As cost-of-living pressures bearing down on Massachusetts residents become painfully obvious, the state’s gubernatorial candidates are centering affordability in their 2026 campaigns.
State Government
Posted inElection 2026
‘A self-fulfilling cycle’: Why Gateway Cities consistently have lower voter turnout
Cities like Worcester — where the poverty rate is twice as high as the state’s — may have trouble getting people to the polls this November. The state’s most disadvantaged and diverse urban communities often have some of the lowest voter turnout rates. In the last midterm election year, nine of the 10 municipalities with the lowest voter turnout were Gateway Cities.
Posted inEconomy
Most residents think Massachusetts is a great place to live, and also unaffordable
People who are finishing their education are almost twice as likely to consider leaving Massachusetts in the next five years, quantifying a dynamic many have long suspected in a state that welcomes crowds of college students every year.
Posted inOpinion
Why the Beacon Hill transparency debate gets it all wrong
The problem is not that the public lacks crucial information about its government; it’s that its government lacks crucial information about the public — and has little motivation to care about that.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts is already putting its untapped talent to work
The administration is working across state agencies and with workforce partners to remove obstacles that prevent people from entering—and staying in—the workforce.
Posted inBallot Questions
Political Notebook: Teachers vs. Smith & Wesson
The state’s largest teachers union is now the single biggest financial backer of keeping a 2024 gun control law on the books.
Posted inState Government
Pacheco wins Dartmouth-area primary as 14-vote margin holds
Pacheco claimed a 14-vote win with 2,493 votes to Medeiros’ 2,479 after the recount, according to results from the secretary of state’s office.
Posted inState Government
Galvin defends ballot questions as a ‘safety valve’ amid reform push
Lawmakers this year could move forward with changes to how initiative petitions get on the ballot. Now, other voices are also starting to weigh in, amid a particularly active election cycle for citizen-led petitions.
Posted inState Government
Brownsberger edges Lander by 35 votes after Senate race recount
The results conclude a nail-biting primary race for the Suffolk and Middlesex District, which became a proxy war over voter dissatisfaction with the Beacon Hill status quo and a test of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s political prowess.
Posted inBallot Questions
Deep-pocketed donors flood the ballot-question field with cash
Newly filed financial reports shed light on this election’s battle lines, which will pit business groups against unions, the marijuana industry against an out-of-state opponent, and transparency advocates against Beacon Hill itself.
Posted inState Government
Senators rally to Brownsberger as recount begins in tight race
The results of this week’s recount will settle who wins the district – a longtime incumbent and the third-most powerful Democrat in the Senate, or a challenger with the backing of political rival Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
Posted inOpinion
Critics of the Legislature’s productivity ignore a key legal distinction setting Mass. apart from nearly all other states
It is easy to see how that storyline can spark the ire of voters and the scorn of opinion writers. But it is a fundamentally flawed reading of legislative productivity for reasons that are virtually never acknowledged amid the easy targeting of lawmakers.
Posted inPolitics
Recounts taking shape in two Democratic legislative primaries
Elections have come down to just a few votes in the high-profile showdown between 19-year legislator Sen. William Brownsberger and challenger Daniel Lander.
Posted inState Government
LG nominee Oliver quick to jump on Minogue’s team
Shortsleeve and Oliver pitched themselves as the “only unified ticket in the Republican gubernatorial primary,” but Oliver on Tuesday night spoke about aligning with Minogue as as part of the GOP’s larger quest in the general election cycle.
Posted inOpinion
Your teenager is still figuring out who they are. Big Tech’s algorithms act like they already know.
At precisely the age when young people are still figuring out who they are, an algorithm optimized for engagement should not be shaping the possibilities.
Posted inState Government
Melissa Hoffer, nation’s first state-level climate chief, to step down
Hoffer was chosen for the new position after holding several high-powered roles in climate policy, serving under then-AG Healey before working at the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency and then moving back to the Bay State to link up with Healey again under this newly crafted role.
Posted inTechnology
$17 billion Meta settlement lands in hotbed of debate over social media regulations in Mass.
A landmark agreement both reshapes Instagram and Facebook for teenagers, and adds fuel to legislative debate about permanent reforms.
Posted inState Government
Mass. gives schools a playbook for ICE at the door
The governor’s office shared new guidance for how Massachusetts schools and child care centers should handle federal immigration enforcement.
Posted inState Government
Mail-in ballots have cut into popularity of early in-person voting
As voters this election cycle weigh ballot questions allowing people to register and vote on Election Day, and substituting an all-party primary in for the traditional party-based primaries, early in-person voting remains an enduring and often utilized election reform in Massachusetts.
Posted inBallot Questions
Odd bedfellows: Progressive critics join Democratic, Republican party bosses to oppose election reform ballot question
“It’s not that our current system is good. It’s that this alternate one is worse,” says Jonathan Cohn, policy director for Progressive Mass.
Posted inEnergy
Lawmakers appear poised to take some big swings against competitive electric suppliers. How big is the question.
The pushback comes as Democrats on Beacon Hill are on the cusp of a long-sought breakthrough to rein in what critics contend are shady energy companies that rip off unwitting customers.
Posted inState Government
CCC hoping for funding infusion as it implements new law, policies
Cannabis regulators are planning a sweeping overhaul of the state’s marijuana industry while also advancing plans to let adults buy and use marijuana at the same establishment.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts needs a data-center strategy, not a series of permits
Massachusetts should decide what role data centers will play in its energy, climate, economic-development, and environmental-justice future—and what these extraordinarily energy-intensive facilities must contribute in return for public support.
Posted inState Government
Voting season puts focus on election administration, litigation, turnout
“With 600,000 ballots on the street, I think it’s important for people to vote them and send them back,” Secretary of State William Galvin said, calling the figure average and declaring that his “strong suggestion” is that mail-in voters return their ballots “immediately.”
