What if WARREN won — RMV to get another look — KRAFT spotted at TRUMP’s table

Jul 09, 2019

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.

WHAT IF WARREN WON? — As Sen. Elizabeth Warren rises in the polls and puts up big fundraising numbers, I've heard the same question a lot: What would happen to Warren's Senate seat if she actually became the president? So consider this your completely hypothetical, totally premature guide to what would happen if there were a Senate vacancy in Massachusetts.

Here's how it would work: The governor would have the power to appoint an interim senator, and the state would hold a special election to fill the vacancy more permanently.

The timing depends on when the sitting senator would submit a resignation letter, according to Debra O'Malley, spokeswoman for Secretary of State William Galvin. The special election process in Massachusetts is triggered by a resignation, not by winning an election. So if Warren won in November 2020, she could resign the next day, or hold onto her seat up until the morning of Inauguration Day in January 2021.

"The clock starts ticking when the letter of resignation is filed," O'Malley told me yesterday.

Under current state law, Gov. Charlie Baker would have the power to appoint a senator to serve in the interim until a new official could be elected and sworn in. The special election has to happen within 145 to 160 days from the resignation, so there's a 15-day window in which the governor can decide to hold the election. That means a special election would fall sometime between April and June, if a resignation happened between November and January. When former Sen. John Kerry was appointed secretary of state in the Obama administration, he didn't resign until January. That led to the June 25 special election in which Sen. Ed Markey won his current seat.

"If there is an opening because Elizabeth wins the nomination and hopefully the presidency, it would be interesting to see how, in that circumstance, Gov. Baker approaches identifying and selecting an interim appointee if he so chooses. The law doesn't require him to," former Sen. Mo Cowan told me last night. He was appointed as the interim senator to fill Kerry's seat.

The laws around Senate vacancies have been pretty fluid in Massachusetts. The law was changed from a direct gubernatorial appointment to a special election in 2004 — an effort to prevent then-GOP Gov. Mitt Romney from appointing a member of his own party to Kerry's Senate seat in the event Kerry won the presidency that year. The rules changed again around the time the late Sen. Ted Kennedy died in 2009. He requested before his death, around the time of the Affordable Care Act's passage, that a senator be appointed to act in the interim.

I asked O'Malley if the Secretary of State's office anticipates any changes to current state law if Warren were to become the nominee and give up her senate seat.

"That's entirely up to the Legislature. It would not be the first time, in fact, it has happened almost every time — at least in recent years," O'Malley said. O'Malley said it's not clear how much a special election could cost the state, because the cost varies year-to-year and the office's ballot-printing contract is out to bid right now. But there is a chance the Legislature could appropriate some money to reimburse cities and towns for special election costs.

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TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker makes a workforce housing announcement in Boston. Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, state Sen. Joseph Boncore and state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz attend the opening of Uncle Frank & Auntie Kay Chin Park. Rep. Lori Trahan, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, state Sen. Barry Finegold and state Rep. Christina Minicucci hold a press conference in North Andover on business recovery efforts after the Merrimack Valley gas explosions. Trahan holds a press availability in Boston after unveiling her new "Accountability for Migrant Deaths Act" with the MIRA Coalition.Attorney General Maura Healey defends the Affordable Care Act with Health Care for All and other health organizations.

Want to know what's REALLY happening on Capitol Hill? Get in the game by reading the Huddle, POLITICO's fun and essential play-by-play guide to Congress. Melanie Zanona pulls back the curtain and takes you inside the backrooms on Capitol Hill to keep you apprised of the latest from both the upper and lower chambers. Sign up today.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

- "Baker stands by firing of former MBTA safety chief who alleged retaliation," by Nicole Dungca and Vernal Coleman, Boston Globe: "Governor Charlie Baker on Monday stood by the MBTA's decision to fire its former safety official, a longtime executive who alleged he was retaliated against for aggressively flagging safety hazards and pushing leaders to be more transparent about high-profile mishaps. Baker, responding to a Globe report published a day earlier, declined to speak specifically about the allegations levied by the MBTA's onetime chief safety officer in a complaint to the Federal Transit Administration. "With respect to this, it's complicated to talk about personnel issues, but I will say this: I was briefed by the T on this decision, and based on that I support the decision that they made to terminate him," Baker told reporters after an event at the Charlestown Navy Yard."

