POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: A messy MassDems convention

 

A messy MassDems convention

By KELLY GARRITY 

 

09/15/2025

DIRECTIONALLY CHALLENGED DEMS — An attempt to quash opposition to a new draft of the state Democratic Party’s platform backfired spectacularly at the party’s convention over the weekend, laying bare a rift between party leaders and the Democratic die-hards who turned out in Springfield Saturday.

What you missed: Convention delegates frustrated with what they viewed as a watered-down proposal for a new party platform spent Saturday morning running around the MassMutual Center collecting the 500 signatures needed for amendments to be debated on the convention floor.

One of the more controversial proposals: an amendment to replace the draft entirely with the 2021 “People’s Platform,” an effort party leaders lobbied against in emails to attendees in the days leading up to the gathering.

Supporters collected around 1,000 signatures, but the amendment at first didn’t make it to the floor because supporters had failed to print and distribute copies of the lengthy amendment to the close to 4,000 delegates in attendance, MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan explained from the stage (Supporters argued that other hard copies of amendments allowed to move forward had also not been distributed.). After some bickering and booing for Kerrigan, delegates decided to suspend the rules, and the amendment passed on a voice vote.

So what? The fact that the 2021 language made it back into the party’s platform — after the new, broader draft attempted to axe things like a call to end the statewide ban on rent control, enumerated LGBTQ+ protections and commitments to address systemic racism and the word “transgender” — is a sign that state Democratic Party’s attempt to shift toward the center isn’t sitting well with the party’s base heading into the 2026 statewide elections.

“This platform gives us a clear message,” Alex Crowley, a founder of Our Revolution Massachusetts and a member of the executive board of the Weymouth Democratic Town Committee, told Playbook Sunday. “It tells everybody, this is what we represent, this is what we stand for. And this platform is only the first step. Now we have to hold our elected Democrats accountable to it.”

But the outrage among attendees was as much about the attempt to use parliamentary procedure to avoid the debate altogether as it was frustration with a less prescriptive platform.

“It really reveals that the Mass. Democratic Party is a very insider, centralized institution,” state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who supported replacing the new draft with the old platform, said in an interview Sunday. “There's a lot of rhetoric, including by many elected officials, that this is a grassroots party … but in, in the end, I think what was attempted by some of the senior members of the platform committee was an attempt to make [the platform] more of a centrist document, not reflective of the work that so many delegates and state committee members and Democratic activists work on.

“If we're going to have conventions, they need to be run in a thoughtful, respectful way — even if not everything gets into a platform,” he added.

What’s next: After the hours-long meeting ended Saturday, some attendees floated a vote of no confidence in Kerrigan at the next Democratic State Committee meeting, though the effort would likely be an uphill battle because of the makeup of the state committee.

Despite failing to push the new platform through — and getting shut down on a charter amendment that would’ve ended non-election year conventions — Kerrigan celebrated Saturday’s results.

“I thought it was a good example of Democratic activists making sure that they get their points across and advocate for the things they believe in,” he said. “And in the end, the work we have to do once we leave the hall is, frankly, the work that we're there for, which is to go out and win elections.”

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Here’s more from the MassDems Convention over the weekend:

— Treasurer Deb Goldberg is running for reelection in 2026, she announced from the convention stage. After an expensive, years-long legal battle with Shannon O’Brien, who Goldberg attempted to fire from her role as Cannabis Control Commissioner, some wondered whether she’d seek another term in 2026.

— Rep. Seth Moulton is keeping the door to running statewide open. “I’m not not thinking about it,” he said when asked if he was considering running for a statewide office. More than 100 people attended what ended up being a standing-room-only breakfast Moulton hosted with the MassDems Veterans and Military Outreach Subcommittee at the convention Saturday.

— Auditor Diana DiZoglio had some strong words for her fellow Democratic elected officials. People are walking away from the Democratic Party, she said, “because some of our party establishment’s top officials have been acting like the letter “D” next to their name on that ballot stands for dictator, and not for Democrat.”

