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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
SCOOP: KENNEDY STAFFS UP — Rep. Joe Kennedy III is staffing up as he seriously considers a Senate race: On Thursday, he offered a job to a political operative who is well known to both him and his potential challenger.
Rich Thuma, who previously worked for the Democratic senator whom Kennedy would challenge, Ed Markey, accepted the job shortly after noon Thursday. He was working as the New Hampshire state director for Gov. Steve Bullock's presidential run.
The hire is a sign that the 38-year-old Kennedy is already gearing up as he publicly weighs whether to take on Markey. It also illustrates the tense divisions that a Markey-Kennedy matchup would create within the Massachusetts political class. Many volunteers, operatives and donors have supported both politicians, and now find themselves in the uncomfortable position of choosing sides.
Thuma said he couldn't comment when POLITICO reached him by phone because he had accepted the job offer only 90 minutes earlier and hadn't been able to tell his boss yet. An hour later, after he gave notice, he directed all questions to Kennedy's spokeswoman.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE CONVENTION — Massachusetts Democrats will gather in Springfield this weekend for the state party convention, where I'm told some of the focus will be on criticizing Gov. Charlie Baker and laying the groundwork for electing a Democratic governor in 2022.
State party chair Gus Bickford has announced, first reported here, that Sheriff Steve Tompkins and Governor's Councillor Eileen Duff are the convention co-chairs.
Keynote speakers are Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey and Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts. The slate of additional speakers includes Rep. Richard Neal, Rep. Lori Trahan, Rep. Seth Moulton, state House Speaker Robert DeLeo and state Senate President Karen Spilka.
More immediate than the 2022 governor's race, however, is the contest coming up in 2020. Almost every member of the state's congressional delegation, including Markey, Neal, Moulton and Trahan, either have an announced primary challenger or someone waiting in the wings.
The convention will also be a key chance to network for that endless list of Democrats looking at running in the 4th District if Kennedy vacates his seat to run for Senate. Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who has been quietly reaching out to donors and operatives, is on the schedule to speak.
LISS-RIORDAN AD BLITZ — Senate candidate and labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan is taking her fight for Sen. Ed Markey's seat online, and releasing a series of digital ads to needle the incumbent senator at the Democratic convention tomorrow.
Liss-Riordan plans to spend enough on ads targeted at the MassMutual Center on Saturday to make sure "everyone" sees information about corporate PAC contributions that Markey has accepted. "We hope this moves Senator Markey to finally taking the no-corporate PAC money pledge," a spokesperson said. Rep. Joe Kennedy III swore off corporate PAC money several weeks ago as a House candidate, but said the pledge would carry if he ran for Senate. Separately, Markey has pledged not to accept money from fossil fuel companies.
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, Rep. Lori Trahan and Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera will recognize the establishment and dedication of Leonel Rondon Square. Baker, state Sen. Sal DiDomenico and state Rep. Daniel Ryan attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the Chelsea Commuter Rail Station. State Sen. Eric Lesser speaks at a Food Bank of Western Massachusetts transportation forum in Northampton.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is a guest on "Boston Public Radio," and participates in a panel at Drift. Attorney General Maura Healey speaks at the American Bar Association's Environment, Energy, and Resources Law annual fall conference. Rep. Seth Moulton visits the Topsfield Fire Department.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "A statistic about car-pool lane scofflaws raised eyebrows — but it might not be true," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "The state's transportation secretary raised eyebrows this week when she revealed a shocking statistic: The vast majority of vehicles using the car-pool lanes into Boston — "as much as 80 or 90 percent," she said — carry only drivers. Except that may not be true. When Stephanie Pollack made the comment, she was basing it not on any hard data, offering an "anecdotal reference," state officials acknowledged Thursday. A recent report on the state's high occupancy vehicle lanes said scofflaws make up far fewer of the drivers using them — roughly 18 percent — than Pollack had described."
- "Rep faults T for holding info session far from transit," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE MBTA IS holding a series of public meetings about major changes underway on the Green Line. There's one hitch: The upcoming meeting for the D branch is more than a mile away from the closest Green Line stop. "It's all important work and we're glad the T is moving forward with it in an accelerated fashion, but communicating that is critically important," Rep. Tommy Vitolo, a Brookline Democrat, said in an interview. 'I think having a meeting about public transit not located on public transit was an unforced error.'"
