Saturday, August 9, 2025

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Wu's heavy hitter

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Wu's heavy hitter

08/08/2025 07:25 AM EDT

YOU GOT A TEXT — About a month before voters head to the polls, the “Bold Boston” super PAC that’s backing Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is tapping a designated hitter.

A new video the PAC is rolling out through a text campaign over the weekend features one of the mayor’s most famous endorsers: David Ortiz.

“Everybody knows Big Papi loves Boston… and that’s why he’s going to bat for Mayor Michelle Wu,” a narrator says, as an animated version of the former Red Sox legend batting at Fenway Park flashes across the screen.

Ortiz endorsed Wu in May, after she was called to testify before Congress alongside other mayors of so-called sanctuary cities. During her testimony, Wu alluded to Ortiz’s famous line in the wake of the Boston marathon bombing: “This is our f****** city.”

The 30-second clip references both Ortiz’s line and Wu’s testimony. Wu is “fighting for all of us,” the animated Ortiz says in the video. “Let’s vote for her.”

As the days until the Sept. 9 election tick down, Wu and her main rival, Josh Kraft, have been ramping up their ad games. But so far neither Wu, nor the Bold Boston PAC that’s supporting her, has bought time on TV.

It’s not surprising — Wu already has the name recognition that comes with incumbency, and recent polling shows her with a wide lead over the field. Holding off on going up on the air also means more money in the bank post-preliminary, when voters really start to lock in.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. For your radar: The annual sales tax holiday starts this weekend. Here’s what to know.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Jake Auchincloss and state and local officials attend a groundbreaking at Sturdy Memorial Hospital at 11 a.m. in Attleboro. Markey tours three federally funded projects at noon in North Attleborough. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at the street dedication for Peter Baldassari at 1 p.m. in the North End.

THIS WEEKEND — Rep. Ayanna Pressley is featured in a short biographical documentary as part of the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival starting at 11 a.m. Saturday in Oak Bluffs. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. State Sen. Cindy Friedman is on NBC10 Boston Weekend Today at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce CEO Jim Rooney is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— Gov. Maura Healey signs law that strengthens transgender, reproductive health care protections by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation Thursday that tightens rules governing what patient information technology service providers and state regulators can share with out-of-state entities and requires hospitals in the state to treat patients dealing with abortion-related emergencies. Healey and legislative Democrats have argued the law is necessary to protect doctors in Massachusetts providing transgender and reproductive health care from legal repercussions filed in other states and a federal government that is targeting transgender people.”

BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAY WALL

***CHINA, THE RIGHT-WING BOOGEY MAN, IS PROMOTING CHEAP CLEAN RENEWABLES & THEIR ECONOMY IS PROSPERING! LET'S COPY SUCCESS! ****

— As EPA cut grants for solar, Gov. Healey urged they remain by Daniel Jackson, The Springfield Republican: “The Healey administration and the state’s U.S. senators urged the Environmental Protection Agency Thursday morning not to cancel a $7 billion grant program intended to place solar with low income households across the nation. It was for naught. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced on social media Thursday afternoon the administration was ending the program because the passage of the budget reconciliation bill in July eliminated its authority to run the program.”

***THIS JUST MAKES SENSE! ****

— Galvin pushes for same-day voter registration by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “In an initiative petition filed with the Attorney General’s office Wednesday, Secretary of State Bill Galvin calls for putting a referendum on the November 2026 ballot scrapping the state’s 10-day cut off to register to vote. Galvin said the plan, if approved, would give Massachusetts ‘the same opportunity that voters in the rest of New England already have, and to help ease the administrative burdens faced by local clerks, who have to deal with the issues caused when voters miss the deadline to register.’”

PAY WALL

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— As legal status is set to end for many Haitians, Mass. health care sector braces for staffing shortages by Simón Rios, WBUR: “State officials say health care facilities, which already struggle to hire enough workers, could be ‘seriously disrupted’ by the termination of TPS and other humanitarian programs, which have allowed thousands of immigrants to enter the workforce.”

THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

FROM POLITICO:

MONEY RACE — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ended July with a significant cash advantage over her chief rival, Josh Kraft, according to the latest filings with the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Wu raised about $247,000 last month and ended July with close to $2.5 million on hand.

While Kraft raised more than $127,000 during the same period, he spent big in July — paying $1,886,000 to cover a variety of campaign-related costs. That leaves him with under $150,000 heading into the final full month of campaigning before the Sept. 9 preliminary election.

FULL DISCLOSURE: THIS ARTICLE CAN'T BE POSTED WITHOUT DISCLOSING JOSH KRAFT'S FAKE ADS & HIS FAILURE TO DISCLOSE SOURCES OF HIS INCOME!

****CARPETBAGGING NEWTON NEBBISH JOSH KRAFT IS A FAKE & A FRAUD - EVEN HIS ADS ARE FRAUDULENT! ****

HE PROVIDED A SUMMARY OF HIS 'INCOME' - THE PUBLIC HAS NO WAY OF DETERMINING IF HE HAS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST!

ONLY THE WEALTHY WITH NO BOSTON CONNECTIONS HAVE FUNDED HIS CAMPAIGN!

THE NEWTON NEBBISH HAS NO SOLUTIONS! ****

RELATED — Prominent national Democrats ask Josh Kraft to stop using names, likenesses in unauthorized fund-raising push by Emma Platoff, The Boston Globe: “On first blush, the fund-raising solicitation sure looked like it was coming from US Senator Adam Schiff, the California Democrat well known for tangling with Donald Trump. ‘Hi — this is Adam Schiff,’ the email read, according to a screenshot shared with the Globe. ‘Josh Kraft said I could reach out with this urgent message.’ But the email came from ‘info@joshforboston.com‚’ and it was paid for by the campaign of Josh Kraft, who is running for mayor of Boston, several thousand miles east of Schiff’s district. And, it turns out, Schiff never said Kraft could reach out with that urgent message. The Kraft fund-raising email sporting Schiff’s name and likeness is one of at least five the campaign has sent in recent weeks that feature prominent national Democrats who have not publicly weighed in on the Boston mayor’s race. At least two of those politicians have now asked the Kraft campaign to stop using their names and likenesses in the email fund-raising solicitations.”

— Josh Kraft says Boston can’t afford Mayor Wu’s ‘passive’ plan for Mass and Cass, backs councilor’s emergency declaration by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft backed a city councilor’s plea to issue an emergency declaration at the Mass and Cass open-air drug market, while calling on Mayor Michelle Wu to explain her plan to address the ‘escalating crisis’ unfolding there. Kraft on Thursday threw his support behind Councilor and Wu administration critic Ed Flynn in his pitch for the city to declare a public health and safety emergency at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard and its surrounding neighborhoods, which the mayor opposes.”

BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAY WALL

— 4 incumbent Taunton city councilors not running for re-election by Emma Rindlisbacher, The Taunton Daily Gazette: “On the City Council, incumbents Chris Coute, Larry Quintal, Jeffrey Postell and Estele Borges are not running for re-election. Borges is instead making a run for mayor. On the School Committee, incumbent Gill Enos is not running for re-election, but is instead running for TMLP. On the Planning Board, incumbent William ‘Bill’ Fitzgerald is not running for re-election but is instead running for City Council.”

FROM THE DELEGATION

****INTERNATIONAL CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING GHISLAINE MAXWELL RECRUITED, GROOMED & SEXUALLY ABUSED CHILDREN! ONE WAS 10 YEARS OLD WHEN THE SEXUAL ABUSE BEGAN! STOP THE COVER-UP! *****

— Rep. Ayanna Pressley calls for hearing with Epstein survivors by Jennifer Gerson, The 19th News: “Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Thursday called for a congressional hearing to amplify the voices of trafficking survivors abused by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their associates, in a letter shared exclusively with The 19th. Pressley and 15 Democratic colleagues argued in the letter to House Oversight Chairman James Comer that, in light of the national conversation around Epstein and whatever Department of Justice files may exist pertaining to his trafficking and sexual abuse crimes, Congress should be hearing directly from survivors.”

