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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF.
MINI SCOOP: MASS DEMS PAYING $7K TO FEC — The Massachusetts Democratic State Committee signed a deal earlier this week to pay $7,050 to the Federal Election Commission for a campaign finance violation that happened during the 2013-2014 election cycle. Party chairman Gus Bickford says the fine is due to "administrative errors" discovered during a routine audit by the FEC.
"The Party reached an agreement with the FEC earlier this weekto resolve the issue, and has undertaken two full scale, internal audits and put systems in place to ensure similar issues do not occur in the future," Bickford said in a statement to POLITICO. The FEC didn't comment on the fine, but said agreements and dollar amounts are typically done on a case-by-case basis.
Since the agreement is so new , more information will likely be available when the next round of campaign finance reports are due Dec. 6, which covers spending just before and just after the Nov. 6 election. According to the latest posted report, the party had around $648,000 in cash on hand in its federal account Oct. 17, just before the final midterm push. The party had $117,000 in its state account on Nov. 15, according to a Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance report . Bickford is in Puerto Rico this week for the Association of State Democratic Committee meetings, which began Wednesday and ends today.
THE ROAD TO A MOULTON PRIMARY — If someone runs against Rep. Seth Moulton in the 2020 primary, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll says it won't be her. Driscoll has "no intention" of running against Rep. Seth Moulton, her chief of staff said on Thursday afternoon.
Some progressives are calling for a primary challenger to Moulton in 2020 because of his staunch opposition to Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. No candidate has come forward, but Driscoll's name comes up among those who want Moulton out, especially among progressive women.
"Mayor Driscoll has a very good working relationship with Congressman Moulton and appreciates working with him as a partner for Salem at the federal level on many important issues. She has no intention of running against him," Driscoll's chief of staff Dominick Pangallo told me in an email on Thursday.
Despite Moulton's push for new leadership, Pelosi handily won the nomination in caucus on Wednesday and appears poised to take the gavel when the House holds a formal vote in January. Moulton failed to get any of his colleagues in the Massachusetts delegation on board for his efforts, and the Pelosi challenger he put forward didn't have any staying power.
Freshmen lawmakers Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan supported Pelosi , and Rep. Joe Kennedy III nominated her for Speaker in caucus. Rep. Katherine Clark is a new member of the leadership team, likely House Rules chair Rep. Jim McGovern and Pelosi negotiated with the Problem Solvers Caucus on new rules to get their support and likely Ways and Means chair Rep. Richard Neal says he worked to get everyone on board for Pelosi.
Even Rep. Stephen Lynch appears to have softened from his initial Pelosi opposition — now he says he's open to negotiation in exchange for a floor vote for Pelosi in January.
Isa Leshko, who organized a protest at Moulton's Amesbury town hall earlier this month, says she has spoken with two women who are considering a primary run against Moulton in 2020. And Bambi Snodgrass, another organizer of the Amesbury protest, has spoken with a third woman weighing a House bid, Leshko said. She declined to name the potential candidates.
For his part, Moulton told reporters he welcomes a primary challenge at that Amesbury town hall, adding he thinks it's ironic progressives are calling for a primary challenger but don't think he should challenge Pelosi. One thing that could change the equation is whether Moulton seeks higher office in two years. In a (very early) 2020 Senate matchup, Sen. Ed Markey leads Moulton by four points — 29 percent to 25 percent — according to a recent UMass poll. Moulton says he plans to run for his 6th District seat again in 2020.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY - Gov. Charlie Baker returns to Massachusetts from a trip to Arizona. Rep. Katherine Clark speaks to the press alongside Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi as a member of House leadership for the first time. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is a guest on "Boston Public Radio," then kicks off his Enchanted Trolley Tour. Seaport Commonholds its tree lighting. Former candidate for governor Setti Warren is a guest on "Radio Boston."
The Boston City Council Planning, Development and Transportation Committee hears testimony on the South Boston Seaport Waterfront and South Boston Seaport Transit Strategic Plan. Senate President Karen Spilka is in Ashland for a presentation from Framingham State University and 495/MetroWest. Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics Civic Research Director Kim Lucas talks about her office's research agenda.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "CROP OF FRESHWOMEN LAWMAKERS COMMITTED TO ROLL CALLS," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "Fifteen female Democrats running for seats on Beacon Hill took a '#TransparencyPledge' on social media in August, committing to join, if elected, what are typically Republican-led efforts to put lawmakers' votes on record. Now, with this year's election cycle complete, four of those candidates are set to join the Legislature in January."
- "AG HEALEY APPROVES HOSPITAL MEGA-MERGER, WITH PRICE CAP, CONDITIONS," by Colin A. Young and Michael P. Norton, State House News Service: "Although regulators plan to keep a watchful eye, the path was cleared Thursday at the state and federal levels for a mega-merger that would create the Beth Israel Lahey Health System, which will represent the state's second-largest care network, behind Partners HealthCare. Attorney General Maura Healey on Thursday announced the conditions that will be placed upon the creation of Beth Israel Lahey Health System (BILH), which will be formed through the merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health System."
