Tuesday, July 22, 2025

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Meet Markey's campaign manager

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BY KELLY GARRITY

Meet Markey's campaign manager

By KELLY GARRITY

07/22/2025 07:26 AM EDT

STAFFING UP — Sen. Ed Markey has tapped Cameron Charbonnier to manage his 2026 reelection bid as his campaign kicks into gear.

Charbonnier is a Boston-based Democratic strategist who got his start in City Hall under former Mayor Marty Walsh. He served as Massachusetts state director for former President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and ran former Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George’s mayoral campaign in 2021 (Markey backed victor Michelle Wu in that race.). He also worked as a consultant on Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s campaign in 2022 — a race that featured one of the most bruising primaries of that cycle.

Markey called Charbonnier “the best person to lead this grassroots campaign of big issues, forward-looking ideas and Massachusetts values.”

“His experience managing campaigns, building teams, and understanding the issues that matter most to voters reflect the leadership, know-how and vision he has to lead this campaign to victory,” Markey said in a statement.

It’s some big shoes to fill: Markey’s campaign manager in 2020, the late John Walsh, is credited with shepherding Markey to victory over former Rep. Joe Kennedy III after he trailed Kennedy early.

VEEP WATCH — Vice President JD Vance is heading to Massachusetts today for a high-dollar fundraiser for the Republican National Committee. A group of left-leaning organizations and a Bay State-based Vance social media troll are planning a less-than-warm welcome.

A coalition of activist groups, including Mass 50501, Indivisible Nantucket and Cape Cod Women for Change, are planning to protest Vance’s stop through Nantucket today with a rally on the island.

Brad Smith, an organizer with Indivisible Nantucket, told Playbook the group's plan is fluid given uncertainty about the timing of the VP’s travel, but the main event will be a rally at Children’s Beach.

Protesters from off the island are expected to join, too. Amanda McGonigle, a Cape Cod resident and the brains behind the anti-Vance Instagram account “catsonacouch,” is helping organize the protest effort dubbed “Meowtucket.” It’s a nod to the way her followers troll Vance on Instagram, inundating his comments with the word “meow” on new posts — something that began as a response to a clip that resurfaced during the 2024 campaign of Vance criticizing “childless cat ladies.”

Prep for Vance’s arrival was underway last week, the Nantucket Current reported, and the VP’s security detail began arriving Monday. Tickets for the fundraiser went for $100,000 per couple up to $250,000.

Gov. Maura Healey won’t meet with Vance while he’s in the state, but she won’t be far away. She’ll be at her own fundraiser tonight in Chatham hosted by Kathy and Mike Schell, according to the invite.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Tips, scoops, stopping by one of the fundraisers? Let me know : kgarrity@politico.com.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey joins Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan to debrief with city department heads about their response to the Gabriel House fire at 11:15 a.m., speaks at the One SouthCoast Chamber at noon in Westport and visits the Food Pantry of Cape Cod at 3:45 p.m. in Harwich. Sen. Ed Markey hosts a press conference on new and reintroduced pieces of legislation tied to the impact of climate change on public health at noon in D.C. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu holds a press conference calling on Josh Kraft to release his financial records at 11 a.m.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

SAD STUFF — The mother of the 21-year-old UMass Amherst student who was shot and killed in Washington D.C., late last month says Gov. Maura Healey is helping set up scholarship in her son’s name, the Boston Herald’s Joe Dwinell reports.

Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym, the mother of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym of Granby had said during an interview on the Howie Carr Show that she had received a letter a from President Donald Trump, but no call from Gov. Maura Healey roughly two weeks after her son’s death.

According to the Herald, Tarpinian-Jachym said Healey told her that someone in her office “dropped the ball.”

— AG Campbell proposes new regulations on embattled Roxbury mortgage lender tied to Healey donor by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe: “Last year, Governor Maura Healey dismayed advocates when she signed into law protections for a Boston nonprofit that has been battling accusations of predatory lending for years. Now her Democratic colleague down the hall is proposing sweeping regulatory changes that would clamp down on BlueHub Capital. The regulations, outlined in an eight-page proposal published by state Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office last week, put the state’s top prosecutor at odds with Healey, her predecessor, who last year signed a bill that exempts BlueHub from the state’s consumer protection laws."

— Health plans forced to scale back rate increases by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “State health regulators have pared back proposed health care plan rate hikes sought by commercial insurers next year, rejecting two proposals that called for double digit increases. The state Division of Insurance announced Monday that it has ‘renegotiated’ double digit rate increases proposed by six companies for merged group health plans offered to individuals and businesses with 50 or fewer employees.”

FROM THE HUB

— Wu administration steps up pressure for Revs stadium mitigation by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe: “The Wu administration is pushing for more mitigation to offset the impacts of the Kraft Group’s proposed soccer stadium in Everett, as the two sides prepare for a mediator to participate in their negotiations. Kairos Shen, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s chief of planning, sent a letter to Kraft Group executive Brian Bilello on Monday outlining the many issues, including traffic and environmental concerns, that Wu and her team want to see addressed by the Krafts. Shen wrote that he is frustrated over the fact that Bilello, president of the Kraft-owned New England Revolution, apparently has not moved from a proposed $750,000 worth of mitigation efforts, essentially money for improvements to athletic fields in nearby Charlestown. She also wants more detailed information from the Krafts about the project’s impacts.”

