Boston Mayor Martin Walsh is scheduled to make a regular appearance on NightSide with Dan Rea, WBZ NewsRadio 1030, 8 p.m.
| Today's News |
| |
| ‘Trump Stuns the World’ |
| |
That was the online headline earlier this morning at the U.K.’s Guardian – and what else can you say? Donald Trump’s presidential victory was stunning and an even bigger upset than the famous Truman-Dewey race in 1948. Simply amazing.
Here are some links from around the world and country, as everyone tries to come to grips with an election outcome that most polls said couldn’t and wouldn’t happen: From the U.K.’s Guardian (“one of the most improbable political victories in modern US history”); from the Times of London (“a stunning shock victory”); from France’s Le Monde (we don’t know what it says, we’re just showing off); from the NYT (“a stunning culmination of an explosive, populist and polarizing campaign”); from the Washington Post(“a campaign that defied expectations and conventions at every turn”); from the Boston Globe (“sending shock waves around the world”); and from the Boston Herald (“stunning political upset”).
And from The Onion (“nation elects first black-hearted president”). |
| |
|
| |
| GOP’s Ayotte holds slim lead in NH; recount expected |
| |
U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte was holding a razor-think lead of only 1,500 votes as of this morning in her race for re-election against Gov. Maggie Hassan, the NYT is reporting. The Globe is reporting that a recount, no matter who technically squeaks by when all the votes are counted, is all but inevitable. Meanwhile, the Concord Monitor is reporting that Republican Chris Sununu, son of former N.H. Gov. John H. Sununu, comfortably defeated Democrat Colin Van Ostern in yesterday’s gubernatorial race in the Granite State. |
| |
|
| |
| Question 2 resoundingly rejected, setting back charter school expansion for years |
| |
In the end, it wasn’t even close: Question 2, which would have expanded charter schools in Massachusetts, went down in flames, with 62 percent opposing the measure and only 37.9 percent favoring it, with 96 percent of the vote counted as of this morning, the Globe reports. The trouncing shows that supporters overreached by trying to lift the caps on charter schools – and now the charter school movement will suffer major blowback on Beacon Hill. For at least the next few years, who’s going to listen to charter-school proponents after such a lopsided vote? The biggest winners last night: Teacher unions that vehemently opposed Question 2. The biggest loser, from a political perspective: Gov. Charlie Baker Baker, who championed the measure. |
| |
|
| |
| Marijuana legalized in Massachusetts – and now comes the hard part |
| |
Count on it: Beacon Hill lawmakers are going to be very, very busy in coming weeks, months and years on the issue of how to regulate marijuana in Massachusetts, after state voters yesterday approved the Question 4 initiative that legalizes marijuana in the Bay State, starting next month. The measure was passed by a somewhat narrow 53.6 percent in favor and 46.4 percent against, with 97 percent of the votes counted, the Globe reports. California also passed marijuana legalization yesterday, the NYT reports. Moving forward, lawmakers in both states will now have to grapple with how to regulate and implement marijuana sales and a host of other issues – and you know the debates are going to get fierce at times. It’s going to consume a lot of time on Beacon Hill.
| Slots parlor Question 1 gets crushed, handing win to Wynn |
| |
Opponents of Question 1, the ballot initiative that would have allowed a new slots parlor to open in Revere, were heavily outspent by the casino-industry backers of the measure. But Question 1 was easily and most emphatically trounced yesterday, with 60.9 percent of statewide voters opposing the measure versus 39.1 percent in favor, with 96 percent of votes counted as of this morning, the Globe reports. Beside the people of Revere who voted against the measure in an earlier local referendum, the big winner following Question 1’s defeat is Steve Wynn, who’s building a full-scale casino in neighboring Everett and who donated last-minute money to the anti-Question 1 cause
In Rhode Island, meanwhile, voters statewide said yes to a proposal to erect a casino in Tiverton, just yards from the Massachusetts border. But as of late Tuesday night, some 800 mail-in votes remained to be counted in the host community, which has the power to veto the project that could impact gaming revenues in the Bay State, WPRI reports. |
| |
|
| |
| Voters approve the ‘groundbreaking’ Question 3 initiative to protect farm animals |
| |
From the Globe’s Joshua Miller: “Massachusetts voters Tuesday passed a groundbreaking ballot question that will mandate all pork, veal, and eggs farmed and sold in Massachusetts come from pigs, calves, and laying hens not confined to ultratight quarters.” The ballot question was supported by an astounding 77 percent of voters. Now we’ll see if passage of the measure indeed leads to higher food prices, as opponents of the measure had warned. |
| |
|
| |
| Dems maintain super-majority on Beacon Hill – but GOP holds its own |
| |
Although every member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives was on the ballot Tuesday, two-thirds of them faced no challengers and the result was perhaps—given the national election results—surprisingly little in the way of change. Matt Murphy of State House News Service reports that Republicans appear to have gained a single seat in the House, while losing the three races for open Senate seats. Otherwise, the good news for the GOP is that it held its own and didn’t get wiped out yesterday, as it looked might happen only a few weeks ago, before GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s late-stage surge.
