POLITICIANS DON’T TYPICALLY jump at the chance to mix it up in public with the chair of their state party. That should be doubly true for a young, no-name, first-time […]
Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Vermont pulls plug on single-payer
Earlier this year, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin told Vox that, for better or worse, the hopes of every advocate for single-payer health care rode on his state’s ambitious health care […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Cruz-ing for big-money backers
Texas Sen.Ted Cruz thinks he can get himself elected president, and he’s gone to a friendly media outlet to try to gin up good press, give his base a preview […]
Posted inPolitics
Battling for the urban vote
robert lewis jr. stood on a stage in Dorchester, gripping a podium and firing up the crowd in front of him, hollering, “Isn’t it so great to be with a […]
Posted inPolitics
Liberal Boston suburbs become key battleground
Charlie Baker launched his gubernatorial campaign last year in Lowell, and he spent much of the campaign chasing votes in cities that are traditionally hostile to Republicans like himself. Baker […]
Posted inPolitics
Warren slams PAC spending
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Wednesday that heavy super PAC spending in the Massachusetts gubernatorial contest should prompt a federal crackdown on unfettered political spending by outside groups. Corporations and wealthy […]
Posted inPolitics
GOP super PAC money swamps governor’s race
Outside super PAC spending in the Massachusetts governor’s race has nearly doubled the outside spending totals set four years ago, and the wave of outside money has been decidedly one-sided. […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Cities are Democratic turf
Fewer than two weeks separate Martha Coakley and Charlie Baker from Election Day. The two major gubernatorial candidates are locked in a dead heat, and as they both scramble to […]
Posted inPolitics
Outside spending bonanza for GOP
Super PACs and labor groups have combined to spend over $13 million in the Massachusetts governor’s race to date. Outside groups have outspent the gubernatorial field — the two major […]
Posted inPolitics
Massachusetts cities: Less white, more blue
Charlie Baker is trying to become the first Republican to win the Massachusetts governor’s office since Mitt Romney. But Baker is wooing a far different electorate than the one Romney […]
Posted inPolitics
Coakley struggling to solidify her base
Attorney General Martha Coakley is locked in a dead heat for governor with Republican Charlie Baker because she’s struggling to win over the two demographic groups she needs most. Partisan […]
Posted inPolitics
PAC child abuse ad galvanizes Coakley
Martha Coakley stood in her Somerville campaign headquarters Thursday, ringed by a dozen stone-faced supporters, throwing the heaviest punches yet in the current race for governor. “If he stands on […]
Posted inPolitics
Cities go for Coakley
Martha Coakley won Tuesday’s Democratic gubernatorial primary because she posted huge numbers in urban areas and lower-income communities. Coakley’s overall margin of victory has worried some observers, because the six-point […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Coakley’s bad optics
Politics is a math equation. Rival candidates tally their votes, and the one with the most votes emerges. The math is cold. It’s dispassionate. But beneath the math, there’s perception. […]
Posted inPolitics
Final sprint
Leaving it all on the field “Hello, Marty? It’s Steve Grossman. Listen, Marty, I need you to look at something…” Steve Grossman is four days away from what could be […]
Posted inPolitics
Republican Super PAC Follows Obama Strategy on TV Buys
Political campaigns usually save their heaviest television spending for the tail end of a campaign. They save their powder because political advertising is expensive, and because academic researchers haven’t found […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker’s demographic dilemma
Charlie Baker’s first run at the governor’s office was marked by an enormous 24-point loss among women. Since Baker’s 2010 loss, strong showings with women provided Massachusetts Democrats with decisive […]
Posted inPolitics
Dems gearing up for ground game
A hard sprint still stands between the three Democrats who would be governor, and September’s gubernatorial primary. But all summer, as Martha Coakley, Steve Grossman, and Don Berwick have crisscrossed […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
MA political fundraising plummets
The outside super PAC money now pouring into the Massachusetts governor’s race is only half of a rapidly changing equation behind how state elections are financed. The recent rise in […]
Posted inPolitics
McCormick is a threat to Baker’s candidacy
Charlie Baker is a businessman who wants to be governor of Massachusetts. His pitch largely revolves around jobs, education, and his private-sector experience. Jeff McCormick is also a businessman who […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
CommonWealth’s coverage of the Probation trial verdict
3 Probation defendants found guilty by jury Fraudulent hires linked to DeLeo, Murray, other lawmakers A federal jury found former state Probation Department commissioner John O’Brien guilty of mail fraud, […]
Posted inPolitics
Putting thumb on scale is the Beacon Hill way
The federal corruption trial of John O’Brien unfolded on two levels. It was equal parts law enforcement exercise and political soap opera. The trial of O’Brien, the former state Probation […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo: Jury cleared me of inappropriate conduct
A chastened House Speaker Robert DeLeo responded to Thursday’s Probation Department guilty verdict by issuing a statement saying “it is a verdict that all of us have to respect.” But […]