POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: LePAGE stumps for DIEHL — POLICE UNION chafes over GPS tracking — Ethics questions for GALVIN staff

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POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: LePAGE stumps for DIEHL — POLICE UNION chafes over GPS tracking — Ethics questions for GALVIN staff

WACK-A-DING LEPAGE STUMPS FOR TRUMP CLONE DIEHL?

LePAGE STUMPS FOR DIEHL - State Rep. Geoff Diehl is bringing in another high-powered, if controversial, Republican to make his case to take on Sen. Elizabeth Warren this November.

This time, it's Maine Governor Paul LePage, who's being billed as the featured speaker at a Diehl event on May 21 in Waltham. Tickets run between $1,500 for Host Committee billing, $250 for an invite to the photo reception, and $50 for access to the general reception.

LePage - a noted Trump supporter - is another nod to the ruby-red flank of the state Republican party, and the latest reminder of Diehl's bonafides with the President, even if Diehl never mentioned the president in his speech to party faithful at the Republican State Convention last month. In April, Diehl brought in former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer for a fundraiser at the Union Oyster House in Boston.

LePage has a colorful recent history with Massachusetts, like when he stated those arrested with fentanyl and heroin "are not white people. They're Hispanic and they're black, and they're from Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts." He's also taken swipes at Massachusetts' own Republican governor Charlie Baker, saying last summer Baker's "not doing what he needs to do." But the Maine Republican has also maintained ties with the more conservative wing of the state Republican party, like when LePage addressed the Massachusetts Republican Assembly in early 2017.

THIS WOULD SEEM TO COINCIDE WITH THE 'POLLING' WE RECEIVED - ASKED MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CHARLIE BAKER'S PERFORMANCE - IN THE MIDST OF THE STATE POLICE SCANDAL, DOR FAUX PAS, DMV CONFUSION & LONG LINES AND MUCH ELSE. IS THERE ANYTHING CHARLIE BAKER HAS MADE BETTER? 

- "Charlie Baker campaign drops $25,000 on political research firm," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "The Swampscott Republican's reelection campaign, which has been quietly toiling in its Allston headquarters since the start of the year, paid more than $25,000 late last month to an upstart Washington, D.C., firm that specializes in, among other things, identifying potential political and 'reputational risk' for its clients. Baker has no clear opponent in November, yet. But to put the expense in context, the single $25,415 payment to Percipient Strategies outpaced what either Jay Gonzalez or Bob Massie - the two Democrats running for governor - raised for their entire campaigns in the same two-week reporting period."

- "Sen. Elizabeth Warren to host town hall in New Bedford," by Michael Bonner, SouthCoast Today: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren will host a town hall-style discussion, consisting of audience questions, on Saturday in New Bedford. The event will take place at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, 1121 Ashley Blvd. Doors will open at 11 a.m. with the event to begin at noon."

- "Climate Summit For Mayors To Be Held In Boston In June," by WBUR Newsroom: "Former Secretary of State and Massachusetts U.S. Sen. John Kerry will be the keynote speaker at an international summit on climate change in Boston next month. Mayors from across the globe will meet at Boston University on June 7 - about a year after the Trump administration announced it plans to pull out of the Paris climate accords. Kerry negotiated the Paris pact."