State Sen. Katherine Clark’s victory in the crowded Democratic primary field almost assuredly fast tracks her to Washington, DC, just in time to cope with the fallout from the creep of the planet’s most powerful economy toward economic Armageddon.
Early on it was clear that Clark was the one to beat. The Melrose politician was first out of the gate among the seven eventual challengers vying to succeed US Sen. Ed Markey in the Fifth Congressional District.
Attorney General Martha Coakley rallied to the banner of her former colleague. Thanks to mailings funded by Emily’s List with an assist from Photoshop, it looked like US Sen. Elizabeth Warren did, too, even if the senator never endorsed anyone in the race.
Clark’s strategy-several television ads plus a jaw-dropping mailing blitz (one Arlington household received 12 separate mailings from Clark alone) twined with a ground game that focused on house party tour of the district- served her well.
Democratic voters were spoiled for choice among the major candidates and some of them may be back on the campaign trail sooner rather than later. Though mum’s the word from second-place finisher Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, he is being touted as a possible candidate for attorney general.
There’s almost certainly more to come from Medford state representative Carl Sciortino. Going into the race with zero name recognition district-wide, his “Dad ad” helped boost him to a surprising third-place finish. The newlywed’s showing marks him as someone who could move up political ladder and out of the State House.
The head-scratcher of the race was Belmont’s Will Brownsberger, who placed fourth. Arguably one of Beacon Hill’s best and brightest, the state senator soon became the campaign’s iconoclast, forced to go on the defensive to explain his support for Citizens’ United and a one-year delay in implementing Obamacare, both anathema to many Democrats in the liberal suburbs north and west of Boston. While some people admired him for standing up for his convictions, he ended up alienating many of the voters he needed in places like Cambridge where he was trounced by Clark and Sciortino.
A lone signholder for Ashland’s Karen Spilka standing gamely in the dark at an Arlington precinct Tuesday evening personified the hurdle that the state senator could not overcome, a lack of name recognition outside I-495. Endorsed by the MetroWest Daily News, Spilka did well in the western towns of the district but suffered in places like Arlington and Cambridge, where she placed fifth, and Malden, where she tied with Brownsberger for the number five slot.
But Spilka, a vocal advocate for regional transit authorities, raised eyebrows among liberal cognoscenti by being for the tech tax before she was against it. The repeal of the tax that she initially supported, leaves a gaping $161 million hole in the state’s transportation finances.
In the quieter Republican contest, the MetroWest newspaper declared the candidates “less impressive” than their Democratic counterparts and ended up endorsing attorney Frank Addivinola. He got 49 percent of the vote in a three-man race.
How Addivinola, a Boston resident who ran for Boston City Council, makes his case against Clark in a congressional district where he does not live promises to be one of the more fascinating moments of the final push to the December 10 special election.
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
BEACON HILL
The Legislature has approved a bill that would add 27 liquor licenses for Quincy to use in its downtown redevelopment. Of course, there are some who would argue that Quincy shouldn’t have to go to the Legislature to secure new liquor licenses.
Lawmakers are preparing to take up a bill that would transfer the former Worcester County courthouse to the city of Worcester for $1, the Telegram & Gazette reports.
News organizations testify in support of legislation that would improve access to public records in Massachusetts, State House News reports (via Lowell Sun).
Gov. Deval Patrick visits Greater Boston to talk about his legacy, the Boston Marathon bombings, and his potential successors.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Boston’s Downtown Crossing tries to become a new neighborhood, WBUR reports .
Tom Nee , head of the Boston police patrolmen’s union, tells the City Council, “We’re the victims here,” in the battle over the union’s 25 percent arbitration award. A Herald editorial urges the council to reject the contract.
Quincy officials and families are pushing state lawmakers to enact a ban on “fake weed” and other products that offer “legal highs” to children.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
House Speaker John Boehner’s bad night clears a path for a new deal on debt and government finances, Time reports . The New York Times describes Boehner as “herding cats,” while Sen. John McCain argues that the GOP has lost the debt fight “because we were demanding something that was not achievable.” New York ’s Jonathan Chait outlines what he describes as the collapse of the House’s hard line. A Wall Street Journal editorial urges an end to a “comedy of political errors.”
The mayor of Richmond, VA, is developing a bold plan to end poverty, the New York Times reports.
The debate over whether state and local pension funds are adequately financed masks a much broader ideological fight between liberals who want to preserve traditional pensions and conservatives who want to dismantle them, Governing reports.
At an off-the-record gathering, Hillary Clinton reportedly said she favored the raid into Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden while Vice President Joe Biden did not, Politico reports.
ELECTIONS
John Connolly and Marty Walsh went at it in the first of three televised mayoral debates, with Walsh’s labor-friendly legislative record the only source of real sparks. That exchange is why Scot Lehigh gives the edge to Connolly. Joan Vennochi more or less agrees, saying Walsh’s real hope is in his down-to-earth persona. The Globe ’s Jim O’Sullivan says the candidates largely failed to distinguish themselves from each other. The Herald hangs around Connolly’s house with his wife, Meg , who tells the paper, at home, “I’m in charge.”
CommonWealth’s Paul McMorrow examines the color line in Boston, and how the two mayoral candidates are vying for the minority vote.
Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua, facing reelection, nominates a political ally to the city board that oversees elections, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Radio Boston sits down with gubernatorial candidate Juliette Kayyem.
Gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Baker criticizes Gov. Deval Patrick for failing to pay to open federally-funded tourist attractions like the Salem visitors’ center.
Bristol District Attorney Sam Sutter holds onto the hat he was about to toss into the attorney general’s race, writing in an op-ed for the Fall River Herald News that he has unfinished business, alluding to the Aaron Hernandez murder case.
Cory Booker is only up by 10 points in his New Jersey Senate race, which is reason enough for the Wall Street Journal to declare him in trouble.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
A national study finds that the families of more than half of all fast-food workers rely on some form of public assistance to get by.
Changes to a federal flood insurance program mean some coastal property owners in Massachusetts will get walloped with enormous premium increases, the Globe reports.
EDUCATION
Gov. Deval Patrick’s capital plan for the coming year earmarks nearly $33 million for Salem State University and nearly $21 million for North Shore Community College’s Lynn campus, the Salem News reports.
Adrian Walker says it’s time for Westfield State University president Evan Dobelle to go.
A New York Times editorial criticizes a plan floated by the city’s likely new mayor, Bill de Blasio, to charge charter schools rent on a sliding scale. The paper argues that de Blasio “could penalize high-performing schools that have demonstrably helped poor children.”
The Westport schools superintendent, placed on paid leave last week, says he and the School Committee are “on different paths.”
HEALTH CARE
A proposal by Partners Healthcare to expand psychiatric care at Union Hospital is met with resistance in Lynn, where officials say the city is once again being treated as a dumping ground, the Item reports.
TRANSPORTATION
The MBTA ferry service out of Quincy’s Fore River Shipyard has been closed indefinitely because of a water break, with only the Hingham commuter boat running out of the South Shore. Yes, a ferry service has been closed because of a water break.
MEDIA
Glenn Greenwald, who made headlines with his reporting on US electronic surveillance programs, is leaving the Guardian newspaper for a new media venture funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, Reuters reports.