— Rep. Ayanna Pressley made the trek out to Springfield to mingle and pose for photos with delegates and volunteers and spoke at the Friday night welcome event.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at an American Public Transportation Association conference at 9 a.m. in Boston. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at an event marking the acquisition of Sister Mary Veronica Park at 9:30 a.m. in South Boston and delivers remarks at the celebration of the start of Hispanic Heritage Month at 2:45 p.m. downtown.

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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YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

NEW LG CANDIDATE DROPPING — A new challenger is officially launching a campaign for lieutenant governor today.

Anne Brensley, an attorney, Wayland Select Board member and the founder and CEO of a software company, is running for lieutenant governor as a Republican.

“Massachusetts deserves leadership that listens to its people and tackles the local issues that matter most,” Brensley said in a statement. “For too long, both parties have ignored the unique challenges facing our towns and cities. I’m running to bring focus back to our communities, from affordability to better schools, cleaner water, and safer streets, by visiting the majority of towns throughout Massachusetts and talking directly to voters.”

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— Thousands spent for Massachusetts politicians to travel this summer, records show by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Elected officials across Massachusetts state government were treated to thousands of dollars’ worth of trips this summer on other organizations’ dimes, including an excursion to St. Thomas in the Caribbean, according to ethics records released to the Herald this week. The documents are the latest example of lawmakers, constitutional officers, and government officials scoring different experiences because of their public positions. A series of procurement card reports from last fiscal year documented taxpayer spending on various lodging and trips.”

BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAYWALL - THEY'RE DESPERATE! 

— Losing bidder says text exchanges show conflict led to service plaza contract by Matthew Medsgar, Boston Herald: “The losing bidder for a contract to run the state’s 18 highway service plazas says that recently released text exchanges show that the decision to award a 35-year lease to a foreign company was tainted by glaring conflicts of interest. In a letter sent by Waltham-based Global Partners to MassDOT’s board of directors, Global Chief Legal Officer Sean Geary writes that information received by the company following a public records request shows that the board’s June selection of Dublin-based Applegreen as their service plaza operator was ‘compromised by prohibited ex parte communications and undisclosed conflicts of interest.’”

BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG REQUIRES EMAIL TO HARASS READERS - THEY'RE DESPERATE! 

FROM THE HUB

— Critics make last-minute push to Mayor Wu to reject downtown Boston skyscraper plans by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “A coalition of downtown Boston residents is ramping up the pressure on the Wu administration to reverse course on a ‘destructive’ zoning plan that would clear the way for new buildings to tower up to 700 feet over the historic downtown. The Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association blasted out an open letter it and other members of the coalition sent last Thursday to Mayor Michelle Wu, ahead of a vote the Boston Planning and Development Agency Board is set to take this week on the proposed zoning regulations.”

BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG REQUIRE EMAIL TO HARASS READERS - THEY'RE DESPERATE! 

— Exam school admissions debate reemerges ahead of new policy recommendation by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald: “The exam school admissions debate split the BPS community across the city once again, as the superintendent and School Committee members take steps towards new policy changes this fall. … BPS officials presented on public comment on three proposed avenues to alter the current controversial exam school admissions structure at the meeting. The district will offer ‘recommended adjustments to the policy based on public feedback and our analysis’ at the next school committee meeting, Skipper said.”

BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG REQUIRES EMAIL TO HARASS READERS - THEY'RE DESPERATE! 

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

****ICE GESTAPO ABUSE: MASS DETENTIONS WITHOUT 

ADEQUATE CARE  & PLANNING - HELD IN INAPPROPRIATE 

FACILITIES! *****

 — 3 activists arrested outside Burlington ICE office after trying to deliver food to detainees by Miriam Wasser, WBUR: “Three people were arrested outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Burlington on Friday after they tried to deliver food to people detained there. ‘We've heard some pretty compelling evidence that people are not being given enough food, not being given sanitary supplies, blankets,’ said Eleanor Reid of Hanover, N.H., before the arrests. ‘And since our government is not doing that, we are here to do it ourselves.’”

