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Presented by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Monday!
MOULTON CHALLENGER DROPS OUT — Lisa Peterson, the Salem city councilor who was challenging Moulton for his House seat, dropped out of the congressional race on Friday. Peterson found the hunger for a Moulton challenger lacking on the campaign trail, which is a substantial shift from last year.
"When I got into this race there was an appetite for a competitive congressional race, but that interest has subsided," Peterson said in an email to supporters. "I do not want my campaign to take away from the investments needed in races here at home, and throughout the nation."
Peterson's plight illustrates just how hard it could be for challengers to break through in 2020, when so many other high-profile elections will form the backdrop. Around this time last year, Moulton frustrated activists in his district — many of them women — when he pushed for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ouster from leadership. Moulton was unsuccessful in that campaign, and a number of constituents sought a Democrat to challenge him.
A few months later, Moulton launched his bid for the White House, further frustrating some constituents. He criss-crossed the country as a presidential candidate but was unable to hit the polling or fundraising thresholds necessary to appear on the debate stage, and he eventually dropped out.
Between the anti-Pelosi push and the presidential campaign , it seemed like Moulton's reelection was in jeopardy. But what Peterson saw on the campaign trail was different. Half-a-dozen Democrats signaled an interest in running against him, but many of those would-be candidates have disappeared, though gun reform advocate Angus McQuilken told The Salem News he'd make an announcement on the race soon. Moulton still faces a challenge from Topsfield Democrat Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, and Nathaniel Mulcahy of Rockport has filed with the FEC.
With a high-stakes presidential primary in nearby New Hampshire only 99 days away, a blockbuster Senate race between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a race for Kennedy's open House seat, and an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, there's a lot for Democrats to keep track of right now. For that reason, the fight for oxygen is shaping up to be an added challenge for House candidates trying to topple incumbents across the state.
VETERANS DAY TALK - I'm sitting down with Rep. Seth Moulton and former New York Rep. Chris Gibson at Northeastern University today to talk about their military service ahead of Veterans Day. I hope you'll join us at 3:30 p.m. RSVP.
ICYMI: NEWSMAKERS - Big thanks to Ted Nesi and Tim White at WPRI for having me as a guest on "Newsmakers" to talk about the mayoral races in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton and Attleboro. Make sure to watch our segment here.
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, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Robert DeLeo hold a weekly leadership meeting. Rep. Seth Moulton holds a town hall in Ipswich. Rep. Ayanna Pressley visits Innercity Weightlifting and makes an affordable housing visit in Cambridge. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu holds her final #GOTVtheT canvass with morning commuters at Broadway station. Rep. Jim McGovern is a guest on WGBH's "Greater Boston."
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A message from NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts:
Massachusetts, we have to do better. Healthcare decisions should be made between a patient and her doctor. Support the ROE Act today, because anything medical should never be political. Learn More |
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Charlie Baker eyes a legacy-defining revamp of Mass. health care," by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey and Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Governor Charlie Baker has already hit the radio. His aides are briefing lawmakers. And come Monday, his health secretary will meet with hundreds of grass-roots activists. The one-time health insurance executive has planted himself at the epicenter of a renewed health care debate on Beacon Hill, armed with a litany of ideas about how to retool an industry he knows better than perhaps any other. His push began last month when he released voluminous legislation that seeks to dramatically bolster primary care, rein in drug costs, and curb surprise medical bills — efforts already generating a combination of applause and pushback."
- "State ballot initiative would boost funding for financially ailing nursing homes," by Robert Weisman, Boston Globe: "A new group called the Massachusetts Senior Coalition said it has collected about 122,000 signatures across the state to force a referendum next year on a proposal to substantially boost Medicaid funding for the state's financially struggling nursing homes. The state budget approved by lawmakers in July bumped up nursing home funding from MassHealth, the state Medicaid program, by $50 million, to a total of $415.4 million. But even that won't be enough to plug a continuing funding shortfall that has led to the closing of about 30 nursing homes in Massachusetts over the past two years and more than 180 since 2000, according to members of the senior coalition."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Meet the candidates for Boston City Council at-large seats," by Jeremy C. Fox and John Hilliard, Boston Globe: "Voters in Tuesday's municipal election will choose from among a group of candidates that could create the most diverse City Council in Boston's history. Residents will pick four at-large councilors from among eight candidates. In five council districts, voters will also decide races for their local representatives on the council. (In Districts 1,2,3, and 6, incumbent councilors are unopposed.) Polls Tuesday will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- "Emails Offer Peek At Dealings Of Former Boston Official Who Took Bribe," by Callum Borchers, WBUR: "His next-door neighbor had been dead for six months, and John Lynch was on the verge of buying the man's house. The price depended, in part, on what it would cost to switch the home from septic to sewer. So in May 2015, Lynch, a longtime Boston official, used his city email account to ask a contractor for a quote on part of the project. "I want to use in the negotiation," Lynch wrote, suggesting he could leverage the anticipated expense to reduce the price of the house."
