CASHING IN — Money isn’t everything, but how much candidates have stashed in their campaign accounts can give a glimpse into where things stand in state legislative and district races that are otherwise hard to get a good read on.
Primary elections are less than a month from today, and while most incumbents won’t face opponents this fall, there are a handful of primaries that could get interesting. Here’s what the latest campaign finance reports show about the state of play in some of them:
BOSTON’S PROXY BATTLE: The race for a little-known court position has split the city’s politicians along its usual dividing lines (traditional Boston politicians vs. new, more progressive leaders), as long-time attorney Allison Cartwright and Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy face off in the Democratic primary for Suffolk County Supreme Judicial Court clerk.
Murphy, who started the race in March with $16,225 in her account after her successful council reelection bid last year, still holds the cash advantage with $49,531 on hand. But Cartwright is closing in. She has $43,924 in the bank and posted her biggest haul yet ($28,084) last month.
NEWTON COUNCILORS COMPETE: In the three-way contest between one former and two current Newton city councilors vying to replace outgoing state Rep. Ruth Balser, Councilor Rick Lipof has the most money available, with $35,169. Councilor Bill Humphrey is slightly behind Lipof, with $28,468 on hand, while former City Councilor Greg Schwartz has $14,785 banked (Unlike his competitors who currently hold office, Schwartz had to reopen his campaign account in February after dissolving it in 2023).
GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL REMATCH: This race is probably one of the few reasons you’ve heard of the Governor’s Council, a relatively obscure eight-member body tasked with interviewing and approving the governor’s judicial nominees. Mara Dolan, a public defender and former legislative aide, is again attempting to unseat District 3 Governor’s Councilor Marilyn Devaney after coming just shy of victory in 2022. With $59,781 on hand at the end of last month, Dolan has a serious lead over Devaney, who reported just $627 in her campaign account.
These receipts matter for more than just showing the power of incumbency — or simply already holding elected office — heading into a crucial contest. More money in the bank means more money available to spend on mailers, advertising and campaign lit at a critical juncture. Winning the money race doesn’t always translate to winning the election — but it sure can help make it more likely.
GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The economic development bill isn’t dead yet.
After Gov. Maura Healey ramped up the public pressure on legislative leaders Friday, both Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano said they would be willing to call a special session to pass the bill, including bond authorizations.
"The economic development bond money and legislation are extremely important to Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement Friday afternoon, calling the bill “absolutely essential for economic growth and development,” and imploring both chambers to get back to work on passing it as soon as possible.
“The people of Massachusetts deserve it and are counting on us,” she added.
Not long after, Spilka was out with her own statement: “The Senate is ready to return to work and pass this critical economic development bond authorization — and we are prepared to call a special formal session to get it done.”
Mariano quickly followed — agreeing to a special session, though seemingly with a caveat. The House he said is “prepared to return for a special session” when both chambers reach an agreement on a bill that “fully invests in the life sciences sector and that makes the additional, critical investments [that] we have consistently pursued.”
When that session could happen is still unclear, after the marathon Wednesday night/Thursday session left lawmakers on both sides of the table dismayed. But as state Sen. Lydia Edwards said on WCVB’s “On the Record” Sunday, “it ain’t over til it’s over.”
TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have no public events. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at the opening of McGann Park at 11 a.m. in Hyde park and joins the Boston Police Department for “National Night Out” starting at 3:15 p.m. in Brighton. Attorney General Andrea Campbell joins the National Black Prosecutors Association Annual Conference’s Chief Prosecutors Roundtable at 11 a.m. in Boston and joins youth from the city’s Courageous Sailing program for a boat ride at 2 p.m. in Charlestown. Sen. Ed Markey attends a groundbreaking for Navigator Homes at 12:15 p.m. in Edgartown.
Massachusetts Uber and Lyft drivers will now earn at least $32.50 while working on the app, making them some of the highest paid drivers in the country. This new rate sets a high standard for driver pay across the nation. Go deeper.
— “Massachusetts tenants may now get the chance to wipe their eviction records,”by Alexi Cohan, GBH News: “Tenants in Massachusetts who struggle to find housing due to a prior eviction may now get the chance to have those records sealed. The Legislature’s newly passed housing bond bill includes a provision that would allow tenants to petition a court to seal their eviction record in cases such as a no-fault eviction, a dismissed case, or a case the tenant won.”