- "PRESS PAUSE ON FALL RIVER POT APPLICATIONS, LAWMAKERS SAY," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "South Coast legislators are calling on state marijuana regulators to pause all applications in Fall River in the wake of allegations that the mayor solicited bribes from vendors looking to open in the city. A moratorium would allow the Cannabis Control Commission to investigate whether any licenses issued in the city were involved in the extortion charges against Mayor Jasiel Correia II and to ensure that the approval process is sound, the lawmakers argued."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "City Hall official connected to bribery scandal pleads guilty," by Milton J. Valencia and Tim Logan, Boston Globe: "The former city official at the center of a widening City Hall bribery scandal pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in federal court in Boston. John M. Lynch, 66, admitted to accepting a $50,000 bribe from a Boston real estate developer to lobby a member of the Zoning Board of Appeal in May 2017 to help get a condo project in South Boston approved. Assistant US Attorney Dustin Chao told Judge Patti B. Saris during the hearing that Lynch "acted corruptly" and knew that he was taking a bribe."
- "Cabral: The Pushback To Rollins Is About Power and Privilege," by Arjun Singh, WGBH News: "Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins once said that she did not become the district attorney to make friends. Recently, Rollins has been in the middle of a public fight with Judge Richard Sinnott over his overturning of her decision not to prosecute a few counter-protesters at a "straight-pride" parade in Boston. The Supreme Judicial Court eventually sided with Rollins in the case when she filed for an appeal."
- "MIT president admits he signed 2012 letter thanking Jeffrey Epstein for donation," by Zoe Greenberg and Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "MIT president L. Rafael Reif acknowledged Thursday that he signed a 2012 letter to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, thanking him for a donation to a professor at the school, and that senior members of his administration approved Epstein's gifts to the MIT Media Lab even after Epstein had been convicted of a sex offense and served time in jail."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "GALVIN OUTLINES SUPPORT FOR PRIMARY SYSTEM OVERHAUL," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "Secretary of State William Galvin, the state's top elections official, is supporting a major reform of the primary election system that would effectively scrap most partisan races by allowing the top two candidates to advance regardless of party, he told the News Service Thursday. Galvin's brother, Patrick, was the lead sponsor on a proposed 2020 ballot question that would effectively end the state's current Democratic and Republican primaries. Instead, candidates from all parties would compete in the same preliminary races for most state and congressional offices."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "TransitMatters: South Station expansion unnecessary," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE ADVOCACY GROUP TransitMatters says a number of relatively simple changes in commuter rail operations could increase the number of trains moving in and out of South Station and make a planned $2.5 billion expansion of the facility unnecessary. South Station has 13 tracks that currently serve 20 trains per hour in and out. By increasing the speed of trains coming in and out of the station, dedicating specific tracks for specific train lines, and changing crews more swiftly, TransitMatters said in a report that train throughput could increase to at least 26 to 30 trains per hour in and out."
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| ON THE STUMP |
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- "Maura Healey's coveted endorsement goes to Michelle Wu, Annissa Essaibi-George," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "In the race for endorsements before the municipal Sept. 24 preliminary election, Boston City Councilors Annissa Essaibi-George and Michelle Wu have landed one of the most coveted seals of approval in Massachusetts politics: from popular Attorney General Maura Healey. Both Essaibi-George and Wu face a dozen other candidates in the contest for one of the four at-large council seats in Boston. The top eight vote-getters move on to the Nov. 5 general election."
- "Councilors Lydia Edwards and Ed Flynn Cite Housing Advocacy, Endorse Kenzie Bok for the District 8 seat on the Boston City Council," from the Bok campaign: "District 1 City Councilor Lydia Edwards and District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn today endorsed Kenzie Bok for the District 8 seat on the Boston City Council. Both councilors cited Bok's commitment to fighting for an affordable Boston for all and the preservation of thriving mixed-income communities in the heart of the city."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Former State Police union president, lobbyist indicted on federal charges," by Andrea Estes and Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: "The embattled former president of the Massachusetts State Police union was indicted Thursday on a host of federal charges — including racketeering and conspiracy — that could land him in federal prison for decades. Dana A. Pullman, the once-powerful head of the State Police Association of Massachusetts from 2012 until September 2018, was arrested last month and accused of taking kickbacks from the union's former lobbyist and using union money for personal expenses including meals, travel, flowers and gifts for a girlfriend."