FALL RIVER FALLOUT

— Gabriel House say fire suppression system was checked 5 days before blaze that killed 10 by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald: “The owners of the Gabriel House Assisted Living Facility said their sprinklers and fire suppression system were last checked just five days before a tragic blaze trapped and killed 10 people. … Nine residents of the Fall River facility died in the fire on the night of Sunday, July 13, and another resident died of her injuries in the hospital on Friday, marking the deadliest fire in Massachusetts in over 40 years. Over 30 residents were injured in the blaze. No result of the state and local investigation into the cause of the fire have been released as of Monday. Advocates have pointed to a number of concerns regarding the incident, including staffing levels at the fire department and the building’s safety citations from the state.”

— ACs that block fire exits are a 'major problem.' Did this cost lives at Gabriel House? by Emily Scherny, The Herald News: “In the aftermath of the devastating July 13 fire that reduced the Gabriel House assisted living facility to charred remains, killing 10 and injuring dozens more, the city’s Director of Inspectional Services Glenn Hathaway shared that the city has a “major problem” with air conditioning units installed in bedroom windows that could be used as emergency egress. According to previous reports, first responders on the scene helped evacuate more than half of the 70 residents — many of them infirm and needing to be carried out — out of the building’s windows and doors. But the number of window AC units that had to be pulled out of windows and dumped to the ground made rescues difficult, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said in the hours after the fire was struck down.”

THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

— Fourth candidate, Dan Breindel, enters Northampton mayoral race by Alexander MacDougall, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Dan Breindel’s candidacy for mayor started with a singular neighborhood problem. A resident of Phillips Place near downtown, Breindel took issue with plans by the O’Connell Development Group of Holyoke to build a five-story, 54-unit apartment complex across the street from his home. When Breindel reached out to the city to express his concerns, he said he felt ignored.”

DAY IN COURT

— Judge could dismiss charges against more than 100 defendants without lawyers amid work stoppage by Shelley Murphy, The Boston Globe: “A judge could dismiss state criminal charges against more than 100 people Tuesday because they can’t afford to hire their own lawyers and the courts have been unable to appoint one for them because of an ongoing work stoppage over low wages. The hearings before a Boston Municipal Court judge were ordered earlier this month by a single justice of the state’s highest court, who invoked emergency protocols that require Middlesex and Suffolk counties to dismiss charges against indigent defendants who have had no legal representation after 45 days. Dozens of defendants who had been in custody for at least a week without a lawyer to represent them have already been released over the past couple of weeks.”

— Judge hears closing arguments in foreign academics' free speech case by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “Closing arguments were made Monday in a federal case focused on reversing the Trump administration’s detention of foreign students and faculty for participating in pro-Palestinian activism. Plaintiffs, including the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association, are challenging what they say amounts to a government ‘ideological deportation policy’ to revoke the visas and green cards of foreign scholars as violations of the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.”

— Judge tosses Perrone lawsuit against Easthampton over ‘ladies’ email by Sam Ferland, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Easthampton Public Schools superintendent candidate Vito J. Perrone, who lost the job offer in 2023 after using the word ‘ladies’ in correspondence with two members of the School Committee, a salutation they deemed as a microaggression.”

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FROM HARVARD YARD

— Lawyers for Harvard and Trump square off in court in Boston by Emily Piper-Vallillo and Elissa Nadworny, WBUR: “In a packed federal courtroom on Monday, lawyers for Harvard University argued that the federal government's freeze of more than $2 billion in grants and contracts is illegal and should be reversed. Harvard's attorneys said the federal funding cuts imposed by the Trump Administration threaten vital research in medicine, science and technology. The school's lawsuit aims to block the Trump administration from withholding federal funding ‘as leverage to gain control of academic decisionmaking at Harvard.’”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— Essex DA releases footage of the moments before death of Haverhill man by Matthew Medsgar, Boston Herald: “The Essex County District Attorney’s office has released a video compilation showing the moments just before a Haverhill man died following a struggle with police officers. Francis Gigliotti, 43, died on July 11 after officers attempted to restrain him outside of Bradford Seafood on Winter Street in Haverhill. Police were first called to respond to a man behaving strangely while walking in and out of traffic.”

— First round of 'dirty deeds' cleaned up in Essex County via The Salem News: “Essex County’s ‘dirty deeds’ containing discriminatory covenants are finally being cleaned up. The Southern Essex Registry of Deeds recorded its first round of affidavits Monday to remove discriminatory covenants from real estate deeds in this area of the county. These covenants restricted people of certain ethnic or racial groups, particularly Black people, from buying homes or moving into specific neighborhoods years ago.”

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Thomas Statuto has joined the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers as senior vice president of government affairs and public policy. He was the senior adviser for legislative strategy for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

— Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has been elected president of the National District Attorneys Association.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Rosemary Powers

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