Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: 5 takeaways from Sununu's Haley endorsement

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: 5 takeaways from Sununu's Haley endorsement

With help from Mia McCarthy

SUNUNU HOPS ON THE HALEY BANDWAGON — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has bestowed his coveted presidential endorsement on Nikki Haley.

Political endorsements don’t matter the way they once did. But the support of the scion of one of the first-in-the-nation primary state’s powerful political families is a shot of adrenaline for the former South Carolina governor. And the effects could ripple beyond state lines. Here are five takeaways from Haley and Sununu’s big night :

— THE ANTI-TRUMP VOTE: Sununu gave a lot of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters who don’t want Donald Trump back in the White House a sign as to which Republican he believes has the best chance against the former president. But he’s also helping further splinter the anti-Trump movement by backing Haley while another early state governor, Kim Reynolds in Iowa, is supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump remains far and away the frontrunner in early state and national polls, despite his mounting legal troubles.

— SUNUNU’S TRACK RECORD: The candidates Sununu picks in GOP primaries don’t tend to win — a fact the governor and his new endorsee were reminded of last night. Sununu’s selections against Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster and Sen. Maggie Hassan last year both lost their primaries to Trump-aligned contenders. But Haley shrugged that off: “What I care [about] is that he’s won four terms here, and he knows New Hampshire like the back of his hand.”

— NATIONAL VS. STATE INFLUENCE: Veteran GOP operative Jim Merrill put it best: Sununu’s endorsement could matter more nationally than within New Hampshire. Haley is “earning the support of the most popular and successful Republican of his generation up here. It’s going to give her a real shot in the arm in New Hampshire,” Merrill told Playbook. “But it also gives her a national surrogate, who I’m sure you’re going to see on the Sunday shows and talking to donors.”

— THE IOWA EFFECT: Rival campaigns were quick to downplay the significance of Sununu’s endorsement. DeSantis’ campaign argued the results from Iowa, where the Florida governor is polling better than Haley, will sway Granite State voters.

Yes and no. Iowa isn’t known for picking the people who end up winning their parties’ nominations. But candidates who do well in the Iowa caucuses can ride that bump into a better finish in New Hampshire. Just look at Ted Cruz, the staunch conservative senator from Texas who leveraged an Iowa win in 2016 into a third-place finish in far more moderate New Hampshire. But it was Trump who won New Hampshire’s GOP primary that year — and kept winning. So, even that effect is limited.

— INDEPENDENTS DAY: Sununu’s endorsement could be particularly damaging to Christie , who is staking his campaign almost entirely on New Hampshire and who, like Haley, garners a lot of interest from moderate Republicans and independents who can pull ballots in the GOP primary. Sununu will now be working to draw those voters to Haley — and away from his longtime friend, Christie.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . If Haley wins the GOP presidential nomination, would Sununu be her VP? "Hard pass," he told reporters last night in Manchester. "I just want to help."

Nikki Haley and Chris Sununu have forged a new partnership six weeks before New Hampshire's key presidential primary. | Robert F. Bukaty/AP

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey holds a swearing-in ceremony for Maj. Gen. Gary W. Keefe at 10 a.m. in her office. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll chairs a Governor’s Council meeting at noon. Healey, Driscoll and Senate President Karen Spilka attend the State House menorah lighting at 5 p.m.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ve reached the last week of Playbooks for the year! Send us all those tips and scoops you’ve been holding onto: lkashinsky@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com .

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Citing inequity in child care, state officials endorse new subsidy rate for providers,” by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe: “State officials are proposing to revamp how they divvy up money to reimburse child care centers that provide child care to poor children in Massachusetts, resulting in more money across the board for the state’s struggling and long-overlooked child care industry. The changes will begin to address ‘some long-standing inequity’ for the roughly 56 percent of child-care providers in the state who accept children that receive state subsidies, state Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw told the Globe.”

— “Healey plans to file economic development bill next year as revenues draw concern,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey said her administration is prepping a wide-ranging economic development bill to file early next year as Massachusetts’s revenue picture continues to draw concern. The exact details of the proposal are still scarce outside of a 66-page statutorily required economic development plan Healey released last week and promoted to the public during a Tuesday afternoon event inside the State House."

— “Everett soccer stadium still on the table; senator vows to file standalone bill,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald: “Don’t rule out a dilapidated industrial site in Everett being transformed into a soccer stadium just yet. State Sen. Sal DiDomenico has vowed to file a standalone bill at the State House that would contain language to help kickstart construction of a soccer stadium and waterfront park along the Mystic River, removing the 43-acre site as a Designated Port Area.”