- "Healey praised for hard line on opioid settlement," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "Counselors for recovering addicts and their families are among those applauding Attorney General Maura Healey's refusal to sign onto a multi-billion settlement with Purdue Pharma over its role in the nation's opioid addiction crisis. The tentative agreement announced earlier this week is supported by 27 states and attorneys for about 2,000 local governments. It would have Purdue, the company that makes OxyContin, file for a structured bankruptcy and pay as much as $12 billion, with $3 billion coming from its owners, the Sackler family, according to news reports."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "'Why Are You Pissing In Our Face?': Inside Warren's War With the Obama Team," by Alex Thompson, POLITICO Magazine: "Elizabeth Warren was in the president's head. From the summer of 2010 through summer of 2011, the usually unflappable Barack Obama spent long hours agonizing over the then-Harvard Law professor—so much that his aides felt it was distracting from more pressing national concerns, according to interviews with numerous former White House officials. Amid the financial crisis, Warren had become an unlikely star of the left with unambiguous moral outrage and an ability to explain complex financial topics in ways that made them fodder for dinner-table conversation."
- "Maura Healey Endorses Elizabeth Warren Ahead Of Democratic Debate," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Massachusetts Attorney General and New Hampshire native Maura Healey endorsed Elizabeth Warren for president on Thursday, hours before a critical debate in Houston where Healey plans to speak on Warren's behalf. Healey, who won a second term as attorney general in 2018 and is frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for governor or the U.S. Senate herself, described Warren as someone "laser focused on how we help families in the state and across the country." "That is exactly what our country needs right now," Healey wrote in an email to supporters announcing her decision ."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Senators sponsor whale protection bill based on Moulton's," by Sean Horgan, Gloucester Daily Times: "This has been a busy week in the world of the North Atlantic right whales. NOAA and the Maine Lobstermen's Association continue to joust over the federal plan to provide increased protections for the endangered whales. Conservationists and lobstermen have produced and released dueling videos to tell their respective sides to the issue and now the U.S. Senate could take up a right whale protection bill based largely on one originally authored by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "LOVE, PRAYERS FOR SOPHIA" — Globe: "MIT, Harvard reveal more Epstein ties," "Together on stage, sharply divided." |
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Columbia Gas Must Inspect 700 Lines Abandoned After Last Year's Merrimack Valley Explosions," by Roberto Scalese, WBUR: "The state's Department of Public Utilities will investigate whether Columbia Gas of Massachusetts violated state or federal law when it abandoned two gas lines in the Merrimack Valley. "Columbia Gas did not abandon these service pipes in the manner required by federal regulations, state regulations, and Columbia Gas' Procedures and, therefore, Columbia Gas violated federal and state pipeline safety law."Most states don't require engineers to review gas projects
- Most states don't require engineers to review gas projects," by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune : "Following the Merrimack Valley gas disaster, Gov. Charlie Baker and state lawmakers quickly pushed through legislation requiring licensed engineers to review plans for work on natural gas pipes. The law, signed by Baker in December, was a response to one of five recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board in a preliminary report on how the Sept. 13, 2018, gas disaster happened in the Merrimack Valley. Massachusetts is now an exception."
- "Fall River mayor headed back to court for bail review hearing," by Jo C. Goode, The Herald News: "Mayor Jasiel Correia II will be back in federal district court again Friday, this time for a bail review hearing. Online court records indicate that notice of the hearing was entered Thursday. The hearing is set for 9:45 a.m. at the Moakley U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in courtroom 23 before magistrate Donald L. Cabell. Correia was arrested a second time Sept. 6 on an 11 federal charges related to alleged government corruption, in addition to the 13 charges related to wire and tax fraud for which he was arrested in October 2018."
TRANSITIONS - Joshua M. Bowman, partner at Sherin and Lodgen LLP, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Chunilal Initiative.
SPOTTED: Reps. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), and Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) at the Pre-K Caucus reception with Daniel Tiger. Pic with Cat in the Hat
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: Is Fare Fair? On this week's Horse Race podcast, Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith talk about new polling in the potential primary match-up between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III. MassINC Research Director Ben Forman talks about a new fare equity study in Massachusetts, and state Sen. Becca Rausch explains her "Community Immunity Act." Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to Alex Pratt, former Chelsea Klein for state Senate campaign manager; and Groton's very own Julia Murray, who both celebrate Saturday.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 7-4.
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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