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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF.
2020 CONTENDERS STAY IN THE SPOTLIGHT — Although former Gov. Deval Patrick officially took himself off the list of 2020 candidates on Thursday, some of the other Massachusetts pols on the "maybe" list remain in the white-hot presidential race spotlight.
Shortly after Patrick said he won't pursue a run in part because of the "cruelty" of the elections process, the Boston Globe penned an editorial urging Sen. Elizabeth Warren to do the same.
Warren's hometown paper says she "missed her moment" to run in 2016, and that her victory margin in last month's Senate race suggests there is a "ceiling" on her popularity. On the same day, the New York Times rolled another grenade at her with a story detailing the concerns of Warren supporters who worry that she "played into" President Donald Trump's hands by taking a DNA test to prove her Native American ancestry in October, and alienated progressive groups in the process.
For her part, Warren stands by her decision , saying transparency is crucial for politicians. And she's got plenty of cash to defend herself: she has more than $12 million in cash on hand in her Senate campaign account, according to a post-midterm FEC report filed Thursday.
Another local presidential prospect, former Secretary of State and Sen. John Kerry, insisted he's not "actively" pursuing a potential 2020 run during a talk promoting his new memoir. Several times this fall Kerry said he hadn't taken anything off the table in regard to 2020, but tried to clarify that answer last night.
"I don't have any plans to run for office. I doubt I'll run for office again. I once responded to a question saying — I said I haven't taken it off the table, which is very, very different than actively working, pursuing, which I am not doing. And I mean that," Kerry said at the Kennedy Institute on Thursday night. "Occasionally it crosses your mind to think sort of would you, won't you. We have a lot of good people around. We'll see, sort of, where it goes but I'm not doing anything actively to pursue that."
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attend the Performance Recognition Awards Ceremony with Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attends an AT&T Senior Phone-A-Thon at City Hall.Walsh attends the "Eastie's Elves" party hosted by state Rep. Adrian Madaro and the Madaro Family Community Fund.
NBC's national political correspondent Steve Kornacki is at UMass Lowell to talk about the midterms. Emily Rooney, Adam Reilly, Callie Crossley, Dan Kennedy and Jon Keller are on deck for WGBH's "Beat the Press" 20th anniversary show.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "House, in informal session, passes Grid legislation," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE, in a sparsely attended informal session on Thursday, approved legislation that would extend unemployment assistance for the 1,250 locked-out workers of National Grid or any other utility that locks out its employees. Typically, only noncontroversial issues are taken up in informal sessions. But the Republicans in the House, who held the bill up on Tuesday, decided to let the Grid legislation go through on Thursday after Democrats added a couple of amendments to exempt municipally owned utilities and to sunset the legislation on January 1, 2023."
- "New state public safety secretary will meet with State Police boss," by John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: "The state's new public safety secretary said Thursday he will meet soon with the beleaguered leader of the Massachusetts State Police where more than 40 troopers have been identified as possible targets of criminal charges for allegedly falsifying overtime records. Thomas A. Turco III was sworn in by Governor Charlie Baker as the new leader of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Wednesday, replacing Daniel Bennett who is looking for new opportunities in the private sector after leading the secretariat for the last four years."
- "Could Wisc. lame-duck power grab happen here?" by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "The stunning, lame-duck power grab this week by the Wisconsin legislature would be far more difficult to pull off in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Legislature operates under a system of rules that gives lawmakers nearly a half-year off while they campaign for reelection. During that six-month period, the Legislature meets in what it calls informal sessions, where few lawmakers are present and typically only non-controversial bills are taken up. While nothing is impossible on Beacon Hill with enough votes, it would be very difficult for Massachusetts lawmakers to do what their counterparts in Wisconsin did."
- "ENDING INVESTIGATION INTO WYNN IS COMMISSION'S "URGENT PRIORITY," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "It is the "urgent priority" of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to end its almost yearlong investigation into allegations against former casino magnate Steve Wynn in order to begin deliberations over whether Wynn Resorts should continue to hold the license for the resort casino it is building in Everett, the commission's chair said Thursday."
- "LISTEN, AND TAKE IT A DAY AT A TIME, SANCHEZ ADVISES SUCCESSOR," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "As Beacon Hill watches to see who will be tapped to lead the Legislature's budget-writing committees next session, outgoing House Ways and Means Chairman Jeffrey Sanchez has a simple recommendation for his to-be-appointed successor. 'You know what? I don't have any advice. Just take it a day at a time,' Sanchez said Wednesday after the annual revenue hearing he led with Sen. Joan Lovely."
- "BAKER RECALLS MEETING "GRACIOUS" BUSH ON 1980 CAMPAIGN," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Gov. Charlie Baker first met George H.W. Bush as a 20-something working on the 1980 presidential campaign of former Texas governor and Treasury Secretary John Connally. Bush was at a cattle-call event for those seeking the Republican nomination, and Baker got the chance along with other staff and volunteers to meet the man who would go on that year to lose the nomination to Ronald Reagan, but join the ticket as the vice presidential candidate."