- "Bike wars: West Roxbury pushes back at City Hall's bike lane 'road diet,'" by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "Frustrated West Roxbury residents and business owners are pushing back against City Hall's relentless bike lane agenda, saying the "road diet" that is chopping car lanes out of Centre Street will starve neighborhood businesses. "It really comes to a matter of survival for businesses in West Roxbury," said Jim Hennigan of James W. Hennigan Insurance Agency in the neighborhood's business district."
- "Fault Line: State police Col. Gilpin finally issues apology to trooper," by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: "After insisting all day the Massachusetts State Police did not apologize to a trooper paid $40,000 in a settlement over being forced to rewrite an arrest report about a judge's daughter, the commander of the force apologized. Col. Kerry Gilpin said through a spokesman Saturday the apology is for "the negative employee evaluation" stuck in the trooper's file after the October 2017 clash over the police report."
- "Boston theater director is accused of inappropriate behavior with students," by Laura Crimaldi and John Hilliard, Boston Globe: "More than a dozen former students at the Boston Children's Theatre have accused longtime artistic director Burgess Clark of inappropriate behavior. Clark, 58, a veteran theater educator and playwright, resigned last Tuesday, according to the program's board of directors, which announced his departure and the accusations in an e-mail to his accusers Saturday. The board said the accusations against Clark were raised in an anonymous e-mail sent Thursday, two days after he resigned."
- "Women lead more Mass. colleges, but numbers lag at the most elite institutions," by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "Women are leading Massachusetts colleges and universities in increasing numbers, but they remain under-represented at the state's most elite academic institutions, according to the results of a new study released Monday. Women hold presidencies at 34 of 92 institutions, or 37 percent, up from 31 percent in 2018, according to the Eos Foundation, which conducted the women's power gap study. But at the 17 public and private doctoral universities, which include such heavy hitters such as MIT, Harvard, Northeastern and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, women make up only 22 percent of the presidents."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "Joseph Kennedy III visits Winthrop after opening Senate campaign headquarters in Watertown," by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: "The first question for US Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III on Saturday morning came from a grandmother who despairs over racism in America and wanted to know what he would do about the problem. Next came questions came from a construction manager, who asked about prescription drug costs and about President Trump's popularity in some of the country. This gathering being in Winthrop, Kennedy heard about an enduring problem in town: noise from nearby Logan International Airport."
- "Democrats divided over Markey-Kennedy race," by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News: "The marquee primary race between incumbent Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III has become a high-stakes popularity contest over which campaign boasts more support among the state's Democrats, labor unions and environmental groups. Kennedy, 38, a grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, is challenging Markey in the 2020 Democratic primary in a race that is being closely watched by political observers and pundits."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "MBTA weighs long-term plans for commuter rail," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "Big plans are on the drawing board to modernize the MBTA's commuter rail, but the upgrades come with a hefty price tag. The MBTA's Fiscal Management and Control Board is set to vote on a long-term plan to upgrade the system, with options ranging from adding to the current fleet of diesel-powered trains to providing more frequent service to a radical transformation into a subway-like electric rail with trains that run every 15 minutes."
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| THE VAPING SALES BAN |
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Chantal Charles won a huge racial discrimination lawsuit against the city. It's time to pay up," by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe: "Chantal Charles may be a rich woman soon. After her experience working for the city, she deserves to be. Charles, a black 33-year employee of the city's Treasury Department, sued her bosses for racial discrimination and retaliation in 2012. Last week, the state Appeals Court upheld her previous win in court, one that had awarded her nearly $11 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Charles works in the trusts office, which manages funds left to the city. One of her primary duties has been to work with community groups applying for grants from those funds."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Mass. voters offer Warren a warning on Medicare for All," by Steve Koczela and Rich Parr, CommonWealth Magazine: "AS MASSACHUSETTS Sen. Senator Elizabeth Warren joins Joe Biden atop the Democratic primary field, her rivals have sharpened their attacks on her positions, most notably around her support for Senator Bernie Sanders's "Medicare for All" proposal. Today, Warren doubled down, releasing a massively complex and detailed plan to pay for her $20.5 trillion extension of federal health insurance to all Americans. But as Warren lashes herself ever more tightly to Medicare for All, a new WBUR poll of voters in her home state of Massachusetts suggests possible trouble ahead."
- "Elizabeth Warren Town Hall Cold Open," from SNL: "Senator Elizabeth Warren (Kate McKinnon) attends an Iowa town hall where she takes questions about her run for president and defends her Medicare for All plan." Link.
