ELECTION DAY may be a misnomer. State primary turnout figures make clear a new reality, with important implications for campaign strategies: Election Day is actually election season. For the second time in as many election cycles, fewer than half of ballots were cast on Election Day itself. More were cast early, either in person or, […]
Massachusetts politics
Posted inThe Download
Super PAC with ties to Baker backed 15 winners
The normally tight-lipped super PAC with close ties to Gov. Charlie Baker is crowing about its performance in this week’s primary. The Massachusetts Majority PAC spent $171,432 supporting 12 Democrats and three Republicans in their respective primaries – and all 15 emerged victorious. Nine of them were essentially elected because they face no opponent in […]
Posted inPolitics
Super PAC with ties to Baker backed 15 winners
THE NORMALLY tight-lipped super PAC with close ties to Gov. Charlie Baker is crowing about its performance in this week’s primary. The Massachusetts Majority PAC spent $171,432 supporting 12 Democrats and three Republicans in their respective primaries – and all 15 emerged victorious. Nine of them were essentially elected because they face no opponent in […]
Posted inPolitics
Marblehead rep candidate scores victory against old-boy network
JENNY ARMINI narrowly edged Tristan Smith Tuesday night in the Democratic primary race for the House seat representing Marblehead, Swampscott, and part of Lynn – a victory that was all the more sweet given Smith’s support by the old-boy Democratic establishment in Massachusetts. Smith, the 26-year-old son of Jim Smith, one of the state’s top […]
Posted inPolitics
Devaney narrowly retains Governor’s Council job
INCUMBENT GOVERNOR’S Councilor Marilyn Devaney narrowly edged out Democratic activist and attorney Mara Dolan to hold on to the seat she has held for 23 years. Dolan gave Devaney her toughest competition since Devaney first won the seat in 1998. Devaney represents District 3, which includes the suburbs west of Boston. The Governor’s Council ratifies […]
Posted inPolitics
In DA, sheriff races, reformers seek change from inside
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS and sheriffs are traditional “law and order” positions, inhabited by officials often viewed as tough on crime. These jobs are elected, but incumbents, particularly DAs, have often sailed easily to reelection – and sometimes chosen their successors – with little public attention. That has changed in recent years, as a growing number of […]
Posted inOpinion
Our democratic institutions are failing voters
MORE MASSACHUSETTS voters will participate in the Democratic primaries for constitutional office than any year since 2006. There’s just one big problem: most of them have no opinion of the candidates. As shown in a recent MassINC poll sponsored by Priorities For Progress, fewer than half of primary voters believe they have sufficient information to choose […]
Posted inThe Download
Healey won’t release campaign questionnaires
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey’s campaign won’t release the questionnaires she has filled out seeking the endorsement of special interest groups. A spokeswoman for the campaign initially said the decision about releasing the questionnaires was up to the interest groups. One of the groups, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said it was leaving the decision to […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey won’t release campaign questionnaires
DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL candidate Maura Healey’s campaign won’t release the questionnaires she has filled out seeking the endorsement of special interest groups. A spokeswoman for the campaign initially said the decision about releasing the questionnaires was up to the interest groups. One of the groups, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said it was leaving the decision to […]
Posted inPolitics, Race/Racism
Healey regrets 2020 comment on ‘how forests grow’
ON JUNE 2, 2020, eight days after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Attorney General Maura Healey gave a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in which she focused on the lack of progress in addressing racial inequality and the storm of protests churned up by the killing. As she […]