A correction has been made to this story. THE SUPER PAC affiliated with Gov. Charlie Baker skipped this year’s preliminary municipal elections, but returned to action late last week, pouring $129,020 into 17 races, including three featuring challengers seeking to oust incumbent mayors in Framingham, Attleboro, and Amesbury. Baker’s super PAC went silent this year, […]
Massachusetts politics
Posted inOpinion
Incumbent-first law is unique to Massachusetts
AMONG THE WAYS that Massachusetts is unique among the 50 states: our state election ballots give top billing to incumbent state officeholders who are seeking re-election, with the other candidates listed in alphabetical order below. (Cities and towns can choose alternatives – Boston, notably, selects candidate order by lottery.) No other state reserves the top […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker-affiliated super PAC has gone silent
Super PACs have pumped more than $4 million into the race for mayor of Boston, but one has been noticeably absent from the political fray. The Massachusetts Majority PAC, which has close ties to Gov. Charlie Baker, so far has taken a pass on the Boston mayor’s race as well as all the other local […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker-affiliated super PAC has gone silent
SUPER PACs have pumped more than $4 million into the race for mayor of Boston, but one has been noticeably absent from the political fray. The Massachusetts Majority PAC, which has close ties to Gov. Charlie Baker, so far has taken a pass on the Boston mayor’s race as well as all the other local […]
Posted inPolitics
Incumbent mayors in Framingham, Gloucester face uphill battles
INCUMBENT MAYORS took a drubbing Tuesday night in preliminary elections in Framingham and Gloucester but gathered enough votes to make it into the November final. Yvonne Spicer, the first mayor of Framingham and one of the state’s most prominent Black elected officials, fell far behind long-time selectman and former city councilor Charlie Sisitsky, earning just […]
Posted inOpinion
Next mayor should create department of labor
SEVENTEEN MONTHS into a pandemic that has widened the cracks and brought new and renewed hardship to so many, we can plainly see that the systems that fell short before are now failing — in housing, health care and child care. The pandemic has heightened the crisis for too many of Boston’s working families, making it harder and harder […]
Posted inThe Download
Are voters ready to give Dems total control of Beacon Hill?
Over the last 30 years, voters in Massachusetts have been remarkably consistent, electing moderate Republicans as governor to serve as a counterbalance to the Democratic-controlled Legislature. The only exception to that trend was the election of Deval Patrick in 2006. He ran for an open seat when Mitt Romney chose not to seek reelection and […]
Posted inPolitics
Dem candidates for governor pushing big, expensive ideas
OVER THE LAST 30 years, voters in Massachusetts have been remarkably consistent, electing moderate Republicans as governor to serve as a counterbalance to the Democratic-controlled Legislature. The only exception to that trend was the election of Deval Patrick in 2006. He ran for an open seat when Mitt Romney chose not to seek reelection and […]
Posted inPolitics
In governor’s race, stark differences on early, higher ed
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, the dominant conflict on Beacon Hill was how to update funding for the state’s K-12 schools. Now that a new formula is in place, the next battle lines are the rest of the education system: early education and higher education. The issue is expected to be front and center in the 2022 […]
Posted inThe Download
Boston isn’t the only city with a hot mayoral election
Eight Massachusetts cities are holding preliminary elections for mayor this month without an incumbent standing for reelection. The exodus of the eight incumbents, who occupy roughly a quarter of the mayoral offices up for grabs this year, is an unusually high number and undoubtedly reflects the grind of COVID. Five of the incumbents decided to […]