*****STEWARD******
— “Healey’s dilemma: How to help Steward hospitals without helping Steward,”by Robert Weisman, The Boston Globe: “The bankruptcy of Steward Health Care presents Governor Maura Healey’s administration with a dilemma: How to rescue a half-dozen cash-starved hospitals, which serve low-income patients across Eastern Massachusetts, without aiding executives who enriched themselves while presiding over the health system’s collapse. That dilemma will hang over a Tuesday hearing on a plan for Massachusetts to advance $30 million in interim funding until the hospitals are sold. The funds are conditioned on Steward finalizing the sales of the hospitals before it runs out of money and shuts them down.”
RELATED — “Steward to lay off nearly 1,250 workers as it closes two hospitals in Mass.,”by Laura Crimaldi, The Boston Globe: “Steward Health Care has notified the state that nearly 1,250 workers will lose their jobs as the bankrupt company moves to close acute care hospitals in Dorchester and Ayer by the end of the month. The notices said 753 workers at Carney Hospital and 490 workers at Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be out of work.”
During unprecedented times, POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy. Live briefings, policy trackers, and and people intelligence secures your seat at the table. Learn more.
YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — 1199SEIU is rolling out a slate of endorsements for five candidates running in open seat primaries next month. The labor union is backing Leigh Davis in the Third Berkshire District, Arielle Faria for the Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket District seat, Bill Humphrey in the 12th Middlesex District, Bridget Plouffe in the Ninth Plymouth District and one candidate for state Senate: Barry Sanders, who is running for the Third Bristol and Plymouth District seat.
— The American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts is endorsing Milton Select Board member Erin Bradley in her campaign for the open state Senate seat in the Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol District.
MELROSE FOR HARRIS — A group of Melrose pols is putting on their own Harris Victory Fund fundraiser later this month. The event, featuring Melrose Mayor Jen Grigoraitis, state Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian and former Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur, among others, is as much about raising awareness as it is about raising money, Brodeur told Playbook.
WELD WATCH — Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is among the Republicans boosting Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign through the “Republicans for Harris” program the campaign launched Sunday.
“Donald Trump belongs nowhere near the White House. With democracy hanging in the balance in this election, I’m standing with Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump and his attacks on our democratic institutions,” Weld, who took Trump on in the primary in 2020, said in a statement.
MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS
— “57 migrant families at overflow shelters given eviction notices, must leave by Friday,”by Helena Getahun-Hawkins, Beatriz Cabral Leite, Nick Stoico and Mike Damiano, The Boston Globe: “Massachusetts overflow shelters informed 57 migrant families on Thursday that they had to leave their shelters by Aug. 9, according to a spokesperson for Governor Maura Healey. The first round of verbal and written notices were given to families who had stayed in the shelters the longest, said Karissa Hand, the spokesperson. Some of these families were reticketed, meaning the Healey administration provided them with a plane or bus ticket to travel within or outside Massachusetts to a location where they might have a place to stay.”
— “Wu warns she'll block attempts to re-develop Carney property for anything other than 'health care',”by Bill Forry, The Dorchester Reporter: “Mayor Wu has put Carney Hospital’s landlord on notice: She wants the hospital site to continue to be used for health care and plans to block any attempt to ‘capitalize on the closure of Carney Hospital by redeveloping the property.’ In a letter sent on Thursday, Wu warned Edward Aldag, the chairman and CEO of Medical Properties Trust (MPT)— the company that owns the Carney campus on Dorchester Avenue— that she’ll make sure city planning boards shoot down any future efforts to demolish the hospital buildings and replace it with housing or any other re-use.”
— “Providence bishop set to succeed O’Malley in Boston,”by Ted Nesi, WRPI: “Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Richard Henning is set to be named the new archbishop of Boston, less than two years after he arrived in Rhode Island, 12 News has learned. … Rocco Palmo, a well-sourced Vatican expert, reportedon social media that the announcement will take place in Boston on Monday. Henning, 59, will replace Cardinal Sean O’Malley, one of the most prominent prelates in the United States and a close ally of Pope Francis. O’Malley, 80, at one time served as bishop of Fall River, where he dealt with the fallout from the sex abuse crisis.
