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."

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: MARCH staging — POLL angling — AirBNB taxing

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: MARCH staging — POLL angling — AirBNB taxing

NOTICE CHARLIE BAKER IS MISSING?

PREPARING TO MARCH - As marchers around the country prepare for Saturday's March for Our Lives protests inspired by Parkland, Florida, students, three of Massachusetts' ascendant pols have different approaches for how they're taking on the day.

First, there's Attorney General Maura Healey. Healey, who enjoyed a high-profile boost from speaking at the Women's March in Boston last winter, will be in Washington D.C. this Saturday. Parents of Sandy Hook Elementary students asked Healey to march alongside them, she said (which she details here). "I want to tell the story of Massachusetts," Healey told me yesterday. "The strategies are simple: strong gun laws save lives."

Then there's Rep. Seth Moulton. His campaign is covering the round-trip train transport costs for 300 high school students traveling from Salem to Boston on Saturday morning. Moulton, meanwhile, plans to march in San Francisco, per his office - he's in the Golden State for a series of fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco for his 19 congressional candidates from Saturday until Wednesday.

And then there's Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren plans to kick off the morning by greeting marchers in Boston at Madison Park Vocational High School at 10 a.m., where they'll stage before heading to the Boston Common. Warren then plans to head to Springfield to march there - it's just a coincidence that Springfield is also home to the Smith and Wesson Corporation, her campaign tells me.

TEAM SETTI WEIGHS IN - Spokesman Kevin Franck emails me: "This poll is the first to take a serious look under the hood of Baker's infamous poll numbers, and it's not good news for him. ...All around the country, Democrats are winning elections in places where we're not usually competitive. A blue wave is building and when that wave crashes in Massachusetts in November with Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Attorney General Maura Healey at the top of the ticket, Charlie Baker's record will catch up with him."

CHARLIE BAKER ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL!

- "How they got caught: Mass. State Police overtime scandal began with investigation of one trooper," by By Scott J Croteau, MassLive.com: "That first trooper investigated appears to be Eric Chin, according to reports from the Boston Globe. He was suspended without pay in April 2017 while he was investigated for receiving overtime cash for shifts he didn't work, the newspaper says."

CHARLIE BAKER'S FAILURE TO LEAD!

- "State business group warns of energy 'shortage'," by Michael P. Norton State House: "Another business group has joined those already clamoring to let more natural gas into the region, and indirectly clashing with renewable energy proponents who have become an aggressive lobbying force on Beacon Hill. In a March 12 letter to Gov. Charlie Baker and legislative leaders released on Tuesday, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership said renewables are not coming online fast enough to keep up with demand for energy and the planned retirements of coal, oil and nuclear power sources."

ANOTHER CHARLIE BAKER BRAIN FART?

- "Retailers don't want to be Baker's $1B 'guinea pig,' group says," by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: "The Retailers Association of Massachusetts is opposing a proposal to require retailers to hand over sales taxes on certain purchases to the state daily, rather than monthly."

CHARLIE BAKER IGNORED THE SOARING OVERTIME!

- "Senate Prez Chandler Calls Massachusetts State Police OT Scandal Criminal; Duo Of MSP Retirees Accused Of Fraud ID'd," by Evan Lips, New Boston Post: "Senate President Harriette Chandler is going where Governor Charlie Baker has yet to tread regarding an explosive Massachusetts State Police report accusing more than 20 state troopers of doctoring their overtime filings to haul in paychecks for work they never did. 'They're crimes, and it's something that I assume that the proper authorities will deal with,' the Worcester Democrat told Jim Braude and Margery Eagan during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday."

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