Reid, along with Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor of Leominster and Nathan Phillips of Newton, had approached the field office with baskets of sandwiches, granola bars, fruit and other snacks. They said they were concerned about the welfare of immigrants held at the facility, based on reports from former detainees that they weren't given much to eat while in ICE custody there.

"We're here to deliver food and care packages to the people being held here, and visit with them, if possible, to make sure they're doing okay," Lawton-Sticklor told WBUR. "We have some deep concerns about food, basic necessities, being withheld from them."

ICE's Boston Field Office, located in Burlington, Massachusetts. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The ICE field office is a large two-story building located in a busy office park near the Burlington Mall. As the agency's New England regional headquarters, it's primarily a place where immigrants go for regular check-ins with officials. But it also serves as an intake center, where people get booked in after an ICE arrest.

Former detainees and immigration lawyers have described conditions inside the field office as "abysmal" and "inhumane." People were crowded into windowless rooms where, if they even had room to lie down, they had to sleep on cement floors. There was little privacy and no access to showers. And food rations were meager.

ICE has insisted that it provides adequate food and medical care to detainees.

Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor holds a basket of food and drinks. She brought it to the ICE field office in hopes of delivering it to those held inside. (Miriam Wasser/WBUR)

Around 10:30 am Friday, the three activists knocked on the glass door of the building and asked to go inside to deliver the food.

A man wearing a navy jacket with the words "Police E-R-O" on the back — which stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations, a division of ICE — told them no visitors are permitted inside the building and they weren't accepting deliveries.

What then unfolded was a tense back-and-forth between the activists and a few federal agents. Officials tried to get the three to leave the front entryway, but they refused. They sat on the far edge of the stairway entrance, where they said they weren't obstructing people from access to the building.

During the 90-minute standoff, several people entered and exited the building. At one point, a man in plain clothes stuck his head out of the front door and told the activists, onlookers and the media to "go f*ck off."  CLASS ACT!

Eleanor Reid, Nathan Phillips and Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor went to the Burlington ICE facility to deliver food to immigrants behind held inside. (Miriam Wasser/WBUR)

A little while later, several Burlington police officers arrived. They also tried to convince the protesters to leave, but the trio sat tight. About 45 minutes later, the officers handcuffed and arrested them.

Reid, Phillips and Lawton-Sticklor were each charged with one count of trespassing. They were arraigned in Woburn District Court and released on the condition they stay away from the Burlington office. They have a pre-trial hearing scheduled for October.

"We notified them that they were to move, to remove themselves from the operational area of the main doors, and they refused to do that," said Captain Hanafin, a Burlington Police Department officer who responded to the scene.  "It's disruptive, and it's frankly a security issue to have people there in protest when there's operational things that happen."

He went on to call the arrests "unfortunate," saying the department wasn't "looking to arrest anyone."

Since details about the conditions inside the Burlington field office first emerged this summer, several groups of protesters gather outside the building weekly. The largest protest, which happens on Wednesdays, frequently attracts hundreds of people.

ICE has been accused of holding people in poor conditions inside processing centers around the country since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown earlier this year.

Nathan Phillips was arrested outside of the Burlington ICE field office on Sept. 12, 2025. He was charged with one count of trespassing. (Miriam Wasser/WBUR)

Related:

• ICE launches new immigration enforcement surge in Mass. 
• ICE holding immigrants in 'abysmal' conditions at Burlington office building, lawyers say

— ‘Intimidation’: Rep. Moulton decries immigration arrest in Marblehead by John L. Micek, MassLive: “U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-6th District, has called on the Trump administration to explain what he described as the heavy-handed tactics employed during an immigration enforcement stop in Marblehead on Friday. FBI and other law enforcement agents encircled a landscaping truck in the North Shore community, taking at least one person into custody, according to the local Marblehead Current.”