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FROM THE DELEGATION
MassLive deserves a shout out for their reporting!
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey speaks at a press conference on the Affordable Connectivity Program at Lynn Public Library on Tuesday, Feb. 20. (Tréa Lavery, MassLive)Tréa Lavery/MassLive
The bill, which passed 91-3, has been pushed by parents of children who died by suicide after online bullying or have otherwise been harmed by online content, The Associated Press reported.
It would, among other things, force companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on online platforms frequently used by minors, requiring them to exercise “duty of care” and ensure that they generally default to the safest settings possible, the wire service further reported.
The bill faces an uncertain fate in the majority-Republican House, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, has not signaled whether he intends to bring it to a vote, NBC News reported.
The New York Times reported that the bill, dubbed “COPPA 2.0," faces stiff opposition from industry interests. There also are free speech concerns. That’s despite U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy calling for tighter controls over social media because of the mental health threat it poses to many young Americans.
The conversation with Markey below has been lightly edited for content and clarity.
Q:This bill attempts to hold social media companies more accountable for the harm they cause. As a practical matter, what will that look like under this legislation?
Markey: “This is the first tech legislation to pass in 26 years. The last time any tech legislation passed was ... the [first] Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in 1998. Because of the tech industry, we could only [cover] kids under 13 [years old]. That was back when only birds tweeted, and the ‘Gram was a measurement of weight.”
“The world is changing, and we need stronger protections. I introduced this bill 13 years ago. What my bill, passed in the Senate does, is ... it bans any targeted advertising to teenagers or children in our country; it will give parents and teens an ‘eraser button’ to erase the data companies gather, and it will require consent from teens before social media companies can gather their data in the first place.”
“It has never been more important to protect our young people’s privacy.”
Q: It’s unclear what will happen to the bill in the House. How do you convince people to support it and get past the industry’s significant objections?
Markey: “The Senate’s vote is the result of the relentless and passionate efforts of parents across the country. We would not be here without them. Those voices now will be heard in the House of Representatives. We can’t wait another generation for a safer and healthier ecosystem for kids under 17.
“There’s a [mental health] crisis in this country, and it’s very important to get this bill onto President [Joe] Biden’s desk this year.”
Q: Closer to home, a federal bankruptcy judge has approved Steward Health Care’s request to close Carney Hospital in Dorchester, and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. There is some movement afoot from Boston City Council to save Carney. As a practical matter, what can you do, if anything, to save one or both of these facilities?
Markey: “Steward and private equity put Massachusetts into an impossible situation. They should pay for the consequences of their action. Every minute a patient has to wait longer; every job loss is due to their greed.
“Steward must comply with the law,” mandating a 120-day notice period. “Their self-made crisis should not exempt them from how to address these hospital closures.”
Q: Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to introduce her running mate at a rally in Philadelphia next week. One can draw a likely inference there about her pick. Who’s your favorite? She also locked up the nomination on Friday afternoon. What does she have to do now?
Markey: “In the same way that President Kennedy made the right decision in putting Lyndon B. Johnson on the ticket in 1960, and Joe Biden made the right decision in putting Kamala Harris on the ballot in 2020, I know that Vice President Harris will make the right decision on who she thinks is best on getting to 270 Electoral College votes.”
“We need to have [the] ability to capture all the energy that already has been unleashed by the announcement of Kamala Harris as our candidate for president.
“That means that young people, communities of color; women, especially women, are concerned about the Dobbs decision and access to abortion, all rise up to have a dramatic increase in the turnout at the polls.
“This whole race has now been Etch-A-Sketched, and the energy and enthusiasm we saw in the first two weeks, will continue in the next 94 days. She is a historic candidate. She has the X factor, the ‘it’ quality that is exciting voters, especially independent voters. It will lead to victory in November, as long as we work hard to get that vote out.”
Q: New York Times polling in June showed Democrats leading in key Senate races in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. A separate analysis by CNN last month showed that nine of the top 10 seats likely to flip are held by Democrats (or independents who caucus with Democrats). Given that tough map, can Democrats hold onto the Senate? What will it take?
Markey: “We have an energized base, and will have to work hard to get the vote out ... We can’t rest until Election Day. We have to work hard.”
Q: Are you watching the Olympics? Any favorite events?
