 | By Kelly Garrity | TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANITE — Former President Donald Trump’s supporters may have all but written off focusing on winning New Hampshire in November, but you won’t catch Rep. Jake Auchincloss taking a victory lap anytime soon. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “are underdogs still,” the Democrat said during an interview on WCVB’s “On the Record,” which aired Sunday. “She has given us a chance to win this thing. … But this is going to be a narrowly contested election, and she’s going to fight like she’s an underdog in New Hampshire and elsewhere,” Auchincloss added, when asked about her chances with voters in the Granite State and beyond. New Hampshire voters haven’t picked a Republican for president in a general election for two decades. But the state looked like it could be in play for Trump for a moment, after a post-debate July poll of Granite State voters showed the former president coming within striking distance of President Joe Biden. Harris has since pulled back ahead in New Hampshire polls. But it’s too soon for Democrats to breathe a sigh of relief, according to Auchincloss. “She’s going to fight in every state as though it’s still a swing state. We’re not taking any electoral votes for granted,” said Auchincloss, who's been regularly popping up on political talk shows to campaign for the Harris/Walz ticket, often defending Walz’s military record or more recently bashing Trump for his campaign’s controversy at Arlington National Cemetery. New Hampshire isn’t the Harris campaign’s biggest obstacle. A New York Times/Siena College poll out Sunday was a reminder of what the Harris campaign has been saying amid the Democratic revelry over the new ticket: that the race is going to be close. The national poll showed Trump at 48 percent to Harris’s 47 percent among likely voters, within the poll’s 2.8 percentage point margin of error. But as Times polling guru Nate Cohn noted , it’s worth being cautious when parsing the results, since it's the first lead Trump has had in a major national poll in a while. Still, it puts more pressure on Harris to perform well during her debate against Trump tomorrow. “I think this debate matters more than most, because Kamala Harris is relatively undefined in the American minds,” Auchincloss said Sunday on OTR. “I think she’s got to talk about rule of law, I think she’s got to talk about lowering prices, and I think she has to talk about respect for faith, family and the flag.” GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Say it while you can — the Patriots are undefeated! TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey hosts the annual New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Conference this week, starting with a visit to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy at 10 a.m. in Buzzards Bay. Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll host a welcome reception for the governors and premiers at 7:10 p.m. at Fenway Park. Driscoll and state and local officials celebrate federal infrastructure grant awards at 9 a.m. in Lynn. Driscoll attends a ribbon cutting for the Mason Square Apartments at 12:30 p.m. in Springfield. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu welcomes Taipei Mayor Wan-An Chiang and members of the Taipei delegation to Chinatown at 2:30 p.m. Sen. Elizabeth Warren tours the Heal Veterinary Clinic and hosts a roundtable on private equity’s impact on veterinary care at 9:50 a.m. in Watertown. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: kgarrity@politico.com .
|  | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| — “Retiring state Rep. Schmid: ‘Time for me to get back to work’,” by Will Sennott, The New Bedford Light. — “Massachusetts state rep tells Patriots to ‘stop complaining’ about millionaire’s tax,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald: “With the Patriots set to kick off their season in Cincinnati on Sunday, a Massachusetts state representative has told players to ‘stop complaining’ about the ‘millionaire’s tax’ and focus more on ‘winning ballgames.’ State Rep. Michael Connolly, D-Cambridge, took to social media ahead of Week 1, slamming Patriots players and former head coach Bill Belichick for arguing that the 4% surtax on incomes over $1 million makes it hard for New England to compete and attract top free agents.”
| | FROM THE HUB |
| — “Does a century-old will hinder Boston’s White Stadium plan? Some seem to think so,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “A century-old will creating a charitable fund for the City of Boston that was used to purchase White Stadium appears on its face to invalidate the mayor’s plan to renovate it to house a pro soccer team, but her office says that’s not the case.” — “City continues free Sunday museum access for Boston students,” by John Hilliard, The Boston Globe: “A program that provides thousands of Boston Public Schools students and their families free admission to a half-dozen cultural institutions across the city will continue through the end of the year, Mayor Michelle Wu announced Sunday. … Wu did not provide details about how the program’s extension would be funded at the Sunday press conference. The extension does not include any changes to the roster of participating organizations, which will all continue with the initiative, according to Wu. It also does not increase the number of eligible families for free admission to those institutions -- an issue that concerned some city leaders in the past.” — “Broken elevators in Boston public housing complex leave residents stranded : ‘I have to stay in the house all day’,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald.
| | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS |
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‘FIGHTING FOR MORE’ — With the state’s primaries in the rearview, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign is ramping up for November. After hitting the local media circuit with interviews on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” and NBC10 Boston’s “At Issue” in recent days, the incumbent Democrat is launching a digital ad today, according to her campaign, touting her record — including billions in federal funds she’s helped bring back home. But there’s more to be done, Warren says in the 30-second hit, titled “Fighting For More.” Warren’s campaign declined to share how much they’re spending to run the ad. — “MacKay campaign files a petition for a recount from the 25th Middlesex Democratic primary,” by Marc Levy, Cambridge Day: “The Evan MacKay campaign filed for a recount Friday for the 25th Middlesex Democratic primary that saw them 40 votes ahead of incumbent state Rep. Marjorie Decker at the end of Tuesday and 41 behind Decker after a hand count of some ballots Wednesday. … To get a recount, a candidate needs 10 or more signatures of registered voters from each precinct, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division. The Cambridge Election Commission was checking the signatures filed by the MacKay campaign, said Lesley Waxman, assistant director of the commission, on Friday.” — “Write-in campaign proves successful for Westport state rep candidate,” by Arthur Hirsch, The New Bedford Light.
| | MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS |
| THE NATIONAL TAKE — “The shelter and the storm,” by Ruby Cramer, The Washington Post.
| | BALLOT BATTLES |
| — “Worcester School Committee takes stance on removing MCAS as graduation requirement,” Jesse Collings, Telegram & Gazette: “The School Committee on Thursday made a declaration in support of removing the MCAS test as a graduation requirement, ahead of a statewide question on the November ballot.”
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
| — “After 3-week shutdown, Red Line Braintree branch may allow 50 mph trains,” by Diego Lopez and Gal Tziperman Lotan, GBH News.
SCHEDULE & ALTERNATIVES INCLUDED IN ARTICLE excerpt: Friday marks the start of a three-week-long shutdown of the Red Line’s Braintree branch from JFK/UMass to Braintree. Regular service will resume Sept. 30. “That’s 18 miles of track when you consider both directions of travel,” MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng told GBH’s Morning Edition. “What we’re replacing is significant amounts of that track infrastructure, the rail, the ties. And then we’ll be doing what we call resurfacing, where we’re bringing the track infrastructure to the grades that need to be allow us to run at the speeds that we plan to.” Eng said he hopes portions of the track will be in good enough shape to allow trains to run at 50 mph. Prior to the shutdown the Braintree line was running as slow as 10 mph in some sections, with 20 slow zones. Eng said the agency is working to eliminate all of them.
“A lot of work going on. But our riders deserve it,” he said. “They’ve been waiting a long time for this. And I know as much as this diversion requires people to find alternative means, which we’re providing, they will have a much better commute in the future, long term.”
| | DAY IN COURT |
| — “Alleged Cambridge brothel network head to plead guilty, according to court filing,” by Sean Cotter, The Boston Globe: “The alleged head of an interstate brothel network that catered to the rich and well-connected in Cambridge and Watertown is planning to plead guilty later this month, according to court documents. Han ‘Hana’ Lee, 41, of Cambridge, intends to ‘enter a guilty plea as to the charges lodged against her,’ according to court documents filed on Tuesday. Her plea hearing is scheduled for Sept. 27.” — “Attleboro anti-abortion center stole patient data from nearby clinic, lawsuit alleges,” by Hannah Reale, GBH News. — “Cape, Islands sheriffs fight DA in court over 20-year employee records request. What now?,” by Susan Vaughn, Cape Cod Times: " The Barnstable County and Dukes County sheriffs have been cited in separate civil cases for not complying with a directive from the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office to provide exculpatory information about all their present and past employees for the last 20 years, including material that may impeach the testimony of a police officer."
| | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
| — “Mass. and Rhode Island pick 3 new wind projects, with less power than originally sought,” by Miriam Wasser, WBUR: “Massachusetts and Rhode Island announced the winners of their joint offshore wind auction on Friday. The three projects selected will be built south of Nantucket and collectively produce up to 2,878 megawatts of electricity — or about what it takes to power 1.6 million homes. While this total is less than half of what the states originally sought to procure, it helps bring them closer to their legally binding offshore wind targets.”
| | DEBATE DRAMA |
| UP FOR DEBATE — “Trump’s allies fear he’ll blow the debate — his best chance to regain ground against Harris,” Natalie Allison, Lisa Kashinsky, Kimberly Leonard and Alex Isenstadt, POLITICO. — “What we can learn about Harris’s tactics from her past debate performances,” by Maeve Reston, The Washington Post.
| | FROM THE 413 |
| — “Low applicant pools vex local police departments,” by Alexa Lewis, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “For eight months, Northampton did not have a permanent police chief. In August, the city hired interim chief and longtime department member John Cartledge to lead the department, who was chosen from a pool of just four candidates. Similarly, Amherst selected its current chief from a group of only 11 candidates who submitted letters of interest. While these departments eventually persevered through a dearth of interested parties, the struggle of police departments to attract a robust pool of qualified candidates for executive and other positions is a phenomenon that stretches far beyond Massachusetts.”
| | WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING |
| — “Boston’s developers have had a tough go lately. Now the guy who returns their calls in City Hall is leaving town,” by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe. — “Fixing the Massachusetts State Police: The new colonel’s long road ahead,” by Flint McColgan, Boston Herald.
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| — “Candidates for governor crisscross state looking for final votes,” by Ross Ketschke, WMUR.
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH |
| TRANSITIONS — Former state senator and former Cannabis Control Commissioner Jennifer Flanagan and former state representative and former Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur have joined Liberty Square Group as senior vice presidents in the firm's government relations practice. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Michael Greenwald, Andrew Crane, Jason Denoncourt, Diedtra Henderson and Daniel Pipes. 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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