New at 4:30 p.m.: ICE confirms ‘targeted enforcement operation’ in Marblehead

September 12, 2025

The Current has spoken with James Covington in Boston’s ICE office, who confirmed that ICE agents, along with the FBI, were involved with the incident on Beach Street when a man in a landscaping truck was taken into custody.

“It was in support of Operation Patriot,” Covington said. “A targeted enforcement operations means we were going after someone specific.”

Covington could not say whether ICE took one or more men into custody. He expects more information to be released later today.

NEW at 3:30 p.m.

Regarding today’s traffic stop on Beach Street involving the FBI and other law enforcement, Congressman Seth Moulton tells the Current, “Armed agents in unmarked cars surrounding a local landscaping truck and screaming at the driver in front of neighbors without even notifying Marblehead Police or the district attorney is not law enforcement — it’s intimidation.

“These tactics do nothing to protect our communities; they only terrorize them. People should not have to fear being caught in the middle of an ICE operation on their way to work or school. When residents are afraid of their own government, they are less likely to cooperate with law enforcement — and that makes everyone less safe. 

“I have already asked the FBI and DOJ for an explanation for why this situation was handled so aggressively and unprofessionally.”

****

FBI and other law enforcement agents apparently took into custody at least one man from a landscaping truck on Beach Street this morning, according to a neighbor who witnessed the incident.

“The FBI, like all our Department of Justice partners, (ATF, DEA ad the U.S. Marshals Service) is assisting the Department of Homeland Security with immigration enforcement,” the Boston FBI sent in a statement.

Sarah Fox said she was walking by when several vehicles “hemmed in” the Lassana Landscaping truck and men wearing FBI and police gear started screaming at the driver. Fox said she heard one agent yell, “Your identification is fake!”

COURTESY PHOTOS / SARAH FOX

Contacted by the Current, Marblehead Police Chief Dennis King said, “We were not notified, nor asked to assist, but are aware of the reports of the activity.”

A woman who answered the phone at Lassana Landscaping, which is based in Marblehead, said she didn’t have details and didn’t witness the incident herself, adding, “But we are missing our guys.” She wasn’t sure how many employees may have been taken.

“This is horrible,” Fox said. “This man didn’t do anything wrong. He was on his way to work, going to make our lives easier. Now his life is changed forever. Who is going to pick up his kids after school today?”

Immigration attorney Diann Slavit Baylis, who lives in Marblehead, was surprised by the action this morning.

“Obviously this was an ambush and the people (in the Lassana truck) didn’t know their rights and that is what ICE is counting on,” Slavit Baylis said. “To come into a suburb, it’s not to fight crime, it’s just to pick up people who are not expecting it.”

Slavit Baylis advises her clients that if they are pulled over by ICE or other federal agents to roll down their window and keep their hands on the steering wheel. The driver is required to provide a name and address but is not required to say anything more.  

“They can search the car if they have probable cause, so say clearly, ‘I do not consent’ and then remain silent.”

State Rep. Jenny Armini, contacted by the Current, wrote,” It is shocking and distressing to see federal agents in Marblehead. Landscapers are not criminals. They are part of our economy and by extension, our community. The goal of today’s actions is not to keep us safe. That’s the big lie. Its goal is to destabilize our communities and terrorize individuals and their families. Marblehead has never given into tyrants, and we’re not about to start now.”

Lassana Landscaping is owned by Lassana Diawara and his wife Alison Williams and has been operating on the North Shore since 2002. According to the company’s website, “The couple first met in a small farming village along the Niger River in Mali, West Africa. Lassana farmed rice on his family’s land, and Alison worked as an agricultural Peace Corps volunteer. In 2001, they moved back to Alison’s hometown of Marblehead, where Lassana worked for a couple of years at Kipp’s Greenhouses.  It was there that he met some of his first landscaping customers and began to grow the business.”

