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Presented by Tobacco Free Kids
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
GOLDBERG GEARS UP — Rep. Joe Kennedy III is on the fence about whether to give up his House seat to primary Sen. Ed Markey in 2020. But some Democrats are banking on him making the move.
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg is the first candidate to emerge in the 4th District since Kennedy announced he may seek higher office. That's in addition to former Wall Street regulator Ihssane Leckey, who has been running to unseat Kennedy all summer.
Goldberg filed a statement of organization to run in the 4th District with the FEC yesterday. The move is no surprise: Goldberg has been reaching out to donors and operatives since early August, even before Kennedy confirmed rumors that he was considering a Senate campaign.
"As we have all heard, there is wide speculation about a potential open seat in the Massachusetts 4th Congressional District," Goldberg spokesperson Samantha Dallaire said in a statement. "Treasurer Goldberg is in a decision-making process on whether to run and speaking to friends, family and advisors. She is taking the necessary steps to set up a campaign committee and account should that race become a reality."
A shadow primary to succeed Kennedy has been playing out for more than a month now. More than a dozen people have signaled their interest in running for Kennedy's House seat if he runs for Senate.The list of would-be candidates is a mix of state lawmakers, activists and Democrats who were scared out of the race by Kennedy when former Congressman Barney Frank retired in 2012, and have been itching to run ever since.
Goldberg's strategy — to file and show fundraising muscle before actually deciding on a run — seems to be a page out of Kennedy's playbook. The Democratic congressman is doing the same thing as he mulls a Senate run.
State Sen. Paul Feeney, who is considering jumping in if Kennedy moves on, told me he's not making any moves yet. "Right now, I will give Congressman Kennedy the space to make his own decision about how he can best serve our Commonwealth and our Country and in due time I will consider the same and make my own decision," Feeney told me in a text.
And while we don't know whether Kennedy will leave his seat, or how large the race to replace him could be, many Democrats expect it could get ugly. Here's how one Boston-based donor put it: "The 4th District is just gonna be a scrum," the donor told me last week. "And I think that's the one which is probably going to create the real divisions."
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, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell celebrate a $24 million dredging grant in New Bedford. Baker visits Raw Seafoods, Inc. in Fall River, and addresses the South Coast Chamber of Commerce in Westport.
Sen. Ed Markey holds a press conference with youth climate activists, including Greta Thunberg, in Washington. Rep. Joe Kennedy III joins business leaders to discuss the economic impact of immigration policy changes in Needham. Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia II , who is under federal investigation, is on the ballot in his city's preliminary election.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attends an East Boston High School celebration, the Clippership Wharf Ribbon Cutting, a Team Ollie Kickoff Event and a TB12 opening event.
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A message from Tobacco Free Kids:
E-cigarettes are hooking a new generation, thanks to massive doses of nicotine and thousands of kid-friendly flavors. This public health emergency threatens decades of progress in lowering youth tobacco use. We must take flavored e-cigarettes off the market, stand up to companies like JUUL, and protect our kids. Learn More.
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NEW—POLITICO's UNITED NATIONS PLAYBOOK: The 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly will jam some of the world's most influential leaders into four blocks in Gotham. POLITICO's man-about-town Ryan Heath will take you inside UNGA—revealing juicy details from the lighter-side of the gathering and insights into the most pressing global issues facing decision-makers today. Sign up for U.N. Playbook.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Baker wants to sell Hynes to help fund South Boston convention center expansion," by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: "Governor Charlie Baker has revived plans to expand the massive Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston, and wants to help pay for it by selling the state-owned Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay. Baker's plan calls for a slimmed down version of an expansion proposal approved by the Legislature in the waning days of the Patrick administration. In fact, if the Hynes is no longer in the mix, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority's total exhibit, meeting room, and ballroom space in the city would actually shrink by about 8 percent under Baker's plan."