- "SENATE CLERK WELCH WILL RETIRE AFTER DEC. 31 CONCON," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "Senate Clerk William Welch, who started in the Senate clerk's office in 1973 and has guided the office and the Senate as clerk since 2003, plans to retire at the end of the year, capping off a near half-century State House career. Welch, 69, said he will retire after presiding over the Dec. 31 joint session of the House and Senate, and said he expects Assistant Clerk Michael Hurley will be elected by the Senate as his successor once the 2019-2020 session begins."
- "UMass gambling survey shows economic gains, shifting views in Massachusetts," by Patrick Johnson, Springfield Republican:"As Massachusetts gets closer to having two full casinos in operation, a study shows that, since 2015, the public has become more accepting of legalized gambling, and there has been little evidence of harm as measured in such things as the amount of crime, divorces, or even in the number of home foreclosures."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "With Ayanna Pressley leaving, hopefuls start lining up for council seat," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: " City Councilor Ayanna Pressley hasn't cleaned out her office yet, and the next City Council election is nearly a year away. But already political hopefuls are lining up to seek one of the council's coveted four at-large seats — setting up what could be the most competitive race for those posts in years. Perennial candidate Althea Garrison, 77, placed fifth in the last municipal election, and by city rules she will be able to join the council in January, once Pressley officially departs to take her new seat in Congress. Garrison, who has run for various state and city offices at least a dozen times, can hold the seat until the next election."
- "SURGEON GENERAL: 'WE ALL PAY THE PRICE' FOR OPIOID EPIDEMIC," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "In the roughly 20 minutes U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams spent addressing law enforcement and health care leaders in Boston Thursday morning, two Americans would die of opioid overdoses, he told the crowd gathered in a Harvard Medical School conference room."
- HERE THEY ARE: "Suffolk County DA-Elect Rachael Rollins Announces Transition Team," from the Rollins campaign: The team's work will be guided by Rollins' transition co-chairs, Martin Murphy of Foley Hoag and Natashia Tidwell of Hogan Lovells, and a six-member steering committee comprised of talented and experienced criminal defense attorneys, former prosecutors, and recognized experts in community engagement: Reverend Willie Bodrick, II, Nurys Camargo, Jessica D. Hedges, retired Justice Geraldine Hines, Daniel P. Mulhern and Donna Patalano.
- "Internal report recommends MIT retain Saudi ties," by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "MIT should maintain its financial and research ties to Saudi Arabia, despite the kingdom's involvement in a civil war and humanitarian crisis in neighboring Yemen, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's suspected links to the brutal killing of a journalist, an internal university report recommends."
- "53 State St. tower is sold for $845 million," by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: " One of Boston's biggest and most prominent office buildings traded hands Thursday. 53 State St. — home to Hill Holliday, software firm Acquia, and The Boston Globe, among other companies — sold for $845 million to an investment group that includes Allianz Real Estate, the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, and Beacon Capital Partners."
- "Students, Medford/Somerville community protest Tufts housing policy," by Julia Taliesin, Medford Transcript: "Members of the student organizations Tufts Student Action and Tufts Housing League, who organized the protest, say the new policies will segregate housing by income: students who can afford to will opt for the nicer dorms, and low- and middle-income students will live in older dorms. The groups also predict that because the changes could force more students off-campus, they will exacerbate housing woes in Somerville and Medford, as landlords increasingly cater rent prices to the growing student market."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- WHY THEY'RE DOING IT: "Union 'loophole' going to Supreme Court," by Paul D. Craney, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE SO-CALLED UNION LOOPHOLE is a longstanding social injustice that MassFiscal, and its sister organization the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, are determined to right. On Wednesday, we teamed up with the Goldwater Institute and filed a petition with the US Supreme Court of the United States. MassFiscal began its quest after the 2013 Boston mayoral election when Marty Walsh defeated John Connolly in a close election."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Elizabeth Warren Stands by DNA Test. But Around Her, Worries Abound." by Astead W. Herndon, New York Times: "The plan was straightforward: After years of being challenged by President Trump and others about a decades-old claim of Native American ancestry, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would take a DNA test to prove her stated family origins in the Cherokee and Delaware tribes. But nearly two months after Ms. Warren released the test results and drew hostile reactions from prominent tribal leaders, the lingering cloud over her likely presidential campaign has only darkened."