2024 WATCH

FILL IN THE (BALLOT) BLANKS — Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Thomas Moakley is preparing to run for state Rep. Dylan Fernandes ' House seat as the Woods Hole Democrat looks to replace state Sen. Susan Moran (D-Falmouth), who has said she won’t run again in 2024 to pursue a county court job. Moakley, a Falmouth Democrat, is running “to join a new generation of leaders” who emphasize issues like climate change, reproductive freedom, housing and the opioid epidemic, he said in a statement announcing his bid.

FROM THE HUB

— “Unclear target for Boston’s housing goals,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “In a Monday briefing with reporters on changes to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, Mayor Michelle Wu and planning chief Arthur Jemison were leery about offering long-term production goals even as they referred to policies that would drive 'a very large number' of units year over year. The reluctance to set a specific goal marks a sharp departure from her two predecessors, who regularly paraded out ambitious housing targets.”

— “Boston City Hall roiled by email party invitation for ‘electeds of color’ sent to all,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: " A Wu administration official, on behalf of the mayor, mistakenly sent all Boston city councilors an email Tuesday inviting them to a holiday party that was meant exclusively for “electeds of color,” prompting an apology and mixed reactions."

— “Ahead of possible vote, City Council drills down on details of police patrolmen’s contract,” by Danny McDonald, The Boston Globe.

STATE OF THE CITY — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will deliver her second State of the City address on Jan. 9 at MGM Music Hall.

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

BOSTONIAN(S) OF THE YEAR — Last year it was Celtics legend Bill Russell . This year, The Boston Globe is honoring the “Beleaguered, Intrepid, Absolutely Essential MBTA Commuters ,” with its Bostonians of the Year award. “These commuters are the red blood cells traveling the arteries of our city’s beating heart,” the Globe’s Janelle Nanos writes.

DAY IN COURT

— “Verdict in federal trial: Former troopers found guilty of OT fraud, all counts,” by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: “A federal jury Tuesday convicted two former state troopers, including one from Westborough, of all the charges they faced regarding allegations they orchestrated more than $130,000 in federal overtime theft.”

FROM THE DELEGATION

— “Richie Neal wants to make a deal,” by Gintautas Dumcius, CommonWealth Beacon: “Lawmakers are considering an aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants to include restrictive changes to border security, a notion that has drawn pushback from some Democrats. Neal insisted that there could be an opening for an agreement with congressional Democrats and the White House."

FROM THE 413

— “30 percent of profs call for Amherst College to divest from firms making money from Gaza campaign,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “A call for Amherst College to divest from companies that could be making money off the Israel-Hamas war is being issued by 60 faculty members, who contend in a letter that Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack violates international humanitarian law and constraints on a just war. The academics sent the two-page letter to President Michael Elliott and members of the trustees on Dec. 4.”

— “Greenfield shelter complaints aired at Human Rights Commission meeting,” by Mary Byrne, Greenfield Recorder: “A handful of guests, both past and present, of the homeless shelter on Wells Street appeared before the Human Rights Commission on Monday night to offer their support for complaints filed by two brothers against Clinical & Support Options (CSO), which manages the shelter.”

MEANWHILE IN RHODE ISLAND

“‘Unexpected and unacceptable’: RI lawmakers want answers about sudden bridge closure,” by Eli Sherman, Tim White and Ted Nesi, WPRI.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

SPOTTED ON CAPITOL HILL — Former New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski … and one of your Patriots-obsessed Playbook scribes running down three flights of stairs to get this selfie with him . Gronkowski met with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Tuesday and was lobbying for a Valley fever research bill , he told our Mia McCarthy (while she tried not to freak out). The former tight end was also too tall for the Capitol Hill basement tunnels, McCarthy reports.

NEW THIS MORNING — Veteran Democratic strategist Greg Maynard is launching the Boston Policy Institute, a new think tank aimed at making state and local policy more accessible to Massachusetts residents. Joe Caiazzo , another veteran Democratic operative, will be the organization’s spokesperson.

TRANSITIONS — Rebecca Herst is the new associate director for resilience at the Boston Green Ribbon Commission. She had been the director of the Sustainable Solutions Lab at UMass Boston.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Boston state Sen. Lydia Edwards and Nancy Fitzpatrick.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: Monday’s edition said Josh Kraft bought property in Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s district. He did not.

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