- "Healey outlines refusal to settle Purdue Pharma lawsuit," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY says she plans to continue to aggressively pursue litigation against Purdue Pharma, the company that made billions selling prescription painkiller OxyContin, despite the company filing for bankruptcy on Sunday, and its reaching a settlement worth billions with many state and local governments last week. Healey said at a press conference Monday she refuses to take part in what could be a $12 billion settlement over the company's marketing of opioid drugs."
- RELATED: ""That was a bad deal": Gov. Charlie Baker supports AG Maura Healey on Purdue settlement," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday that he thinks Attorney General Maura Healey made the right decision in not joining the settlement with Purdue Pharma. Around 2,000 plaintiffs — states, counties and municipal governments — had sued Purdue Pharma, arguing the company lied about the addictive qualities of its opioid drugs, including OxyContin, as it aggressively marketed them to health care providers. Purdue filed for bankruptcy in New York Sunday night as part of a settlement it reached with 26 state and territory attorneys general, according to figures provided by a committee representing the plaintiffs."
POLITO'S POLITICAL HACKS!
- "Gov. Charlie Baker defends Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito's judicial jobs pipeline," by Mary Markos, Boston Herald: "Gov. Charlie Baker is defending how plum judicial jobs are filled in the state's court system after three clerk-magistrate candidates with ties to Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito each landed a lifetime appointment to the $152,000-plus-a-year posts. "It's so blatant," Governor's Councilor Marilyn Devaney told the Herald of the clerk slots that went to Polito's college roommate, her son's youth football coach and a governor's councilor. The lieutenant governor chairs the Governor's Council — the board that approves those positions."
- "SCANDAL-RELATED LICENSE SUSPENSIONS NOW SURPASS 5,000," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "The number of drivers who saw licenses suspended in the wake of a Registry of Motor Vehicles scandal has doubled over the past month to more than 5,000 in a combination of old and new cases, officials said Monday. Acting Registrar Jamey Tesler told the Department of Transportation's board that 5,260 Massachusetts residents have had their permission to drive revoked since July based on violations committed in other states."
- "MBTA: Weakened steel ring led to June derailment," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "A BRITTLE STEEL AXLE on the front of the third car of a 50-year-old Red Line train snapped on June 11, according to engineers who on Monday disclosed their findings about the cause of the subsequent derailment that has led to months of sub-par service. The reason that axle broke appears to be a unique occurrence in the annals of the MBTA, according to Deputy General Manager Jeff Gonneville, and T staff is determined to keep it that way."
- "Firm Conducting Mass. RMV Audit Gets Extension," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "With lawmakers eyeing a second oversight hearing this fall, the auditing firm hired by the Baker administration to review lapses in oversight of out-of-state driving violations at the Registry of Motor Vehicles has been granted an extension to complete its work. The final report from Grant Thornton was expected to be completed by last Friday, but the administration came to an agreement with the firm on an extension, transportation officials confirmed. No new completion date was provided."
- "Racial data fight putting Massachusetts hands-free driving bill on hold," by Mary Markos and Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: "Beacon Hill's failure to pass a hands-free driving law is "absurd" and could be putting more innocent people at risk as reckless distracted drivers continue to wreak havoc on the roads, loved ones of victims say. "This is such a no-brainer. It's been a no-brainer for the past 13 years," said Foxboro businessman Jerry Cibley, who lost his teenage son in 2007 in a distracted-driving crash. "It's impossible to live with such a loss. You have to force yourself to get up every morning and walk," Cibley said about losing his 18-year-old son, Jordan, who crashed into a tree while on the phone."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "38 patients now believed to have mysterious vaping-related lung illness in Massachusetts," by Naomi Martin, Boston Globe: "The number of patients believed to have a mysterious lung illness related to vaping has increased to 38 in Massachusetts, officials said Monday. At least seven were teenagers who were treated at Boston Children's Hospital, officials said. The statewide count rose from 10 after the state Department of Public Health last week issued an order requiring clinicians to report any possible cases of severe lung disease caused by vaping or use of electronic cigarettes."