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| KENNEDY COMPOUND |
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- "Joe Kennedy III: Herald News Newsmaker of the Year nominee," The Herald News: "Election years are typically busy for politicians, but in the case of U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III his own effort to return to Washington, D.C., that had little to do with his 2018. While his last name has generally provided Kennedy with a level of recognition, the second-term congressman truly stepped out on his own this past January when he was selected to give the Democratic rebuttal to President Donald Trump's State of the Union."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "Neal, Lesser among 33 appointed to east-west rail advisory panel; Palmer gets a seat at the table," by Jim Russell, Springfield Republican: "Western Massachusetts rail transit boosters U.S. Rep. Richard Neal state Sen. Eric Lesser are among a group of 33 people appointed to the state's east-west passenger rail study advisory committee, which will hold its first meeting on Dec. 18. The panel will be a sounding board for a rail proposal that could result in passenger service linking Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester and Boston."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "6TH-GRADE ATTACK," — Globe: "Trying to get students out of the clouds," "Several factors in the Dow's wild week," "In Maine, progress has a catch." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "'Suck it up, buttercup': Management style of Holyoke Treasurer Sandra Smith criticized," by Mike Plaisance, Springfield Republican: "Who has 26,816 bosses, gets evaluated only every four years, allegedly uses the F-word around her City Hall office with regularity and has clashed with staff in numerous city departments? City Treasurer Sandra A. Smith, according to municipal employees, including one who has filed a complaint against the treasurer with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD)."
- "Government helps house hundreds of families," by Joshua Solomon, Greenfield Recorder: "The cap for the state vouchers has been frozen for a number of years, leaving a maximum rent someone can use one of these state vouchers for is around $560 for a one-bedroom, which essentially eliminates any existing rentals on the market. A Section 8 allows a rent up to $876. Basically, only people who already are using the voucher can continue to use it through a sort of grandfather clause, while unused vouchers are left unused."
- "Pioneer Valley Workers Center: Local immigrant activist Eduardo Samaniego detained in Georgia," by Dusty Christensen, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "Prominent local activist and undocumented immigrant Eduardo Samaniego has reportedly been detained by immigration agents in his home state of Georgia, according to the Pioneer Valley Workers Center in Northampton. The center on Wednesday evening shared a Facebook post announcing that Samaniego, a worker leader with the center, had been detained at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility in Lovejoy, Georgia. Samaniego has been a vocal advocate for immigrant and worker rights at the local, state and federal levels."
- "Another Bush Legacy: Staffers, Public Servants (with 413 Roots)" by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight:"Stebbins, a former Springfield city councilor and now a Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner, has the photo Bush and him on his office wall. It was taken his last day in the White House, incidentally, the same day Desert Storm began. Stebbins has a copy of the president's schedule which notes "Bruce Stebbins photo opportunity" wedged in between military and security briefings."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Everybody knows that vapin' ain't allowed in school," by Beth Teitell, Boston Globe: "Ha ha ha. Plymouth's superintendent of schools, Gary Maestas, allowed himself a short laugh. He was thinking about the real-time vape detectors he's planning to install in the town's high school bathrooms, and how the students don't yet know. 'They'll find out soon enough,' Maestas said. Ha ha ha. But the kids — they're not the ones Maestas is laughing at. The children are the ones he's trying to protect — from a multibillion-dollar vaping and e-cigarette industry that has lured millions of teenagers with sexy branding and child-friendly flavors, and along the way, turned school bathrooms into ground zero of the vaping wars."
- A MASSACHUSETTS CONNECTION: "Horton case linked newspaper and president," by Lisa Kashinsky, Eagle-Tribune: "It began with a question: How was a convicted murderer allowed out of jail for a weekend furlough? It ended with journalism's top honor for The Eagle-Tribune, state prison system reform, and the election of George H.W. Bush as the nation's 41st president."
- "Arsonist tries to torch Brockton mayor's SUV," by Marc Larocque, The Enterprise: "An arsonist attempted to torch Mayor Bill Carpenter's city-owned vehicle over the weekend, according to state and local officials, in an incident that has sparked an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. Carpenter was not present at his rental home on Pearl Street at the time when the incident took place, as he was outside of the country during a trip to Cape Verde. Carpenter's family members were home at the time, but no one was hurt."
- "Local residents implore Supreme Judicial Court to probe alleged bias in Worcester Housing Court," by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: "In an unusual pro se hearing in front of the Supreme Judicial Court Thursday, dozens of residents who allege the Worcester Housing Court treated them unfairly while representing themselves when fighting foreclosure implored the state's highest court to grant them relief."
SPOTTED: In the last row of a 3:30 p.m. American Airlines flight to Boston on Wednesday ... Gov. Charlie Baker. Pic.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Longmeadow Dems chair Candy Glazer and the Boston University State House journalism program's Jerry Berger.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to Leicester Rep. Kate Campanale , Liberty Square Group president and CEO Scott Ferson, Honey Sharpof Great Barrington and Jonathan Kamens, who all celebrate on Saturday.
- And to Boston Globe reporter Matt Rocheleau, who celebrates on Sunday.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes and no! The Celtics beat the Knicks 128-100. The Lightning beat the Bruins 3-2.
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