Jennifer Smith writes for CommonWealth Beacon and co-hosts its weekly podcast, The Codcast. Her areas of focus include housing, social issues, courts and the law, and politics and elections.
A California native who also lived in Utah, Jennifer has covered Massachusetts since 2011 for a variety of publications. She worked breaking news in the Boston Globe’s metro section and provided courtroom coverage of the Boston Marathon bomber trial for the international wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) while completing her undergraduate journalism degree at Northeastern University in Boston. For four years, Jennifer was a staff writer and later news editor for the Dorchester Reporter, covering her home neighborhood and the city of Boston with a particular focus on politics and development.
Her work and commentary have appeared in WBUR, GBH News, Harvard Public Health Magazine, and Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook. She has co-hosted MassINC’s Massachusetts politics and policy podcast The Horse Race since 2018, interviewing newsmakers, journalists, and elected officials across the state.
New Greater Boston housing data show recent progress but troubling signs for the future
Healey move puts abortion law into effect early, relaxing restrictions and teeing up fierce 2028 ballot fight
Mass. just tackled 9 ballot questions. Here’s where each landed, and what comes next.
State sued over Mass. rental assistance program’s paused third year
No clear signs that Legislature will act swiftly on child sexual abuse amendment
SJC upholds Mass. law restricting firearms for people under 21
State says resident data is safe with state AI tool. Advocates have concerns.
Senators decry ‘disastrous,’ ‘flabbergasting’ Census changes
Trump is the elephant in the room during first Healey-Minogue debate
Three criminal cases involving ICE hit the Supreme Judicial Court
Republican voters split with party on gun law; Dems want more access to public records from Democrat-dominated offices
Poll shows voters on track to retain legal cannabis and 2024 gun law
How much leeway should officials have to deny gun licenses? SJC will decide.
SJC again upholds MBTA Communities housing law
Tenant right to purchase bill closer than ever on Beacon Hill
SJC says Nahant can take Northeastern University land
Collins survives Wu-backed primary challenge, Brownsberger-Lander race too close to call
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