- "Out of Town News, a Harvard Square Fixture for 60 Years, Is Closing," by Alyssa Vaughn, Boston Magazine: "It outlasted the World's Only Curious George Store, Tealuxe, John Harvard's, and Crema Cafe. It survived as the Boston Evening Traveller, the Boston Post, the Boston Phoenix, and the Improper Bostonian folded. There were whispers of closures in 2008 and 2016, but still, it stayed. Now, however, it looks Harvard Square's Out of Town News newsstand is really taking its final bow."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "Mulling Run Against Green New Deal Sponsor Ed Markey, Joe Kennedy is Heavily Invested in Fossil Fuels," by Donald Shaw, Sludge: "Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), the grandson of former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, has filed paperwork to challenge Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the Senate's most progressive members and the chief sponsor of the Senate version of the Green New Deal resolution. "I hear the folks who say I should wait my turn, but with due respect—I'm not sure this is a moment for waiting," Kennedy wrote in an August 26 Facebook post. "I don't think our democratic process promises anyone a turn. What it does promise is the chance for anyone to earn it—if we think we have something to offer and are willing to put ourselves and our ideas out there." If Kennedy were to officially enter the race he would instantly be the favorite, with polls showing Kennedy with a massive lead over Markey in a hypothetical run."
- "Goodwill with Democrats nationwide could help Joe Kennedy III in clash with Ed Markey," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: " As the 2018 midterm elections approached, Democratic candidates around the country wanted Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III's help. Looking through a stack of requests for the last weekend of the campaign, Kennedy singled out one from Talley Sergent, a former Senate and State Department aide, running a long-shot bid for Congress in West Virginia against a Republican incumbent. Kennedy's staffers tried to gently persuade him to travel instead to a place where the Democratic candidate was within striking distance. But Kennedy stood firm, arguing that Democrats need to show up everywhere, recalled one campaign aide."
- "Female Legislators Across the Commonwealth Support Ed Markey," by state Rep. Natalie Higgins, BlueMass Group: "In January 2017, hundreds of thousands of us gathered on Boston Common for the Women's March. We were angry, alarmed, and in shock after seeing Donald Trump sworn in as President the day before. But as Ed Markey always says-in Massachusetts, we don't agonize, we organize. So we turned out 175,000 strong that day, ready to fight for women's rights, for LGBTQ+ rights, and for the rights and dignity of all. Ed Markey was there with us then as he's always been: a fierce champion for women, for equality."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Working Families Party Endorses Elizabeth Warren," by Astead W. Herndon, The New York Times: "The Working Families Party, the labor-aligned progressive group whose electoral influence has grown since the 2016 election, has endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts for the Democratic presidential nomination, a boon to her candidacy as she attempts to position herself as the main challenger to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The party endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont during the last presidential cycle."
- "At Her Biggest Rally, Elizabeth Warren Laid Out A Model For Her Own Kind Of Movement," by Ruby Cramer, BuzzFeed News: "When Bernie Sanders came to Washington Square Park in 2016, marijuana smoke filled the air. The rock band Vampire Weekend took the stage and sang a cappella. And actor Tim Robbins recalled coming to this same spot "as a young'un" to protest the Vietnam War. If Sanders' rally for a "political revolution" had echoes of the 1960s, then Elizabeth Warren's gathering here for her own presidential campaign three years later felt like a different kind of movement."
- "Warren, in NYC rally, casts campaign as successor to other women-led movements," by Sally Goldenberg and Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in a speech that drew thousands of supporters to a historic site in Lower Manhattan, on Monday made one of her most explicit appeals to female voters since announcing her bid for the White House. In Washington Square Park, an area etched with the history of women-led political action against corruption and big business, she sought to cast her own campaign as the next iteration of that movement."