- "Galvin bets — and hopes — that 2020 Census won't include a citizenship question," by Katie Lannan State House News Service: The chances of a citizenship question making its way onto next year's federal census forms appear low to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin. During an appearance on WCVB's "On the Record" that aired Sunday, Galvin was asked for his take on the June 27 US Supreme Court ruling that blocked the Department of Commerce from asking about citizenship during the 2020 Census unless officials return to the courts and provide a valid reason for doing so. "The logistics of printing the questionnaires in multiple languages for distribution across the whole country, really, is almost prohibitive when it comes to the timeline," said Galvin, who has opposed including the citizenship question and cheered the court's ruling."

- "Lawmakers planning RMV oversight hearing this month," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "STATE LAWMAKERS WILL CONDUCT an oversight hearing later this month to look into problems at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, where administrative lapses delayed license suspensions for nearly 900 people. "Many senators from my chamber have come wanting more information. The chairs have spoken and they've made the decision to have this oversight hearing this month, just to gather some more information," Spilka said on Monday after a meeting at the State House with the governor and Speaker Robert DeLeo. The Legislature's Transportation Committee, led by Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisetts and Sen. Joseph Boncore of Winthrop, plans to hold a hearing in July, but few other details were available Monday. The problems at the RMV, which Gov. Charlie Baker called "a fail," is not the only part of his administration's transportation department under scrutiny."

- "Rules would place 'gag order' on committee overseeing solitary confinement in Massachusetts jails and prisons," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Amid controversy over Massachusetts' solitary confinement policies, prisoners' rights advocates say the Department of Correction is seeking to hamstring an oversight committee with restrictive regulations that would limit members' ability to visit prisons and bar them from speaking to the press. Those who expressed concern include key lawmakers involved in crafting last year's criminal justice reform law, which created the solitary confinement oversight committee. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, who co-chaired the criminal justice reform caucus for five years, told Correction Department representatives at a public hearing Monday that he feels"profound concern and outrage" over the rules, which "clearly violate the intent" of criminal justice reform."

- "Groups want Baker to veto 'union protection' bill," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "Fiscal watchdogs are urging Gov. Charlie Baker to veto a labor-friendly proposal aimed at softening the blow of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curbs the ability of unions to automatically take dues from workers' paychecks. The measure approved by lawmakers last week would allow unions representing public workers to charge non-members for the costs of representing them in the grievance process. It would also give labor officials access to new hires and non-union members in state and local government to talk with them about joining a union."

- "Hearing on tariffs, lobster industry industry will wait until September," by Michael P. Norton, State House News Service:"Responding to charges that tariffs and trade wars are having damaging effects on the local lobster industry, a Beacon Hill committee has agreed to host a field hearing in Gloucester, but will wait until September to hear from local voices. Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante of Gloucester, co-chair of the Legislature's Economic Development Committee, said in a June 24 letter that the state's lobstering industry "has become collateral damage in the Trump Administration's trade war with China." U.S. lobster exports to China have decreased by 70 percent and Canadian exports to China have increased 50 percent, she said, noting two companies with 250 employees have closed in her district."

- "Mass. among states attempting to protect student borrowers," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "Five states so far this year have passed new laws aimed at protecting student loan borrowers, with three more "steps away" from doing so, and similar bills filed in a handful of others, including Massachusetts, according to a new report tying the heightened activity to a relaxing of federal oversight. An issue paper from the Hildreth Institute, a Boston nonprofit focused on college affordability, says states have been left with "no choice" but to pass such bills "in the absence of federal leadership on regulating the loan servicing industry." The institute supports "student loan bill of rights" legislation filed by state Senator Eric Lesser and state Representative Natalie Higgins, which would create the position of student loan ombudsman within the attorney general's office and require state licensing of student loan servicers."

FROM THE HUB

- "Five days, 17 shootings in Boston," by Gal Tziperman Lotan, Boston Globe: "The violence began just before midnight on July 3, when someone was shot at a street corner in Roslindale. By sunset Sunday — a span of just over four days — 17 people were wounded in shootings in Boston, including an 8-year-old girl. All 17 victims are expected to live, police said. Police said Monday they have not made any arrests in the shootings and declined to say whether any are related. They declined to release the victims' names and in many cases declined to provide their gender or age. The July Fourth holiday is often marred by violence in Boston."

