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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
SETH MOULTON AND THE SPEAKERSHIP SAGA — Pushback against Rep. Seth Moulton for his anti-Nancy Pelosi quest was inevitable on Capitol Hill. But he's also under fire at home, too. A group of several dozen progressives plan to protest the congressman's town hall in Amesbury tonight, and some prominent Democrats are already calling for a primary challenge against him in 2020.
How real is the threat? Hard to say this far in advance — after all, the 2018 elections just ended. Since winning the seat in 2014, he's not had a primary challenge.
"I think somebody primarying him would need more than just the issue of the vote on Pelosi. That's not enough to generate support," political adviser Doug Rubin told me. He doesn't think anyone's mounting a primary challenge against Moulton at the moment, but said a fit for the seat down the line could be Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll.
But as protest organizer Isa Leshko sees it, there's another issue — whether Moulton runs for his House seat in 2020 at all. She said she considered raising money for a challenger this week, but that wouldn't be much use if Moulton runs for Sen. Ed Markey's seat or proves the rumor mill right on a presidential run. For his part, Moulton has said his sights are on changing leadership in the House, not higher office.
"The challenge with Seth is it's fairly clear that he has higher political aspirations beyond representative," Leshko said. "So it's not clear if we were to go the Crowdpac route how that would work if he ends up not running again for representative but instead pursuing a different seat." (Crowdpac is a website that helps Democratic and independent outsider candidates raise money and run for office.)
Because many voters in Moulton's district are registered as independent, it could be hard for someone to run to his left — independent voters in Massachusetts can choose to vote in whichever primary election they choose. "A progressive candidate might not be able to take his place," protest organizer Bambi Snodgrass said on Sunday.
Moulton's position on Pelosi isn't exactly new. He's been vocal about it since the 2016 election, and it hasn't caused him problems at home yet. This year, he was uncontested in the primary and won with more than 65 percent of the vote in the general . Bucking the party establishment is part of his brand — he took down veteran Democratic incumbent Rep. John Tierney in 2014 to capture the seat in the first place. "If he really believes that's the right thing then I respect him for it. I don't agree with it, but I respect elected officials who stand up for what they believe in if that's what he's doing," Rubin said of Moulton's push against Pelosi.
As for the constituents who don't agree with Moulton's crusade, they plan to spread themselves in the crowd at his town hall tonight and ask him to pledge support for Pelosi.
"We're coming out there to let Seth know that we are outraged at his opposition to Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. She's obviously the most qualified person and the optics of having five white guys trying to oust another woman in power is just unacceptable," Snodgrass said, referring to some of the male Democratic congressman who are also publicly opposed to Pelosi as speaker.
Moulton's office says he welcomes the opposition, and that challenging the status quo always comes with resistance.
"Seth is looking forward to it, and as he always says, he's hoping it's not just a room full of people who agree with him," Moulton spokesman Matt Corridoni told me in an email.
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 and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attend a ribbon cutting for the Epiphany School's Early Learning Center in Dorchester. Rep. Katherine Clark attends an event at Jacks Abby Beer Hall in Framingham along with state Sen. Jason Lewis, state Representative-elect Maria Robinson and Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer.
New England Treatment Access hosts a press conference before pots sales begin Tuesday with Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz,NETA Director of Compliance Amanda Rositano and NETA Director of Diversity Programs Kim Napoli.
Clark packs and delivers Thanksgiving meals with the Natick Service Council. Treasurer Deb Goldberg and Rep. Seth Moulton hold a town hall meeting on financial issues for veterans and service members in Lynn. Moulton holds a town hall in Amesbury. The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute marks the Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month at the State House. Violence in Boston Inc. holds a school walkout across the city to protest gun violence in Boston.
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 | MAKING HISTORY |
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- "Meet the first recreational marijuana customers in Massachusetts: a pair of veterans," by Dan Adams, Boston Globe: "A pair of veterans will stand at the center of history-making moments scheduled for this week: the first legal marijuana sales in Massachusetts in more than a century. At 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Iraq veteran and medical marijuana advocate Stephen Mandile will walk into Cultivate, a hybrid medical-recreational cannabis shop in Leicester, and buy a quarter-ounce of pot — preferably a sativa — plus some edibles. Around the same time, Air Force veteran and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz will approach the counter of New England Treatment Access, or NETA, a similar facility in his city that invited him to be its first customer."
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| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "For GOP, is the lesson be more like Charlie?" by Steve Koczela, CommonWealth Magazine: "MASSACHUSETTS REPUBLICANS suffered yet another electoral drubbing last week. Apart from Gov. Charlie Baker, every Republican candidate for statewide office got trounced by 24 to 46 point margins, based on unofficial returns. None of the congressional races were even remotely competitive. The legislative caucus shed three more members, further reducing their already paltry numbers. Republican US Senate candidate Geoff Diehl offered little competition to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, despite her often middling poll numbers. As the GOP tightened its grip on the corner office, pretty much every other office slipped through its fingers."