Markey: “I am watching anything Massachusetts-related. I want more playing time for Jayson Tatum. [Massachusetts] has an incredible presence at the Olympics. It’s exciting.”
House Speaker Ron Mariano answers reporters’ questions on Aug. 1, flanked by members of his leadership team. From left are Assistant Majority Leader Alice Peisch, Mariano, Majority Leader Mike Moran and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz. (Chris Lisinski/State House News Service)State House News Service
They said it
“Absolutely. There’s a path for everything that doesn’t have a roll call.”
Massachusetts House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, to State House News Service, putting the best face he can on the Legislature finishing all the stuff it didn’t get done when formal voting sessions ended last week.
U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District, Massachusetts. (Courtesy of U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss' office).Ike Hayman
A supreme challenge
U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District, is all in on the U.S. Supreme Court reforms that President Joe Biden proposed last week.
The high court’s critics — and there are plenty of them these days — say the fixes, which include a constitutional amendment reversing the high court’s ruling on presidential immunity; term limits and a binding ethics code, are long overdue.
“None of these reforms should really be partisan,” Auchincloss told MassLive during a wide-ranging interview last week. “... It’s not necessarily a Republican or Democratic thing to say that a judge shouldn’t have a financial interest in a case. It’s just good government.”
The Newton Democrat also said the fixes should be easy to implement.
Transitioning judges to “senior status” once they hit a set number of years would preserve the lifetime appointment language in the U.S. Constitution, “so that would not require a constitutional amendment,” Auchincloss argued.
The immunity language might be a tougher lift. Though, he acknowledged, “the more likely scenario is it gets overturned by a later court.
“But maybe pressure for a constitutional amendment would make it more likely to then get a Supreme Court that ruled differently down the line,” on the issue, he added.
A view of Boston City Hall. (John L. Micek/Mass Live).John L. Micek
On the calendar
Chess nerds, rejoice: “5 Days of Chess,” kicks off this Sunday and runs until Aug. 11, with events at City Hall Plaza in Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said in a statement.
The “free, all-ages series offering workshops led by Boston-based chess masters and an unrated chess tournament open to the public,” Wu’s office said.
At the dawn of the 1980s, Steve Wynn fronted The Dream Syndicate, one of a passel of bands, broadly referred to as The Paisley Underground, that helped shape the sound of the American underground. Its informal membership also included The Long Ryders, Green on Red and The Bangles.
In the intervening 40 years, Wynn has been a prolific solo artist. He’s participated in such collaborations as The Baseball Project, which includes former members of R.E.M., and he’s revisited the Velvet Underground/Neil Young/Bob Dylan stylings of The Dream Syndicate with reunion albums and tours.
Wynn releases his first proper solo record in several years this summer with “Make It Right,” which serves as the de facto soundtrack for his newly published memoir “I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True: A Memoir Of Life, Music, And The Dream Syndicate.”
Here’s the first single from the LP: “Making Good on My Promises.”
Author and civil rights activist James Baldwin circa 1969.Allan Warren via Wikimedia Commons
Your Sunday long read
Friday marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the legendary James Baldwin. It’s no understatement to say that the author and civil rights activist changed the course of American literature with such works as “Giovanni’s Room,” and “Sonny’s Blues,” among others.
So, instead of one big story, here are several pieces about Baldwin and his legacy, for you to consider this Sunday morning.
MOUNT WASHINGTON — Eleanor Tillinghast has always loved this place.
She is looking east from the junction of East and West streets, over the clearing to Mount Sterling. Crumpled below it is the “iconic” broken-down cattle barn.
The section of Mount Washington State Forest known as "the cattle barn lot" after the cow shed seen in the field is the planned site for a logging operation by the state. The town and residents are fighting back against the plan.
She turns to the hood of her car where she has spread out a large map of the South Taconic Plateau and its woods, lakes and streams. Mount Washington lies at its heart.
“Here,” Tillinghast says, pointing to a web of pink veins, which represent intermittent streams on the map. “And there are more streams here where the work will take place than any other place.”
The map commissioned by Green Berkshires showing Mount Washington at the center. The cluster of pink lines near Karner Brook are intermittent streams that flow into the brook, Egremont's drinking water supply.STACY DEMING, GIS MANAGER, HOUSATONIC VALLEY ASSOCIATION
Those streams flow into Egremont’s drinking water source.