SHNS (pay wall) |
| |
|
| |
| Among the most closely watched legislative races ... |
| |
Here's a look at the outcomes of some of the most watched races:
-- The Republican House pickup came on Cape Cod, which has emerged as a GOP stronghold and where Will Crocker easily defeated Democrat Aaron Panzer, the Cape Cod Times reports.
-- But Democrats held onto the Cape and Islands senate seat that Republicans, including Gov. Baker, had made a hard push to flip, with Julian Cyr defeating Anthony Schiavi in the bid to win the seat previously held by Daniel Wolf, according to Chrstine Legere of the Cape Cod Times. Also on the Cape, Democrat Dylan Fernandes will represent the Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket District after fending off a challenge from independent candidate Tobias Glidden in a race that saw Fernances drop $2,000 on ferry tickets as he island-hopped to meet voters, Madeline List of the Cape Cod Times reports.
-- North of Boston, Republicans held off some strong challenges to keep the seats they do hold. Rep. Donald Wong retained his seat for a fourth term, fending off a challenge from former congressional aide Jennifer Migliore, Gayla Cawley of the Lynn Daily Item reports.
-- Further north still, Republican James Kelcourse won a second term in the house, besting newcomer Brianna Sullivan, despite a strong showing by the Democrat in the district’s largest community of Newburyport, reports Dyke Hendrickson of the Newburyport Daily News.
-- Andover Democrat Barbara L’Italien retained her seat in the state senate, despite a push from Gov. Baker to flip the seat in favor of Republican challenger Susan LaPlante of Lawrence, according to a report from Kori Tuitt of the Lowell Sun.
-- In Worcester’s 16th district, Democrat incumbent Dan Donahue outlasted a challenge from former office holder John Fresolo, who ran under the United Independent Party banner, Steven Foskett Jr. of the Telegram reports.
-- In Leominster, meanwhile, Rep. Kate Campanile held off Democratic challenger Moses Dixon to keep the seat in GOP hands.
-- To the west, political newbie Adam Hinds won the Berkshire senate seat vacated by Benjamin Downing, with the Democrat defeating Christine Canning in the senate district notable for being the westernmost in the state, according to Richie Davis of the Greenfield Reporter.
-- And Sen. Eric Lesser, a Democrat, declared victory over Republican challenger James ‘Chip’ Harrington relatively early in the night, retaining the First Hampden and Hampshire District seat, Dan Glaun of MassLive reports.
| Local CPA ballot initiatives approved in Boston and elsewere |
| |
Voters in several communities tackled ballot referenda beyond the Big 4 statewide questions. In Boston, voters adopted the Community Preservation Act that applies a 1 percent surcharge on property taxes to raise money for affordable housing and historic preservation. Isaiah Thompson at WGBH reports that at least nine other communities adopted the CPA Tuesday along with the Hub.
WGBH |
| |
|
| |
| Rosenberg says many “fear” running for legislative offices |
| |
Senate President Stan Rosenberg’s partial explanation for why there were so few contested legislative races yesterday, thanks lartely to a dearth of GOP candidates? One word: Fear. "There's a lot of apathy," the Amherst Democrat said during a Boston Herald Radio interview Tuesday, as reported by SHNS. "There's a lot of fear about running for office because of all of the transparency involved in filling out ethics forms and all kinds of things and then there's all of the, I don't know, I guess you might say the challenges that people face by going out there and putting themselves before the public. It's just really hard to get people frankly on both sides, but especially if you don't have a really deep bench."
SHNS (pay wall) |
| |
|
| |
| Baker’s bad day |
| |
The fellow Republican who he refused to vote for wins the presidential election. The voters reject his appeals on two of the biggest and most important referendum questions (2 and 4) on the ballot in Massachusetts. The GOP did only so-so in legislative races in Massachusetts. Yeah, you can say that Gov. Charlie Baker had a bad election night and that Sen. Thomas McGee, the state Democratic Party chairman, was right to say of legislative and other state outcomes: “I think it was a really good night for us and, to be honest with you, a really down night for the governor.”
|
| |
|
| |
| Just FYI: GOP maintains control of U.S. Senate and House |
| |
It wasn’t just a big night for the GOP on the presidential front. From the Washington Post’s Paul Kane: “Republicans retained their majority in the Senate on Tuesday after a string of upset victories in key states and gave the GOP sweeping powers to advance President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, including his appointments to the Supreme Court. With a GOP House majority also secure, Republicans now have full control of the White House and Congress.”
Washington Post |
| |
|
| |
| MASSterLIst's bold predictions |
| |
Regarding our election predictions in yesterday's MASSterList: Five out of seven isn't bad, if we may say so. Yes, we did get the presidential race wrong. But so did a lot of other people. And, yes, we know that the outcome of the New Hampshire U.S. Senate race hasn't been declared yet, so we left that off our count this morning. But, again, five out of seven isn't bad -- and it may yet be six out of seven if Ayotte ultimately wins. Consider this our victory lap.
| Today's Headlines |
| |
| Massachusetts |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| Metro |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Nation |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment