POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: PRIMARY DAY — GOTV or get out — Cranberry politics

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PRIMARY DAY — GOTV or get out — Cranberry politics
09/04/2018 06:51 AM EDT
By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @laurendezenski)

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. HAPPY PRIMARY DAY! And the MA playbook is BACK from its end-of-summer hiatus. It's wonderful to be back in your inboxes.

IT'S ELECTION DAY: TIME TO GOTV OR GET OUT — This primary cycle will be remembered as the year of challenges in unexpected places.

The biggest example has been the MA-07 congressional district held by 10-term incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano. The initially unlikely primary race has captured national attention as Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley hopes to dislodge one of the most progressive, squeaky clean members of the House in the state's only majority minority district. Capuano has taken this challenge seriously from the beginning — even canceling his vacation when he found out Pressley was making the challenge official this winter. Since then, the two have avoided sparring directly, but the race has offered a window into the future of the Democratic Party. Will the MA-07 voters in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, and Randolph send Massachusetts' first elected woman of color to Washington? Will the national wave carrying diverse candidates crash onto this or any of the other contested congressional races, (like the extra-crowded MA-03 in the Merrimack Valley)? Or will it largely pass by deep-blue Massachusetts?

Another fierce challenge to an incumbent has come from Nika Elugardo, taking on state Rep. and powerful House Ways and Means Chair Jeff Sanchez in a district that includes progressive Boston enclave Jamaica Plain. Elugardo has hammered Sanchez over the House stripping immigrant protection provisions from the state budget. Sanchez, meanwhile, has marshalled nearly every high-profile Democrat in the state to come to his aid, including AG Maura Healey, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

OTHER TIDBITS TO KEEP AN EYE ON —
The Trump factor — How much of a draw will Donald Trump (or a candidate's association with Trump) be for the Republicans on primary ballots today? Scott Lively, the far-right anti-gay pastor challenging Gov. Charlie Baker, went so far as to encourage supporters to wear "Make America Great Again" gear while on the stump for him. One thing I'll be watching: The level of support for Lively — and to what extent those voters are backing Trump via Lively to send a message to moderate Baker. The three Republicans running to take on Sen. Elizabeth Warren have worked around the Trump issue in different ways, with state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who worked with the 2016 Trump campaign in Massachusetts, most closely associated tied to president, and Beth Lindstrom and John Kingston not necessarily shying away from their support for the president.

What difference DOES a DA make? — There's an open, five-way race for district attorney in Suffolk County, which means increased interest from progressives in criminal justice reform could draw attention to an otherwise under-the-radar elected position. Contested Democratic DA primaries in Berkshire County and the Middlesex District also buoy interest around the state — and potentially turnout from progressive voters.

It's tired but true: It all comes down to turnout — It's a funky election day and we've got Secretary of State Bill Galvin to thank for that . Galvin reported on Monday that 54,000 absentee ballots had already been requested for the primary — 42,000 of which were Democratic ballots. He called the numbers "encouraging," and that it could indicate a stronger-than-anticipated turnout. Non-presidential primaries traditionally have lower turnout, so conventional wisdom would suggest today, by virtue of it being the day after Labor Day, could see even fewer voters than normal. How effectively will campaigns be able to GOTV when those voters are harder to come by?

If you haven't already ... FIND YOUR POLLING LOCATION. And once polls close, hear me weigh in on all things primary night on WBUR at 90.9 FM starting at 8 p.m. - and follow my tweets @LaurenDezenski. Now go vote!

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: ldezenski@politico.com..

ELECTION NIGHT ROUNDUP - Where you'll find the candidates in some of the state's biggest-ticket races when the polls close at 8 p.m.
- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez: Teachers Union Hall in Dorchester
- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Massie: Redbones Barbeque in Somerville (yum!)
- Gov. Charlie Baker: Venezia restaurant in Dorchester
- Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Lively: Worcester's Bancroft Hotel
- Republican Senate candidate Beth Lindstrom: the Sheraton Needham
- Republican Senate candidate state Rep. Geoff Diehl: Whitman VFW
- Republican Senate candidate John Kingston: Newton Marriott
- MA-07 Rep. Michael Capuano: Somerville Holiday Inn
- MA-07 candidate Ayanna Pressley: IBEW 103 in Dorchester
- Secretary of state candidate Josh Zakim: Dillon's on Boylston Street in the Back Bay

ON THE STUMP —
MA-07 — "In The MA 7th, Capuano And Pressley Make Their Closing Arguments," by Adam Reilly, WGBH News: "In a jam-packed weekend of campaigning aimed at pushing voters to the polls on Sept. 4, the day after Labor Day, Rep. Mike Capuano and his primary challenger, Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, offered starkly different closing arguments to residents of Massachusetts' 7th Congressional District."

ROSENBERG SEAT RACE — "Will wealth of write-in candidates create counting problems for clerks in Hampshire-Franklin-Worcester state Senate race?" by Diane Lederman, Springfield Republican: "Town and city clerks are ready to count votes in Tuesday's state primary election - and they'll be counting them by hand for the Franklin, Hampshire and Worcester District state Senate race in which only one candidate is on the ballot but three have mounted write-in campaigns."

LG - "Lieutenant governor office a lure for politically ambitious," by Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press: "Adding a bit of celebrity to the race for lieutenant governor this year is the presence of comic Jimmy Tingle as a candidate on the Democratic side. He's facing off against Quentin Palfrey, a former White House policy adviser under President Barack Obama. ... The two are a study in contrasts."

ABSENTEE BALLOT TEA LEAVES - "Secretary Bill Galvin: 54,000 absentee ballots requested in Tuesday's primary," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "There were 54,000 Massachusetts voters who requested absentee ballots for Tuesday's primary election, a number that Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin called 'encouraging.' ... Of those voters, 42,000 plan to vote in the Democratic primary."

DATELINE MARLBORO - "As state primary looms, Marlboro Labor Day Parade offers candidates last chance to pound pavement," by Mark Sullivan, Worcester Telegram and Gazette: "This blue-collar city historically made shoes. So it's fitting the annual Labor Day Parade here Monday caps a state political primary campaign on which so much shoe leather has been expended."

MEANWHILE - Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr wants Donald Trump to tweet about Geoff Diehl.

THE TSONGAS ARENA —
- "Massachusetts Democrats Strain to Stand Out in Rare Open-Seat Race," by Stephanie Akin, Roll Call: "The ten Democrats running include the first openly transgender person to run for Congress in Massachusetts, two candidates who immigrated to the United States as children, and a former ambassador whose experience as a gay diplomat was chronicled in a Danish television documentary. 

Winning the primary would be tantamount to victory in the heavily Democratic seat that Hillary Clinton carried by 23 points in 2016."

- "What pathways to victory look like in 3rd District race," by Chris Lisinski, Lowell Sun: "UMass Lowell political science professor John Cluverius identified two central themes that may dictate the winner: candidates who came into the race with a larger footprint relying on that natural advantage, and everyone else ensuring an even level of competitiveness across the district."

DATELINE BEACON HILL —
- "'Listen very carefully' advises retiring state Rep. John Scibak," by Mike Plaisance, Masslive.com: "Take time to read the bill. ... And listen. ... State Rep. John Scibak, D-South Hadley, was asked to offer advice to the next occupant of the 2nd Hampshire District seat that he will vacate at the end of this term."

- "Conservative group threatens to sue over union dues," by Christian Wade, Newburyport Daily News: "A conservative group is threatening to sue state and local officials if they don't stop collecting union dues and agency fees from workers' paychecks."

THE WARREN REPORT —
ICYMI - "Ethnicity not a factor in Elizabeth Warren's rise in law," by Annie Linskey, Boston Globe: "In the most exhaustive review undertaken of Elizabeth Warren's professional history, the Globe found clear evidence, in documents and interviews, that her claim to Native American ethnicity was never considered by the Harvard Law faculty, which voted resoundingly to hire her, or by those who hired her to four prior positions at other law schools. At every step of her remarkable rise in the legal profession, the people responsible for hiring her saw her as a white woman."

FRONT PAGE PLAY — Herald: "GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!" "OUT OF STEP" — Globe: "Final primary pitches and pleas," "Bedford VA nursing site: 1 star, plenty of questions," "In this election year, texts are hot, TV ads are not," "No syllabus for students with chronic ailments," "Part of cranberry crop may be dumped."

THE LOCAL ANGLE —
- "Welcome back! Late buses, fiscal mismanagement, and administrative legal woes as BPS reopens," by Dan Atkinson, DigBoston: "The litany of woes comes as BPS deals with the aftermath of Superintendent Tommy Chang's resignation at the start of the summer, three years into his five-year term. Chang, who formerly oversaw the Los Angeles Unified School District, had dealt with numerous blunders during his tenure, including an IRS audit that prompted the most recent review of finances and a disastrous rollout of new start times that outraged parents successfully forced back."

- "Marriott hotel workers block Boston traffic in protest for better wages," by Abigail Feldman, Boston Globe: "Hundreds of workers from area Marriott hotels and their supporters rallied in front of the Westin Copley on Monday, banging homemade drums and carrying signs, to demand a fair contract. ... The union representing the employees said that it had set a Sept. 12 vote on whether to authorize a strike."

- "Local high school football coaches reflect on national decline in participation," by Brian Lee, Worcester Telegram: "Quabbin Regional High School Coach Dave Buchanan said participation ebbs and flows with enrollment, which is on the decline at the school. ... He said QRHS football will field 35 players, about five less than last year's roster."

DO YOU HAVE TO LET IT LINGER - "Facing a glut, cranberry farmers want to dump part of the harvest so prices can rise," by Alex Gailey, Boston Globe: "Cranberry farmers buried under a glut of the tart fruit are seeking permission for a radical way to dig themselves out: destroying millions of pounds of their crops. After struggling with an oversupply of the berries for nearly two decades, growers around the country are asking the Department of Agriculture for authorization to sell 75 percent of the supply and discard the rest."

MAZEL! - From this weekend: "Congressman Joe Kennedy III and crew gathered at Woodlawn Farm in Maryland to watch press secretary Dan Black — one of the Rep's longest serving and most trusted aides — wed long-time love and elementary school teacher Kaitlyn Roman. ... Guests dove into good beer, good BBQ and the mother-of-the-groom's homemade brownies. The groom made it through about 3 seconds of his vows before crying. To which his beautiful bride appropriately responded: 'I'm judging you a little.' ... 

Fun fact: the groom's parents Bill Black and Rita Kelliher met decades ago working for former Congressman Barney Frank - whose seat Rep. Kennedy now holds. -- Spotted : Congressman Kennedy and wife Lauren, a bevy of current and former JK3 aides, Jen Psaki, former Marty Walsh spox Nicole Caravella, NEC's Sean Malone, NYT's Carol Giacomo, Lamda Legal spox Ian Wilhite, and bouquet-catcher Caroline Darmody."

ALSO MAZEL! - to Stephanie Murray, who starts on Oct. 1 as a reporter at the State House News Service. She most recently interned at POLITICO and is a native of Tyngsboro, Mass.

DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? - Yes! The Red Sox bested the Braves 8-2.

ICYMI - THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE HORSE RACE : With less than a week from the MA primary election, you could say we've hit the stretch run. In a jam packed episode, we cover what we can expect from campaigns in the final week before the polls close. ... Principal Sean Curran of Waterville Consulting joins us in the studio to break down what's happening right now with campaign advertising. We're also joined by Mike McLaughlin, an expert in campaign fielding. And finally we bring Bruce Mohl in to discuss a recent article he wrote about campaign spending. ... This week we have a special extended What to Watch with insider tips on how to stay up to date as the polls close next Tuesday. Don't forget to register for our live *winners circle* event. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud
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