- "Once the pay hike's top critic, Baker will take $100,000 in new compensation in 2019," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "As Baker readies for his second term, the Republican intends to collect nearly $100,000 in additional annual pay and benefits the controversial pay raise package affords him, pushing his total compensation to $250,000, aides confirmed this week."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Fast, cheap, and sometimes out of control: Is Boston ready for electric scooters?" by Beth Teitell, Boston Globe: "Old Boston is slipping away. Dunkin' is losing its Donuts. The Curse of the Bambino has been all but forgotten. Southie's dive bars are turning into luxury condos. And now Boston drivers may be supplanted. If you haven't been paying attention to the shared electric scooter craze sweeping the globe, this might be a good time to start."
- "Boston's transgender community gathers to remember Rita Hester," by Maddie Kilgannon, Boston Globe: "The day after Thanksgiving in 1998, Rita Hester was murdered in Allston — just two days before her 35th birthday. Hester was — by all accounts — glamorous, brilliant, and driven. She was also a transgender woman. Her murder has yet to be solved. Twenty years later, roughly 300 people gathered inside the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Downtown Crossing for the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The event started in Boston after Hester's death, spread to San Francisco, and is now observed around the world."
- "The Whitey Bulger Murder Mystery: Two Assailants and a Prison Full of Suspects," by Danielle Ivory and Serge F. Kovaleski, New York Times: "An unusual murder mystery is playing out inside the Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia. The prime suspects — inmates — are already locked up. The victim was an aging mobster, someone plenty of people had reason to want dead. But how James (Whitey) Bulger, the crime boss and law enforcement informant from Boston, came to be murdered just a few hours after arriving at Hazelton is still a puzzle."
- "Rest homes in Mass. keep closing as financial pressures mount," by Robert Weisman, Boston Globe: "When the Somerville Home announced in August that it would shut its doors this fall, 78-year-old Elena Lowry realized that the world she'd known for the past 15 years — the friendships with fellow residents, the attentive staffers who made her doctor's appointments, the cakes and special meals on her birthday — was about to disappear."
- "Marriott And Workers Union Reach Tentative Agreement After 6-And-A-Half-Week Strike," by Jackson Cote and Serena McMahon, WBUR: "After nearly a month and a half of striking at seven Marriott International Hotels in Boston, the workers' union and the hotel chain have reached a tentative agreement. The ratification vote was held at the Hynes Convention Center at 2 p.m., UNITE HERE Local 26, the union representing the workers, said in a tweet."
- "Man and woman killed by Christmas train in Wareham were the parents of three children, victim's father says," by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: "The Cape Cod Central Railroad train — which carried Noe, his mother, his 7-year-old daughter, and her 10-year-old friend, and about 350 other passengers that night — had struck a man and woman on the tracks of the Cape Maine Line in Wareham, coming to a stop near 72 Minot Ave. around 7:30 p.m., according to the Plymouth district attorney's office."
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| EYE ON 2020 |
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- "Warren could be part of crowded New England field for N.H. primary," by James Pindell, Boston Globe: "It's as much a tradition as the New Hampshire primary itself: If a New England Democrat has run in the first-in-the-nation contest, he's won it. Think John F. Kennedy in 1960. Maine's Ed Muskie in 1972. Michael Dukakis in 1988. Paul Tsongas in 1992. John Kerry in 2004, and Vermont's Bernie Sanders in 2016. (OK, there's one outlier: Edward Kennedy lost the New Hampshire primary to a sitting president, Jimmy Carter, in 1980.) But what if several Democrats from New England run in the same year? In 2020, we might find out."
- "Ed Markey could be big target in 2020," by Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald: "U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is preparing to formally launch his re-election campaign early next year — and girding for a possible challenge from his own party. Top Markey advisers confirm he's all in on his 2020 race. But all he has to do is look at his soon-to-be former House colleague, Michael Capuano, to realize that he could be vulnerable in an era where older, entrenched incumbents are facing challenges from younger candidates — especially women and minorities."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "How Democrats plan to save the agency Republicans love to hate," by Katy O'Donnell, POLITICO: "Newly empowered House Democrats are vowing an all-out fight to salvage the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the face of the Trump administration's drive to curb the agency's power. Party lawmakers have seethed for the past year as Mick Mulvaney has cut back on enforcement and curtailed funding requests for the bureau, the brainchild of President Donald Trump's nemesis, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)."