The place Tillinghast is focused on now is 362 acres owned by the state but not protected in the Mount Washington Forest Reserve land that surrounds it. It’s some of the 816 acres donated for conservation by a Bronx, N.Y., school teacher in 1959.
The state plans to log 275 acres of it. The work is also to paint — very carefully, the state says — invasive species there with herbicides like glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup.
It is faint, but we can smell it as we approach the cutting area. That work is underway. We turn back.
'CATTLE BARN LOT'
The state says the forest will be healthier as a result of these plans, a “prescription” that will also clear out dead and dying white spruce and ash trees invaded by spongey moths and emerald ash borers. The “ecological forest management” plan, the state says, is designed to help prevent forest fires and ease climate change effects.
The town, however, thinks the forest will do just fine on its own. The Select Board has asked the state to pause the work and place the land in the forest reserve. A number of residents agree. Select Board Chair Brian Tobin says he has not yet heard an answer from the state about this.
Tillinghast, a lifelong resident, is at the center of the request. She also happens to be a co-founder and president of Green Berkshires. She’s a environmental activist who has stopped wind turbines and telecom towers.
She asked the town to petition Gov. Maura Healey to place the land in the forest reserve. She also asked the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, the agency overseeing the project, to forgo putting out bids for tree cutting and timber sales here.
To protect the animal habitat, the cutting can only be done between November and April.
Trees slated for logging are marked with blue slashes in section of Mount Washington State Forest known as "the cattle barn lot," which is the planned site for a logging operation by the state. The town and residents are fighting back against the plan.
But Tom Ryan, the DCR’s South Berkshire District Management Forester who is spearheading the project, told the Select Board in a memo that, rather than designate the land as a reserve, he prefers “the DCR land use designation of woodlands for this area because of the recent agricultural land use history and desire to maintain the fields.”
Ryan, who for now has referred all questions to a DCR spokesperson, also noted that the land is permanently protected from development.
When asked if he would be willing to “hold off on requesting bids” and wait for Healey to agree to put the forest in the reserve, he told officials he “wholeheartedly” believes in the project and that he’ll stop only if his supervisors tell him to.
The “Forest Cutting Plan” at what the DCR calls the “Cattle Barn Lot” involves the harvest of a total of 458 Mbf — or 1,000 board feet — of red maple, sugar maple, red oak, birch and black cherry trees, according to the document. There is also some white ash that is dead or dying, the plan says. The cutting also will yield 350 cords of cordwood.
The DCR says the plan will “achieve one or more of the following objectives: produce immediate and maximize long-term income, enhance wildlife habitat, improve recreational opportunities, protect soil and water quality, or produce forest specialty products.”
Another document about the plan says that it would give a “supply of local wood products to rural economy and employment opportunities for local contractors to provide project services including timber harvesting, vegetation control and excavation.”
The town would receive 8 percent of timber sale proceeds, state documents say.
— “A judge said this state trooper broke the law. Why does he still have the same job?,”by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: “An undercover state trooper — who a judge last month said had recorded drug investigations illegally and given unreliable testimony under oath — remains in his regular job, state police said Wednesday at a hearing in which dozens of cases tied to the recordings were dropped. Trooper Paul Dunderdale is ‘being utilized by other DA’s offices, the Attorney General’s office, the United States Attorney’s office, and other entities across New England’ in undercover capacity, Siobhan Kelly, deputy chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts State Police, told Fitchburg District Court First Justice Christopher P. LoConto.”
A message from Uber:
Massachusetts Uber and Lyft drivers will soon receive comprehensive benefits alongside their new pay rate. Benefits include health insurance stipends for those working over 15 hours a week, paid sick leave, and occupational accident insurance. These enhancements provide vital support and security for drivers, ensuring they have access to essential healthcare and financial protection. These new benefits mark a significant improvement in the quality of life for rideshare drivers.
TRANSITIONS — Chelsie Ouellette , a longtime political strategist and Deval Patrick and Ed Markey alum, is now a senior adviser for organizing with Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former ambassador, MA-03 candidate and Biden-Harris 2024 finance chair Rufus Gifford, Christina Pacheco, POLITICO's Matt Berg and Jim Puzzanghera of the Boston Globe’s D.C. bureau.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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