FROM THE 413

— Amherst schools sue to overturn counselor’s reinstatement by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “A Hampshire Superior Court lawsuit filed by the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District aims to overturn an arbitrator’s decision reinstating a middle school counselor fired for repeatedly misgendering students and making inappropriate comments related to gender and sexual orientation. Nearly a month after an arbitrator ruled in favor of Delinda Dykes, ordering that she was wrongfully terminated in November 2023 following a Title IX investigation, the district on Wednesday officially requested court intervention to vacate the decision, following a unanimous vote by the Regional School Committee at its July 29 meeting.”

— Pittsfield is getting a largely new School Committee. Here's what current members say about their decisions, and the body's future by Greg Sukiennik, The Berkshire Eagle: “Of the six incumbent members of the Pittsfield School Committee, only one will appear on the ballot for this fall’s election: Daniel Elias, the board’s longest-serving member. Other than Elias, if he’s reelected, and Mayor Peter Marchetti, an ex-officio member, every other seat on the committee will be be a new face — or a returnee from School Committees past.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— Jasiel Correia moved to halfway house with under a year in prison term Dan Medeiros, The Herald News: “Jasiel Correia II, the disgraced former Fall River mayor who has been serving a six-year federal prison term for $800,000 worth of fraud and corruption, has been released to a halfway house with less than a year left of his sentence. The Bureau of Prisons inmate database shows that Correia is now under the authority of the Residential Reentry Management New York field office.”

***BRAVO MEDFORD!***

— Medford City Council passes sweeping divestment ordinance by Rachell Sanchez-Smith and Lisa Mullins, WBUR: “Medford City Council voted 5-1 in the early hours of Wednesday to divest city funds from weapons manufacturers, fossil fuels companies, private prisons and entities engaging in human rights violations. The measure must go through a few more procedural steps before it makes it to Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn's desk for her signature.”

— Councilor Etel Haxhiaj calls panel's violation of open meeting law 'an unfortunate mistake' by Jesse Collings, Telegram & Gazette: “The attorney general's office has determined that a City Council subcommittee violated the state's open meeting law while drafting a statement on supporting LGBTQIA+ youth, families and educators in Worcester Public Schools. At issue is the discussion of official business outside a public meeting. The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell released a statement to Worcester City Solicitor Alexandra Kalkounis on Wednesday, Aug. 6, that its investigation found a violation in the actions in February of the City Council's Standing Committee on Education.”

— Council won't use meals tax to balance city budget by Teddy Tauscher, The Eagle-Tribune: “After cutting more than $280,000 from Mayor D.J. Beauregard’s budget earlier this year, the City Council on Monday voted against temporarily funneling additional meals tax revenue, which typically goes toward a stabilization fund, to fund the overall budget. While the additional money was supposed to be used to balance this year’s budget, councilors reasoned that due to their cuts the estimated $320,000 in additional revenue is not necessary to balance the books and would be better kept in the emergency fund.”

— B-R and Easton both had overrides shot down amid dire warnings. Why schools are broke by Jacob Posner, The Brockton Enterprise.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Dr. Lindsey Butler will be the new executive director of The Green Ribbon Commission. She previously served as vice president of sustainability solutions at Cref and as the first-ever director of climate and health resilience for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Emily Rogers and Vinay Mehra. Happy belated to Peter Panos, who celebrated Wednesday.

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Jake Elitzer, who celebrates Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers state Rep. Tackey Chan, state Rep. Steven Ultrino, Matthew MacWilliams, Ryan O. Ferguson, Lissandra Villa de Petrzelka and Mike Linhorst.

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