ON THE STUMP

- "State Representative Michael J. Moran endorses our campaign!" from the St. Guillen campaign: "Alejandra St. Guillen's campaign for Boston City Council At-Large has announced the endorsement of Representative Michael J. Moran. The Allston / Brighton Democrat will be co-hosting a fundraiser for St. Guillen next Tuesday evening at Carrie Nation along with a group of other Democratic reps and senators."

DAY IN COURT

- "Spacey Accuser Invokes Fifth Amendment Rights, Denies Altering Texts About Alleged Groping," Associated Press: "The man who accused Kevin Spacey of groping him at a resort island bar in 2016 has invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify, prompting the actor's lawyer to call for the case to be dismissed. The man was questioned Monday by Spacey's lawyer about a cellphone he used that night but that he now says is missing before asserting his right against self-incrimination. The judge said the man's previous testimony would be stricken from the record."

- "Lawyers For Michelle Carter Urge Supreme Court To Take Up Texting-Suicide Appeal," by Alanna Durkin Riche, WBUR:"Lawyers for a woman who encouraged her boyfriend through text messages to take his own life have appealed her involuntary manslaughter conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. Michelle Carter's attorneys told the high court in a petition filed Monday that her conviction, based on her "words alone," violated her First Amendment right to free speech. Carter began serving a 15-month jail sentence in February after Massachusetts' highest court upheld her 2017 conviction in Conrad Roy III's death."

WARREN REPORT

- "Warren puts Sanders on notice with $19 million fundraising haul," by Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign announced Monday she raised $19.1 million in the second quarter of the year, more than tripling her first-quarter total despite holding no fundraisers. The haul far exceeded expectations: Warren surpassed both Bernie Sanders ($18 million) and Kamala Harris ($12 million) and came close to Joe Biden ($21.5 milllion). Her outpacing of Sanders is particularly notable, given the army of small-dollar donors he amassed in 2016 and their similarly progressive stances. The eye-popping total is a validation for Warren after months of second-guessing from Washington strategists who questioned the wisdom of publicly vowing not to hold fundraisers or do "call time" with wealthy donors during the primary."

- 'Elizabeth Warren takes aim at D.C.'s political consultant industrial complex," by Alex Thompson, POLITICO : "When Elizabeth Warren said earlier this year she was swearing off fundraisers, many Democratic strategists saw it as a sign of desperation from a flailing candidate. But that gamble against conventional wisdom — which is paying off handsomely, given the $19.1 million she raised in the second quarter — is far from the only way Warren is defying the traditional playbook for running a modern presidential campaign."

FROM THE DELEGATION

- "'A Culture That Is Corrupt': Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Joe Kennedy Describe Visit To Migrant Detention Centers," by Eliza Dewey, WGBH News: "As a division appears to be widening between congressional Democrats on how to respond to the Trump administration's immigration policies, which have led to reports of extreme overcrowding and unhealthy conditions in migrant detention facilities along the southern U.S. border, Rep. Ayanna Pressley indicated that it is time to stop the infighting. "I do not believe that that advances the cause, or helps our party, or strengthens the party going into 2020," Pressley told Jim Braude on Greater Boston Monday, referring to comments made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a recent New York Times interview, as well as the discussion surrounding those comments in the days since they were published."

MOULTON MATTERS

- "Presidential candidates hear challengers' footsteps at home," by Reid Wilson, The Hill: "Swalwell is not the only presidential candidate with an eye on their day jobs. A prominent state senator has already entered the race for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's (D) seat, which covers part of Oahu and Hawaii's less populated islands. And several prominent women officeholders are considering bids for Rep. Seth Moulton's (D-Mass.) seat. The candidates circling those House seats are unlikely to bow out if the incumbents sideline their presidential ambitions. They can make the case to voters that the incumbents were more focused on their own careers than on the districts they represent."

THE CLARK CAUCUS

- "Congress Weighs Measure To Stop Veterans' Home Loan Denials Over Marijuana Work," by Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment: "Congress is considering an amendment this week that would end a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) practice of denying home loan benefits to military veterans solely because they work for a state-legal marijuana business. The measure, filed by Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), will go before the House Rules Committee on Tuesday. If cleared for floor action later in the week it would be up for consideration for attachment to the National Defense Authorization Act."