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| THE LOWELL CONNECTOR |
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- "Trahan backing Pelosi for speaker," by Chris Lisinski, The Lowell Sun: " House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi faces a vocal challenge led by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton over her efforts to secure another term as Speaker of the House, but she now has support from the women who will represent the two districts neighboring Moulton's. U.S. Rep.-elect Lori Trahan told The Sun late Friday that she signed a letter backing Pelosi -- the first time she has publicly confirmed how she plans to vote on Democratic leadership -- alongside 60 other incoming and incumbent congresswomen. U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark also signed the letter."
- "Pollution plagues the mighty Merrimack when rain is heavy," by David Abel, Boston Globe: "Nearly 50 years after the Clean Water Act, the Merrimack has become one of the most polluted waterways in New England, one of dozens of rivers in the region that are repeatedly inundated with raw sewage from treatment plants overwhelmed by heavy rains."
- "Hoey may head to Lowell DPW job," The Lowell Sun:"PERSISTENCE AND patience appear to have paid off for Brian Hoey. Hoey has been state Rep. David Nangle's chief of staff for nearly 18 years, also building up a successful landscaping/plowing business that has apparently prepared the 51-year-old for the next chapter in his professional life. The Column has learned that Hoey has the inside track to oversee Lowell's Department of Public Works Parks Division."
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| THE CLARK CAUCUS |
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- "Women Won The House For Democrats, But Men May End Up Running It," by Jennifer Bendery, Huffington Post: "They ran for office at record levels. They came to the polls in droves. And Democrats owe them a huge thanks for helping them win control of the House. But women may not end up with much of a voice in congressional leadership if House Democrats aren't careful ― a scenario that would come across as both tone-deaf and absurd in the wake of this month's midterm elections."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Democratic Rep. Moulton draws fire for campaign to deny Pelosi speaker's job," by Mike DeBonis, Washington Post:"Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, the hard-charging Marine who served four tours of duty in Iraq is leading the challenge to Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her bid for speaker — and is suddenly taking incoming political fire from all quarters."
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| BEHIND THE TOFU CURTAIN |
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- "Area residents express optimism and caution ahead of Tuesday's recreational marijuana sales," by Louis Fieldman and Andy Castillo, Daily Hampshire Gazette: " Although still federally illegal, recreational marijuana is expected to be sale on Tuesday morning at New England Treatment Access on Conz Street, which will become the first shop in western Massachusetts to begin selling marijuana to people 21 years and older. On Friday, the state's Cannabis Control Commission authorized NETA and Cultivate Holdings LLC in Leicester to start selling marijuana and marijuana products."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "TRUMP TWEETS AT MIGRANTS 'GO HOME,'" "POLS RAISE ALARM ABOUT SOUTHIE VAPE SHOP," — Globe: "2 veterans chosen to usher in new era for pot," "A test for tradition in N.H. primary." |
| NO PLACE LIKE THE CITY OF HOMES |
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- "Springfield City Council Prepares to Test Its Strength," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics and Insight: "Over the last few years, the Springfield City Council has expressed increasing boldness in its lawmaking power. Discarding the long-believed and largely false trope that the Council is principally a land use body, councilors have now put forward legislation regarding diversity, police management, and the Community Preservation Act. The Council's Monday agenda expands on these previous efforts, highlighting the body's growing lawmaking confidence."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "At Plimoth Plantation, not all employees are thankful," by Dugan Arnett, Boston Globe: "On a recent day at Plimoth Plantation, the storied re-creation of a 1620s Colonial village where tours have been a New England rite of passage for decades, it certainly looks like original Pilgrims happily preparing for their first Thanksgiving feast. But all is not well ."
- "Hopkinton preps for new civics curriculum," by Trevor Ballantyne, MetroWest Daily News: "Hopkinton teachers are preparing to revamp major components of their social studies curriculum after Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law last week requiring civics-based instruction for all public school districts in the state. Hopkinton Assistant School Superintendent Jennifer Parson said teachers look forward to the opportunity to improve their curriculum, even if it might require additional preparation."
SPOTTED: Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, at TD Garden Friday night watching the Celtics beat the Raptors 123-116 -- pic
MAZEL! to Nicole White and Joseph Peter Caiazzo, who were married at Our Lady of Good Voyage in Gloucester on Friday. White is the director of leadership giving at uAspire and Caiazzo is a campaign manager for Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
TRANSITIONS - James Campanini, longtime editor of The Lowell Sun, will leave the paper Nov. 30.
- Margaret Moulton took over as executive director of Berkshire Grown, a nonprofit linking farmers to the community, in September.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Washington Post reporter Matt Viser, who is 39 (h/t Annie Linskey).
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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