- "Elizabeth Warren stayed with her plan, and it sent her campaign on an upswing," by Liz Goodwin, Boston Globe: "Senator Elizabeth Warren was just days away from officially announcing her presidential bid last winter, and a pack of reporters was doggedly chasing her around the bustling US Capitol. They didn't want to ask about her campaign, which had struggled to build momentum in the early going. Instead, impatient reporters peppered her about an issue that had long cast a shadow over her political career — her past claim to Native American heritage and a DNA test of her genetic lineage she had just apologized for releasing."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Lynch: 'We Will Prove Our Case To The American People' That Trump Broke The Law," by Hannah Uebele, WGBH News: "Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch says that a few months ago he didn't think it would be a good idea for the House of Representatives to seek President Donald Trump's impeachment. Now he wants to be a leader in the process. Lynch announced this week that he plans to run for the chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee, a seat that would have a prominent role in impeachment proceedings, and he spoke with Boston Public Radio Friday about the impeachment inquiry."
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| IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
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- "National Grid, Eversource Say They Can Meet Natural Gas Demand Without Weymouth Compressor," by Bruce Gellerman, Barbara Moran and Miriam Wasser, WBUR: "Two utility companies involved with the proposed natural gas compressor station in Weymouth say they don't need the facility to meet customer demand. Now, opponents of the compressor station are calling into question whether the project — which has been the subject of public protests and lawsuits -- meets the "public convenience and necessity" requirement for federal approval."
- "Ed Markey and Jim McGovern talk climate change at raucous Worcester forum," by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: "US Senator Edward J. Markey and Representative Jim McGovern sounded an urgent alert about climate change Sunday at a raucous town hall meeting that repeatedly veered off topic as the audience pelted the legislators with unrelated questions and claims. Audience members held the lawmakers' feet to the fire on environmental policy issues."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "BIKE WARS," — Globe: "Baker at vanguard of health care debate," "A UNION PUT ASUNDER." |
| NO PLACE LIKE THE CITY OF HOMES |
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "The South Shore's mayoral races are on track to be the cheapest in years, but some candidates are still spending big," by Joe DiFazio, The Patriot Ledger: "Mayoral candidates in Quincy, Braintree and Weymouth are on track to spend some $300,000 this year. And that's considered low. In 2015, Quincy voters had a choice between two familiar names for mayor: Thomas Koch, the incumbent, and William Phelan, a former mayor looking to get his job back. Together, the pair spent more than $860,000 on the race, the most expensive mayoral race in the state in 2015. The price tag for this year's races? Much, much lower."
- "And now, we'll tour the rest of Concord's history," by Nancy Shohet West, Boston Globe: "For decades, visitors have flocked to the Concord Museum to learn about the town's fabled heritage: the early Colonial settlers, the Minutemen, the Transcendentalists. But there was something missing from that venerable narrative. The stories of the Native Americans, African-Americans, and women who were also critical to the formation of Concord's history had been overlooked for far too long, according to the museum's executive director, Tom Putnam."
- "Diverse Worcester City Council ticket in voters' hands Tuesday," by Nick Kotsopoulos, Telegram & Gazette: "This year's municipal election season has so far been all about the candidates. Who is in, who is out? What issues are they talking about? How are they campaigning, how much money are they raising and spending? But that all changes Tuesday when it will be all about the voters. That is when they will have the final say on who serves on the next City Council, School Committee and as mayor."
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| MEDIA MATTERS |
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- CommonWealth Magazine's Andy Metzger is moving to Philadelphia after covering Beacon Hill for seven years. Link.
WEEKEND WEDDING - Marty Martinez and Matthew Hall ... via NYT : "Though Marty Martinez has spent half his life in Boston and works as the city's chief of health and human services, he wasn't always sure finding total fulfillment in the city would be easy. ... He kept trying to make a connection, though and at the end of the year, Matthew Hall found him." Link.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - Saturday birthday-ers Amy Finkelstein, and Rachel Poliner, who turned 62; and to Barbara Zheutlin, Matthew Kirincic, David Case, and Medford City Council candidate Zac Bears, who all celebrated Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Julie Siegel, senior counsel for economic policy for Sen. Elizabeth Warren; Michael Fontneau, who is 35; Morgan Mohr, Ken Gordon, and Jean Roseme.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? No! The Ravens beat the Patriots 37-20.
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: The Headless Horse Race - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Stephanie Murray and Steve Koczela get in the Halloween spirit and talk all things #mapoli. Congressional candidate Jake Auchincloss discusses his bid to replace Rep. Joe Kennedy III, and CommonWealth Magazine's Andy Metzger talks about House Speaker Robert DeLeo's plans to run for speaker again next year. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
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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A message from NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts:
The ROE Act is transformative legislation that will break down unjust barriers to safe, legal abortion and build healthier, more equitable communities. It takes politicians out of the doctor's office, and allows patients and their health care providers to make informed medical decisions without political interference. Support the ROE Act today, because anything medical should never be political. Learn More |
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