martinez will serve as director of Cyber Range Programs for CyberTrust Massachusetts.

— Boston Herald Patriots columnist Karen Guregian is joining MassLive later this month as a Patriots columnist and supervising reporter. Sean McAdam is also joining MassLive as a baseball columnist and supervising reporter.

— Boston Globe climate reporter Dharna Noor has joined The Guardian as a fossil fuels and climate reporter.

— Manatt, Phelps & Phillips partners Joan Lukey and Marty Murphy have joined the firm’s trial, white collar and investigations practice in Boston.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to SHNS alum and chief of external affairs for A&F Matt Murphy , former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, Boston Herald alum Alexi Iafrato and Push Digital’s T.W. Arrighi . Happy belated birthday to Jessica Bradley Rushing and to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’ s beloved pup Bailey , who got his burrito .

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