ALL ABOARD

- "Red Line riders frustrated after major delay: 'Just horrible,'" by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: "Miserable Red Line commuters are paying more for worse service, they said Monday after many were stuck on the T for more than an hour because of a medical emergency — another frustrating incident on the MBTA line that's been regularly delayed since last month's derailment. "Just horrible. A terrible experience this morning," Norman Brown of Avon said at the Braintree station after work. It took him 90 minutes to go from Braintree to Park Street Monday morning. The MBTA, on its Twitter account, initially said the branch was experiencing delays of up to 20 minutes due to a person requiring medical assistance on a train at North Quincy."

ABOVE THE FOLD

— Herald: "HEATHER'S SON TAKES THE FIFTH," — Globe:"Spacey's accuser pleads Fifth in court," "Scrutiny intensifies for Chinese scientists."

FROM THE 413

- "Vt. town says yes to novel school merger; Clarksburg up next," by Larry Parnass, Berkshire Eagle: "The idea of combining two small schools across the Massachusetts-Vermont border advanced Monday, but not before a heated debate. Residents of Stamford, Vt., accepted a proposal to merge their educational interests with the Massachusetts town of Clarksburg. It now falls to residents of Clarksburg to say whether they, too, wish to form a combined elementary district. When it gathers Wednesday, Clarksburg's Select Board is expected to set a date for a special town meeting at which its residents would be asked the same question."

THE LOCAL ANGLE

- "In federal lawsuit, Hingham man blames town for son's death," by Jessica Trufant, Patriot Ledger: "A frequent critic of Hingham town government has filed a federal lawsuit accusing town officials of conspiring against him and violating his civil rights in a campaign that pushed his son to kill himself during a police standoff in 2017. Russell Reeves and his wife, Kathryn Harrison, filed the lawsuit in federal court last week against Police Chief Glenn Olsson and other town officials alleging that the officials had targeted him and his family because of information he wrote in a blog about the town. Reeves said that harassment ultimately led to the death of their 26-year-old son, Austin Reeves, on July 8, 2017. Russell Reeves, a former candidate for selectman who has sued the town before, did not respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit Monday."

- "'He loved Brockton' -- tributes pour in for Mayor Bill Carpenter," by Cody Shepard, Brockton Enterprise: "Juli Smith-Caldwell is devastated. The man who she had spent the last 15 years with suddenly and unexpectedly died on Wednesday. "I'm just heartbroken. He was the love of my life," she said. "I'm going to miss him. This is devastating for the whole family." Smith-Caldwell was the longtime girlfriend of Mayor Bill Carpenter. The three-term mayor, who had recently taken out nomination papers seeking a fourth two-year term, was found unresponsive in his Ford SUV outside the Dr. W. Arnone Community School that morning after dropping off a grandchild for a summer program. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died."

MEDIA MATTERS

- THE GLOBE RESPONDS: "As DA Rachael Rollins installs a radical new order, some tinkering is in order," By Kevin Cullen, Boston Globe: "When assessing Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins's performance over her first six months in office, some stipulations are in order. First, she is doing exactly what she promised voters she'd do, which is not prosecute 15 specific "low-level" offenses and take addiction, mental health, and other mitigating characteristics of perpetrators into account when deciding whether to prosecute and what kind of punishment to seek. Second, it's not a big sample, and it's early days. All that stipulated, my colleagues, Andrea Estes and Shelley Murphy, found that while Rollins has made good on her pledge to not prosecute people for certain crimes, it has come at a price for others."

- The nonprofit New England Center for Investigative Reporting merged with WGBH News, after operating within the organization's newsroom for four years.

SPOTTED: Patriots owner Robert Kraft sitting at President Donald Trump's table at a dinner hosted by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's for the emir of Qatar. Tweet.

TRANSITIONS - FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Senate candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan hires Emma Crowley as finance director and Kat Cline as operations director. Crowley comes to the campaign from MLM Strategies and served as finance director on Jay Gonzalez's campaign for governor and state Sen. Julian Cyr's 2016 campaign. Cline was campaign manager to state Sen. Becca Rausch.

- Gina Cash has been named director of the Office of the State Auditor's Bureau of Special Investigations by Auditor Suzanne Bump.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to MassINC's Rachel Dec, Ryan Boehm, who does comms and digital for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the Washington Post's Wesley Lowery , a Boston Globe alum and George-Alexander Attia.

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