The Current has reached out to ICE, District Attorney Paul Tucker’s office and Congressman Seth Moulton’s office for comment. This is a developing story. 

MARBLEHEAD CURRENT

***ICE GESTAPO IN MILFORD!****

— 16-year-old high school student detained by ICE in downtown Milford, friends say by Marcela Rodrigues, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio and Laura Crimaldi, The Boston Globe: “The federal immigration agent wore a mask. The 16-year-old high school student in his custody was barefoot with his hands shackled behind his back. The scene that unfolded Friday afternoon in downtown Milford was the latest example of the Trump administration’s most recent immigration enforcement push called Patriot 2.0. The operation launched on Sept. 6 and dispatched Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across Greater Boston, where they were spotted walking the hallways of Lynn District Court, trailing work vans in Lowell, and detaining landscapers outside Saugus Town Hall.”

THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

LIKELY SUSPECTS — Who convinced Josh Kraft to challenge Mayor Michelle Wu in Boston? The Boston Globe’s Shirley Leung has a list of the possible masterminds behind Kraft’s bid.

— In progressive stronghold of Somerville, upcoming election is seen as referendum on mayor by Spencer Buell, The Boston Globe: “The city is at a “tipping point,” Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said this week. On that, the city’s chief executive and her two challengers can agree, just as they do on broad political strokes in this longtime progressive stronghold of 82,000 people. But in Tuesday’s preliminary election for mayor, voters will have a say on whether a new executive is needed to steer a city with a sky-high cost of living, new developments reshaping tightly packed streets’ look and feel, and new threats from a federal government bent on making an example of places that lean as far left as Somerville. The contest will narrow the field to a head-to-head race and measure the appetite of voters to do something extraordinary in Massachusetts: unseat a sitting mayor.”

— After Kraft exits race, who will appear on the November ballot for Boston mayor? Third-place finisher wants a recount by Emma Platoff, The Boston Globe: “Under state law, if a candidate withdraws from the general election ballot, it is possible to replace him with the next highest vote-getter. But that candidate must have received ‘a number of votes at least equal to the number of signatures required by law to place his name on the preliminary election ballot.’ The third-place finisher in Boston’s preliminary election, community activist Domingos DaRosa, does not appear to have cleared that bar. He drew 2,409 votes on Tuesday, according to the city’s unofficial tally of results. The number of signatures required to get on the preliminary election ballot was 3,000. DaRosa told the Globe he hopes to find a way to be placed on the ballot, and will pursue a recount in the preliminary race.”

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FROM THE 413

— ‘Teacher pipeline problem’ leaves Pittsfield and other Berkshire schools scrambling to fill classrooms by Greg Sukiennik, The Berkshire Eagle: “The new leadership team of Pittsfield Public Schools faced a daunting task as schools opened for the fall: Finding enough teachers and staff to fill vacancies on short notice. A few weeks into the school year, that task continues.” 

PAY WALL

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— City Council to sue and filibuster Mayor Mitchell by Colin Hogan, The New Bedford Light: “The New Bedford filibuster is on. City councilors decided on Thursday night that they will not act on most items from Mayor Jon Mitchell until the mayor begins a confirmation process for the new chief of police. Mitchell has contended that the council’s confirmation is not necessary for a police chief, which steamed the council on an otherwise cool September evening.”

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Michael F. Fitzgerald has been named Cambridge Day’s new editor-in-chief. He was the editor-in-chief at Harvard Public Health.

— The Bank Policy Institute is adding Devina Khanna as a VP of government affairs. Khanna had worked for Rep. Stephen Lynch.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Diane Levin and Anthony Barsamian. Happy belated to Cristina Ross, who celebrated Sunday.

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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