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| DATELINE D.C. |
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- "'Get real': Senior Democrats shut down Kavanaugh impeachment push," by Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle, POLITICO: "Senior Democrats are moving quickly to snuff out calls to impeach Brett Kavanaugh, arguing those tactics are unrealistic and politically harmful. Democrats are already wrestling with whether to try to oust President Donald Trump, and leadership sees little room for the party to take on a second divisive impeachment saga barely a year before the presidential election. So the demands by 2020 presidential contenders to remove the Supreme Court justice, on the heels of new reporting about allegations of sexual misconduct, are getting panned."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "Pot use among Mass. high school students fell in the decade before legalization, new report says. Will that trend continue?" by Naomi Martin, Boston Globe: "Fewer Massachusetts high school students used marijuana over the decade before the state's first cannabis stores opened last year, according to a new report. In 2017, about 24 percent of the state's public high school students said they used cannabis in the previous month, down from 28 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, the share of the students reporting heavy cannabis use — at least 20 times per month — also dropped, from 9 percent to 5.6 percent. It's too early to know whether these trends have changed since legalization.
- "Springfield Scrutinizes Proposed Agreement With Marijuana Company," by Anna Kusmer, WGBH News: "City councilors in Springfield are asking why a local marijuana company, which aims to do retail business in the city, is planning to spend $200,000 over a five-year period on a school environmental program and improvements to a local city park. The scrutiny over the mayor's office's negotiations with the marijuana company comes as more cities and town across the commonwealth are being accused of taking advantage of cannabis companies looking to set up shop."
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| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Chicopee Municipal Elections Rumble to Life...Will Voters?" by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: "While turnout in the 413's second city has generally beat its bigger neighbor to the south, Chicopee's elections have struggled in the excitement department. At-large races have gone by without opposition. Minimal turnover in many seats have fed complaints that City Hall has become sclerotic and unrepresentative. That could change this year."
- "MGM Springfield's gaming revenue was $144M below projections in casino's first year, new figures from Massachusetts Gaming Commission show," by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: "MGM Springfield's gambling revenue was up 2.7% in August compared to July, but figures released Monday by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission show the casino continues to fall well short of projections. Since its opening in late August 2018, MGM Springfield has brought in less than two thirds of the $418 million in gross gaming revenue MGM executives told the state the casino would bring in during its first year. The casino's gross gaming revenue was $273.8 million from its opening on Aug. 24, 2018 through the end of August 2019."
TRANSITIONS - Allison Blanck joins the Animal Rescue League of Boston as director of advocacy.
WEEKEND WEDDING - TJ Tatum, a VP for public affairs at Sard Verbinnen, married Kathleen Iannone, an associate at the New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, at Our Lady of the Cape church in Brewster, Mass. The ceremony was followed by cocktails, dinner and dancing at the Wychmere Beach Club in Harwich Port, Mass. The couple met in their senior year at Boston College. Pic ... SPOTTED: Chris Hodgson, Bart Reising, Tyler Daniel, Megan Becker, Lynnel Ruckert, Alex Dease, Geoff Green, Andy Duberstein, Chris Bond and Chance McNeely.
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: Is Fare Fair? On this week's Horse Race podcast, Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith talk about new polling in the potential primary match-up between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III. MassINC Research Director Ben Forman talks about a new fare equity study in Massachusetts, and state Sen. Becca Rausch explains her "Community Immunity Act." Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Steve Kerrigan, president and co-founder of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund; and National Treasure truther JJ Klein.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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A message from Tobacco Free Kids:
There's a public health crisis spreading across the country - and it's small enough to fit in your kid's pocket.
E-cigarettes are hooking a new generation, thanks to Big Tobacco tricks like slick marketing, massive doses of nicotine, and thousands of kid-friendly flavors. Now, 5 million kids - including 1 in 4 high schoolers - use e-cigarettes. This growing public health emergency threatens decades of progress in lowering youth tobacco use. And it's getting worse.
We're building a nationwide movement to confront this crisis with the bold action our kids deserve. We must take flavored e-cigarettes off the market, stand up to companies like JUUL, and stop this escalating epidemic before it's too late. Learn More. |
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The politics of climate change are frozen in Washington. But beyond the Beltway, action on climate is heating up faster than ever. How are mayors and executives tackling climate change? Tune into POLITICO's "Global Translations" podcast to hear from Mike Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York City and Ed Skyler, the Executive Vice President for Global Public Affairs at Citi, in a special branded episode by Citi. Subscribe and listen now: Apple Podcasts - Spotify - Stitcher |
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