- "Uncertainty clouds federal court vacancies," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily TImes: "A judicial nominating committee has come up with a list of candidates to fill two vacancies in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, but it's not clear whether President Donald Trump will act. The panel of lawyers and retired judges spent months meeting behind closed doors to vet candidates for the federal bench. It recently forwarded a short list of jurists to U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey for consideration, according to Nancy Gertner, a retired U.S. District Court judge who was chairwoman of the 12-member committee.
- "INCOMING REP USES SLAVE-AND-MASTER ANALOGY TO DESCRIBE HOUSE," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service:"When Nika Elugardo was young, her 'little middle school protest' was to leave the Pledge of Allegiance incomplete when reciting it in class, dropping the phrase 'justice for all' because she saw too many people experiencing injustice. As she grew older, she began to move beyond protests and 'into structures,' the newly elected state lawmaker from Jamaica Plain recounted at a recent forum. She viewed justice, she said, not as something that would be provided to her but ' something that I'm making.'"
- "BAKER REJOINS RGA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "As one of 11 Republican governors reelected to another term this year, Gov. Charlie Baker will rejoin the Republican Governors Association's executive committee in 2019, a group of nine GOP governors who will help steer the group's political and policy objectives in the off election year."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Mohegan Sun ready to make major play for Everett casino if Wynn Resorts loses license," by Jordan Graham, Boston Herald:"Mohegan Sun says it is willing to buy the $2.5 billion Encore Boston Harbor casino if Wynn Resorts is found unsuitable by state regulators — a move apparently aimed at giving the Gaming Commission an easy out from its high-stakes dilemma. ... Mohegan has held initial meetings with at least one neighboring community to say the company would be interested if Wynn's license is stripped, and that it intends to honor existing surrounding community agreements that Wynn has negotiated."
- "Walsh Asked To Stop BPD From Attending Israeli Training," by Mike Deehan, WGBH News: "Peace activists want Mayor Marty Walsh to cancel the Boston Police Department's participation in an annual training seminar in Israel they say promotes militarized responses to public safety concerns. Boston police have in the past attended the Leadership, Resilience and Counter-Terrorism Seminar which is set to start Sunday in Israel. The Anti-Defamation League runs the training, which teaches techniques used by the Israeli National Police to combat terrorism."
- "Sip from a nip? Not in Chelsea," by Michael Levenson, Boston Globe: "This city wants to take a bite out of its public drinking problem. Well, a few nips, anyway. And the liquor industry is fighting back. Chelsea this year became the first municipality in Massachusetts to ban the sale of the ubiquitous little liquor bottles, blaming them for contributing to public drunkenness in the downtown area it has worked hard to revive."
- "Howie Carr Is Deplorable—and He Couldn't Be Happier," by Simon Van Zuylen-Wood, Boston Magazine: "One day it's a banquet hall on the South Coast of Massachusetts. The next day it's a temple in Concord, New Hampshire, home to a Freemason sect whose worshipers like to wear red fezzes and drive miniature cars. A couple of weeks later, it's a tavern in Maine. After that, a nightclub in Malden. These are some of the places Howie Carr has been spending his weekends lately, renting them out for stage shows in which he relives his favorite moments from the 2016 election. 'The Deplorables Show,' he calls it. You can learn a lot about Howie by going to one."
- "US attorney issues warning to physicians over opioid prescriptions," by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: "US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling has sent letters to 'a number of medical professionals' alerting them that their opioid prescribing practices 'have been identified as a source of concern.' In a statement released Thursday, Lelling said that the professionals who received the warning had prescribed opioids to a patient within 60 days of that patient's death or to a patient who subsequently died from an opioid overdose."
- "Why is Boston's Citgo sign such a big deal?" by Catherine Carlock, Boston Business Journal: "Maybe this question will brand me with an indelible scarlet 'O' — for 'outsider' — but I must ask: Why, exactly, is Boston so enamored of a sign bearing the name of a Venezuelan oil company? I am referring, of course, to the famed Citgo sign, which sits atop 660 Beacon St. — and will continue to sit for 'decades to come,' according to a deal between building owner Related Beal and Citgo, brokered this week by the city."
- "Thousands celebrate tree lighting on Boston Common, many for the first time," by Jackson Cote, Boston Globe: "Under red and green fireworks and swirling paper snow confetti, thousands celebrated the city's official tree lighting ceremony on Boston Common Thursday night. At 7:55 p.m., bundled-up crowds cheered and counted down from 10, as Mayor Martin J. Walsh flipped a switch to light the 46-foot white spruce and many more trees across the common."
- "Red Sox Owner Lists in Florida for $25 Million," by Katherine Clark, Wall Street Journal: "Boston Red Sox owner John Henry is asking $25 million for a sprawling Florida lakefront estate that was custom built to be his family's primary home. In the Le Lac community, a 200-acre enclave about 5 miles from the center of Boca Raton, the main home is 27,832 square feet, with seven bedrooms and 19 bathrooms, according to listing agent Senada Adzem of Douglas Elliman."
