Gov. Deval Patrick’s bid to shelter immigrant children in Massachusetts is creating some interesting plot lines in the race to succeed him. The Democratic candidates for governor — Attorney General Martha Coakley, Treasurer Steve Grossman, and Don Berwick — all support Patrick’s plan. So does Republican Charlie Baker. But independent Jeff McCormick has come out against the plan, a move that could sap support from Baker.
Baker says every state should help deal with the wave of immigrant children, but he wants assurances from the federal government that “that this is a temporary situation completely funded with federal dollars.” migrants will not be the last,” he says.
McCormick says the people of Massachusetts are caring and compassionate, but the federal government hasn’t leveled with them about the depth of the immigrant problem. He says the drug cartels that have spurred much of the current immigration wave are not going away and Washington politicians show no sign of passing immigration legislation to deal comprehensively with the problem. “One can only assume this wave of migrants will not be the last,” he says.
David Bernstein, writing for Boston magazine, says Baker’s position could be risky for him. Bernstein says it’s one thing for the kinder and gentler Baker candidacy of 2014 to come out for gay rights, abortion, and gun control. Conservatives never expected him to be with them on those issues, Bernstein says. “But they did think he was with them on undocumented immigrants, and a great many of them are very, very opposed to Patrick’s plan,” Bernstein writes.
The Boston Herald’s Margery Eagan points out that McCormick supports in-state tuition and drivers’ licenses for illegals, both of which Baker opposes. Eagan suggests Baker’s approach (“offering temporary and carefully monitored shelter to children”) is “the kinder, gentler conservatism we like around here.”
McCormick, whose campaign is headed by Republican Joe Malone, is likely to raise his visibility with his stance on the immigration issue. But whether that greater visibility will translate into greater support among voters is unclear. If he gains any traction, it’s bad news for Baker and good news for the Democrats.
In 2010, Tim Cahill ran as an independent and garnered 8 percent of the vote, with his support drawn in roughly equal measure from the left and the right. Polling data indicate McCormick’s support is more likely to come from Republican-leaning voters, which means Baker has to watch his flank.
— BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
House Speaker Robert DeLeo is flattered by talk of extending the amount of time he can serve as speaker; one of his top lieutenants thinks it’s a good idea, State House News reports.
The Massachusetts House approves an abortion clinic safety bill, the Associated Press reports.
Gov. Deval Patrick puts his John Hancock on flood insurance legislation designed to provide relief from hefty premiums.
Patrick says he sides with state police chiefs and gun-control advocates who want local chiefs to have discretion in issuing permits for rifles and shotguns.
Patrick is expected to sign off on the $1.1 billion expansion of South Boston‘s convention center soon.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
After an outburst from one attendee ended a session early, The Berkshire Eagle suggests that people should learn to behave at Pittsfield Human Rights Commission meetings.
Rehoboth ‘s police department will shutter its detective division, after a failed property tax override vote sent town departments scrambling to make budget cuts.
A disbarred attorney quits Boston‘s zoning board after calls from the Herald.
No kidding: Boston is contracting for landscaping services with goats.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Gov. Patrick responds to “coarse” comments from Cape Cod residents opposed to allowing undocumented children to stay at Joint Base Cape Cod. Meanwhile, detainee sites where unaccompanied children are being housed report few problems. President Obama is still stymied by partisan discord on the issue. Word of speedy deportations from the US has changed some migrants’ calculus.
A (somewhat) mellower Barney Frank pays a visit to Washington.
ELECTIONS
Sen. John Walsh of Montana is in hot water for allegedly plagiarizing a major paper to earn his degree from the US Army War College, the New York Times reports.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Ousted executive Arthur T. Demoulas says his side of the warring family has made an offer to buy a controlling interest in the supermarket chain from the other side of the family.
The Sun offers a breakdown of the Demoulas board of directors. The Sun also lists all the pols backing the Demoulas boycott. Joan Vennochi offers a reminder that the good Arthur was once the bad Arthur, and that the main losers in the long-running drama are chain’s employees.
Don Chiofaro unveils plans for two gleaming new towers on Boston’s waterfront.
The California pension fund is dramatically scaling back its investments in hedge funds, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Walmart managers are among the highest paid in the nation (Costco managers are tops), while cashiers don’t fare so well, Time reports.
Responding to public pressure to disclose its diversity workplace numbers, Twitter releases data that shows that, like many other technology companies, most of its employees are male, white, and Asian.
Greater Boston chews over the idea of a Boston 2024 Olympics bid. Boston mayor Marty Walsh will be at the US Olympics headquarters in Colorado Springs today to discuss the idea, along with leaders of the three other US cities that have been invited to prepare bids.
EDUCATION
Massachusetts gets top ranking for children’s education, health, and well-being in a Casey Foundation national survey.
HEALTH CARE
Radius HealthCare , a nursing home in Danvers, is ordered to pay a $14.5 million verdict in connection with the wrongful death and neglect of a patient, the Salem News reports.
State officials say the founder of a fertility clinic failed to notify authorities, as required by law, of reports that a doctor working for him had inappropriately touched female patients.
TRANSPORTATION
The fight for transparency at the MBTA Retirement Fund.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The New York Times spotlights an ambitious transmission project tying Texas‘s rural wind farms to its urban centers.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Philip Chism, already charged with killing, raping, and robbing his high school math teacher, is arraigned for the attempted murder of a Department of Youth Services worker, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
The execution of an Arizona murderer takes nearly two hours.
MEDIA
Dan Kennedy analyzes the Providence Journal sale, and notes the new owner, GateHouse Media, may take back some printing business from the Boston Globe.