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| THE CLARK CAUCUS |
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- "Katherine Clark elected to leadership post," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "On the day that Nancy Pelosi moved a big step closer to a return as House speaker, Representative Katherine Clark clinched a key leadership spot in the House Democratic caucus Wednesday, a prime role that could help her climb further up the ranks in the coming years. Clark, the three-term incumbent from the Massachusetts Fifth District, north of Boston, won a contested race to be House Democrats' vice chair, 144 to 90, to become the sixth-ranking member of next year's leadership team."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Paul Cesan pleads guilty in federal court," by Kristin LaFratta, MassLive.com:"Retired Massachusetts State Police Trooper Paul Cesan pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges in federal court on Thursday in connection to the agency's widespread overtime abuse scandal. Cesan, 50, of Southwick, signed onto a plea deal struck between his attorney Terrence M. Dunphy and the U.S. Attorney's Office in which he admits guilt to the charge levied against him: that he embezzled from an agency receiving federal funds."
- "Panel is charged with reviewing state's 'secret courts,'" by Nicole Dungca, Boston Globe: "A top court official has appointed a committee to evaluate potential changes to the state's confidential clerk magistrate hearings, following the Globe's Spotlight Team reports that highlighted uneven outcomes and potential abuses within the system."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "The Making of Elizabeth Warren," by Michael Kruse, POLITICO Magazine: "Warren is Warren because she's an unusual amalgam of a 'ragged edge' Oklahoma upbringing and a rich, East Coast Ivy League tenure. If, though, her mantra of a message carries her to the Democratic nomination in 2020, its roots will reach back, too, to the spotlit Hollywood studio of 'Dr. Phil .'"
- "Elizabeth Warren, Eyeing 2020, Decries Military Overreach," by Astead W. Herndon, New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren inched closer to a likely presidential run Thursday, making a major foreign policy speech that cited the need to rein in 'unsustainable and ill-advised military commitments' across the world. The speech had several policy proposals that are sure to reverberate among other 2020 presidential hopefuls."
- "Warren backs Senate's criminal justice bill," by Elana Schor, POLITICO: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on Thursday that she supports the Senate's criminal justice bill, which is also backed by President Donald Trump as well as a rare bipartisan alliance of progressive and conservative lawmakers. Warren (D-Mass.) raised concerns earlier this month about whether the prison and sentencing reform deal is wide-ranging enough but said in a brief interview that she is supportive ."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "US Rep. Jim McGovern says House Democrats will investigate Russian collusion," by Shannon Young, Springfield Republican:"U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, slammed President Donald Trump Thursday for casting Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as a 'witch hunt,' adding that House Democrats plan to use their power in the new Congress to ensure 'no one in this country is above the law.' McGovern, who is expected to take over as the next House Rules Committee chairman, condemned Trump for criticizing the probe and suggesting that no collusion occurred between his campaign and Russia."
- "Analysis: Neal, as Chair, Will Be in Spotlights of Friends & Foes Alike," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight:"Neal's take over amid instantaneous news cycles, strident partisan rancor, and the bullhorn of @realDonaldTrump.Neal's chairmanship will let him push back on GOP healthcare chicanery, question trade policy, and request Donald Trump's taxes. After three decades in relative obscurity beyond the halls of power in Massachusetts and Washington, he will enter the national political consciousness."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "TITLE TOWNS," "WINNER TAKE ALL," — Globe: "A little problem in Chelsea, or a big one," "Hospital merger OK'd with conditions," "Cohen says he lied about deal." |
| ALL ABOARD |
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- "State transit boss blasts commuter rail for recent 'unacceptable issues,'" by Adam Vaccaro, John R. Ellement and Steve Annear, Boston Globe: "On Tuesday, a wheel came off. On Thursday, it was a fire. It's been a rough few days on the commuter rail, highlighted by a derailment on the Waltham-Belmont border and an engine fire in Hanson. On Thursday afternoon, state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, whose office oversees the rail network, criticized recent service as 'unacceptable.'"
- "'Big change' for bikes, buses comes to Mass. Ave. in Cambridge," by Steve Annear, Boston Globe: "A busy stretch of Massachusetts Avenue underwent significant changes this month to make the street safer and more convenient for cyclists traveling between Cambridge and Boston. At the same time, the roadway reconfigurations will ease congestion for public transportation and improve pedestrian mobility, officials said."
TRANSITIONS - Doug Bailey was promoted to senior vice president of Rasky Partners' public relations practice. Bailey previously served as a senior adviser at the firm.
- Eric Weber was promoted to senior vice president in Rasky Partners' accounting practice. Weber was previously the firm's controller.
- Katherine Clark joined Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster's Trust and Estates Practice Group as an associate. She previously worked as a trust and estates intern at Clarkin & Phillips, P.C.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Sen. Mike Rush and Larry Summers, who is 64.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to John Murray, who celebrates on Saturday.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Bruins beat the Islanders 2-1.
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: Yesterday I said John Kerry is giving a talk at the Kennedy Institute on Dec. 6, but the talk is at the Kennedy School. More coffee, please.
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