| | | | |  | | By Lisa Kashinsky | SPLIT DECISION — It's not often you find Elizabeth Warren and Ayanna Pressley on opposite sides of an issue. But the Democratic primary for attorney general, perhaps the marquee race of a sleepy but intensifying election cycle here, is pitting the state's most prominent progressives against each other. Warren, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and former Acting Mayor Kim Janey endorsed Shannon Liss-Riordan on Friday following polls that showed the labor attorney closing the gap with Andrea Campbell after pouring at least $3 million of her own money into her campaign to fund $4.5 million in ads. That puts the trio in conflict with Pressley, Sen. Ed Markey and Attorney General Maura Healey, who are among the bevy of progressive electeds and federal delegation members backing Campbell in the race to succeed Healey, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor. "I've been attorney general for eight years. I've worked in that office for 15. ... I know what an AG needs to do and be able to provide, and that's why I'm with Andrea Campbell," Healey told reporters after rallying with Campbell and Pressley outside an early voting location on Saturday.
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Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley (right) speaks during an early voting rally with attorney general candidate Andrea Campbell (left) and Attorney General Maura Healey (center) on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, in Boston. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO | It makes sense that Wu and Janey would endorse Campbell's main rival — this time last year, the former Boston City Council colleagues were throwing elbows in the Boston mayoral race. But Warren's backing of Liss-Riordan — and her break with some of her biggest Massachusetts allies — is more surprising. The senator shed some light on her decision while campaigning with her new endorsee on Saturday, sharing how she's partnered with and sought advice from Liss-Riordan in taking on the big corporations both women have long railed against. There could be other factors at play: Campbell backed one of Warren's 2020 presidential rivals, now-Vice President Kamala Harris. Liss-Riordan and her husband, Kevin, each donated $5,400 to Warren's political committee in 2017. Liss-Riordan has also donated thousands of dollars to Warren's presidential and Senate campaigns. Warren's endorsement is also an apparent contradiction of her past values. As a presidential candidate, Warren released 10 years of her federal tax returns and called on her rivals to do the same. But Liss-Riordan has refused calls from Campbell and requests from reporters to release her 2021 filing. "I understand that she has done financial disclosures to the state and that the campaigns are in a fairly heated debate about tax returns, about contributions and about super PACs. I'll let the campaigns work that out," Warren told reporters.
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From left: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey, attorney general candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara at a press conference for Liss-Riordan on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022 in Boston. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO | That super PAC ire, directed at Campbell and outside groups supporting her, has come largely from Quentin Palfrey. The former assistant attorney general and 2018 Democratic lieutenant governor nominee won the state party's endorsement for attorney general in June and has the backing of key progressive groups. But recent polling shows Palfrey struggling to gain traction beyond party activists in what's increasingly looking like a two-woman race. "We've been counted out every step of the way here," a Palfrey campaign spokesperson told Playbook on Sunday. "This race is far from over." GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. One of Ricardo Arroyo's most prominent endorsers is sticking with him following a Boston Globe report that Arroyo was investigated — but not charged — for possible sexual assaults as a teenager. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told Playbook that "in light of the news coverage that's unfolded, I am not withdrawing my endorsement" of the now-34-year-old Boston city councilor running for Suffolk district attorney. "As documented in the news, these cases were closed after investigation by the Boston Police Department and the DA's office," she added. Arroyo's supporters have been peppered with questions about whether they would rescind their endorsements since the Globe published its initial story last Tuesday. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Iron Workers Local 7 and Boston City Council President Ed Flynn quickly withdrew their support. Others, like Pressley, Warren and Markey, have declined to weigh in. One group, Right to the City VOTE!, announced on Friday that it was endorsing Arroyo. Wu initially said she was "troubled" by the allegations against Arroyo but would wait to "see how this story evolves." Questions remain over where the police and school records referenced in the Globe story came from and how the Wu administration will respond to City Councilor Frank Baker's request for documents related to the alleged incidents. Wu said city systems, which cover BPD but not the county DA's office, show the files in these cases haven't been accessed "in recent years." And she said the city will review Baker's order should it pass the council. TODAY — is the deadline to apply for a mail-ballot application. Gov. Charlie Baker plants flags on the Boston Common for Overdose Awareness Day at 9 a.m. Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito visit a redevelopment project in Springfield at 12:30 p.m., highlight infrastructure programs at 1:45 p.m. on the West Springfield Town Common and announce Greening the Gateway Cities funding at 3:15 p.m. at Holyoke State Park. Flynn is Boston's acting mayor while Wu vacations with family. Tips? Scoops? What are you watching before next week's primary? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — "Galvin starts collecting diversity data on staff – and numbers are high," by Colman M. Herman, CommonWealth Magazine: "[Secretary of State Bill] Galvin spokeswoman Debra O'Malley said in an email that 186 of the office's 266 employees responded to the survey. Of the 186 responders, 64, or 34 percent, are minorities. The breakdown is 16 percent Black, 11 percent Asian, 5 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Native American, and 1 percent Pacific Islander. The secretary of state's office is relatively small, but on a percentage basis the office's overall minority number compares favorably to the state's overall population, which is 29 percent minority, according to calculations by the UMass Donahue Institute."
| | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: As drama engulfs the Suffolk district attorney race, state Rep. Dan Ryan is endorsing DA Kevin Hayden for a full term, citing his "demonstrated track record of delivering results backed up by years of experience," in a statement. — Related: "Race for Suffolk DA boils over, campaigns exchange accusations," by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: "Interim Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden took fresh aim at his primary election rival, demanding city councilor Ricardo Arroyo answer questions related to an alleged undisclosed past sexual-assault investigation leaked last week. 'Voters deserve to know why Ricardo Arroyo contacted a victim mere hours after claiming to know nothing about the allegations or the women who made them,' a campaign spokesperson for Hayden said in a Sunday release. … Arroyo claims the documents from which the allegations spring were leaked by Hayden's office in an attempt by Hayden or someone working on his behalf to help him win the September primary." — FROM THE OPINION PAGES: The Boston Globe and Springfield Republican editorial boards are urging GOP primary voters to cast their ballots for Chris Doughty for governor over Geoff Diehl. Diehl previously made a show of declining an offer to meet with the Globe's editorial board. — The Republican's editorial board also endorsed Maura Healey, who's running unopposed in the Democratic primary for governor, and state Sen. Eric Lesser for lieutenant governor. — The Globe's editorial board endorsed state Rep. Liz Miranda in the crowded Democratic primary for Second Suffolk state senator. — WATCH: Republican gubernatorial rivals Doughty and Diehl give separate interviews on WBZ's "Keller @ Large" after host Jon Keller said Diehl declined to appear with Doughty for a "mini-debate." — "With clear path in Democratic primary, Healey takes on another role: Helping allies survive theirs," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Attorney General Maura Healey doesn't have an active Democratic primary. That has left her time to get involved in 17 others. The presumptive nominee for governor, Healey in recent weeks has propped up allies in a slew of Democratic races for legislative and law enforcement seats, extending her endorsement, volunteers, and time to those who could help buttress her agenda should she — and they — prevail in November. … The candidates share little, if any, ideological thread, and some appear to reflect a measure of political loyalty, something Healey has hewed to during her rise through the party." — "For much of her life, Tanisha Sullivan has been pushed. Now more than ever, she's pushing back," by Ivy Scott, Boston Globe: "When Tanisha Sullivan launched her campaign to be president of Boston's NAACP chapter in early 2016, she never expected the political chaos that would surround her less than a year later, when Donald Trump's ascension to the White House outraged civil rights advocates and spurred them to action. Sullivan was among them. The 48-year-old Hyde Park resident said she was raised a fighter, never one to back down from a challenge — or more importantly, a call to serve. That tenacity has proved to be instrumental, she said, in her bid for secretary of state." — "Will Secretary of State Bill Galvin outlast us all?" by Mark Shanahan, Boston Globe: "If reelected this fall to an eighth four-year term, [Bill] Galvin, who grew up in Brighton and attended Boston College and Suffolk University Law School, will become the longest-serving secretary of state in the history of the Commonwealth, an impressive achievement for someone with a reputation for being a grump and a track record of alienating people in both parties, an assessment Galvin, by and large, does not dispute. Progressive Democrats, including [rival Tanisha] Sullivan, say Galvin is the standard bearer of the status quo, resistant to meaningful voter reforms, while Republicans and others view him as a partisan who runs the secretary of state's office as his personal fiefdom, meting out grants to campaign contributors or gumming up the gears of bureaucracy to halt projects he opposes. Neither is true, says Galvin, whose appeal to voters typically emphasizes his experience and independence." — "For decades, Mass. attorneys general have tried to expand the state's wiretap law. The next top cop might not follow suit," by Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe: "Labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan said she shares the profound worries of civil libertarians that an expansion of the law could lead to unintended consequences and an infringement on privacy protections. … Former Boston city councilor Andrea Campbell declined to even comment on the issue, with a spokeswoman refusing to answer questions about the candidate's stance. But Quentin Palfrey, who worked in the attorney general's office under Martha Coakley, said it makes sense to update the law because the way people communicate has 'changed dramatically' since it was written."
| | FROM THE HUB | | — "Parent satisfaction with Boston schools is falling, new poll shows," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: "The poll, the fourth in a series of surveys conducted over the last year by the MassINC Polling Group for the Shah Family Foundation, found that the share of parents who said they were 'very satisfied' with the Boston schools fell from 41 percent in August 2021 to 29 percent this month. Meanwhile, the share of parents who were somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with schools doubled over the period, from 13 percent to 26 percent."
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — "More diversions possible, MBTA chief says as Orange Line work progresses," by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: "The MBTA will look at where else in the system a 'diversion' would be appropriate to tackle long-delayed track and system repair, General Manager Steve Poftak said Sunday while touring the shuttered Orange Line with the governor. … According to data presented to the governor, the MBTA is about 37% done with the Orange Line work." — More: Rep. Jake Auchincloss isn't joining fellow House Transportation Committee member Rep. Stephen Lynch in calling for federal receivership of the MBTA. "I'm holding off because as a [former] local official I always want to pay deference to mayors and governors. In general, they are closest to the problem and they can be closest to the solution," Auchincloss said on WCVB's "On the Record" on Sunday. — And more: "MBTA federal oversight draws parallels to Washington DC Metro system," by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: "Given the beleaguered state of the MBTA, many in the region are hanging their hopes for a fix on the feds' final safety management inspection report. But those who have done this dance before in Washington say federal involvement did not vastly improve that transit system."
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | DAY IN COURT | | — "Moderna accuses Pfizer of copying patented technology behind Covid-19 vaccine in new lawsuit," by Rowan Walrath, Boston Business Journal: "The Cambridge company (Nasdaq: MRNA) alleged in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Friday that Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech's vaccine, Comirnaty, violates three patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016." — "Council President Pam Laliberte-Lebeau charged with harassing former lover and his wife," by Jo C. Goode, Herald News: "Charges were filed on Thursday against City Council President Pam Laliberte-Lebeau in Fall River District Court for alleged harassing telephone calls to the wife of a former paramour and witness intimidation, according to Fall River District Court records." — "Family of Colleen Ritzer and DiNisco Design reach agreement," by Teddy Tauscher, Eagle-Tribune: "The family of Colleen Ritzer and DiNisco Design have reached an agreement on a civil suit brought against DiNisco by the Ritzers. The lawsuit followed the rape and murder of Colleen Ritzer, who was killed by one of her students in 2013. The architectural firm designed the wing of the school where Ritzer was killed."
| | WARREN REPORT | | — "Warren 'very worried' the Fed will cause a recession," by Olivia Olander, POLITICO: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren expressed clear concern Sunday about the Federal Reserve's push to counter inflation on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'What's worse than high prices and a strong economy is high prices and millions of people out of work,' Warren said to host Dana Bash. 'I'm very worried that the Fed is going to tip the economy into recession.'"
| | FROM THE 413 | | — "Jake Oliveira, Sydney Levin-Epstein contest Democratic primary in Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester Senate District," by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: "Political and congressional staffer Sydney Levin-Epstein, of Longmeadow, and current state Rep. Jacob R. 'Jake' Oliveira, of Ludlow, are running in the Democratic primary for the state Senate seat being vacated by four-term incumbent Eric P. Lesser. … Levin-Epstein, 27, says she is focused on jobs creation. … Oliveira, 36, was first elected to the House in 2020, succeeding the retiring Thomas M. Petrolati. He emphasizes his experience as a precinct member of Ludlow Town Meeting starting at age of 18 followed by 12 years on the Ludlow School Committee, during which he was elected president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees."
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — "How a Mass. law intended to protect victims became a 'gift to abusers'," by Ally Jarmanning, WBUR: "A WBUR investigation found that this state's uniquely broad privacy law, intended to protect the privacy and safety of victims of domestic and sexual violence, has instead protected perpetrators and police. The Massachusetts law requires police to keep all reports and arrests related to sexual and domestic violence secret, something no other state does. In fact, 16 police departments turned down WBUR's request for records detailing their actions leading up to domestic murders, all citing the same statute. It has also harmed victims by making it difficult — even impossible — to obtain records they need for custody battles and restraining orders." — "Congressional candidate jumps into police altercation," by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald: "Republican congressional candidate Robert Burke was out running a delivery for Doordash when he saw a woman in a violent altercation with a police officer and a man edging closer to the fight." — "Donna Colorio could be Worcester mayor with a Senator Petty; PAC calls her 'radical'," by Marco Cartolano, Telegram & Gazette: "At-Large City Councilor Donna M. Colorio's potential ascendancy to the office of mayor if Mayor Joseph M. Petty is elected to the state Senate and questions about her views on LGBTQ issues and education were the topic of a mailer sent to Worcester residents."
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE | | — "'Free Staters' roil New Hampshire politics in ski area spat," by Holly Ramer, The Associated Press: "As a former ski resort executive, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu knows something about navigating slippery slopes. But recent controversy at a county-owned ski area has raised questions about his grip on the Republican Party heading into the November elections."
| | HEARD 'ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | ENGAGED — POLITICO alum and former Massachusetts Playbook author Stephanie Murray is engaged to Eric Farmer . Murray, now a senior reporter at The Block, and Farmer, an account executive at Meltwater, met in high school when Farmer, a Montreal native, stayed with a family in Murray's hometown one summer to play hockey. The couple is on vacation in southern California, where Farmer drove them to Malibu in a vintage convertible and proposed on the beach at sunset. Pic … Another pic TRANSITIONS — President Joe Biden has appointed David Jeffrey Holway, national president of NAGE and a Massachusetts native, to the Federal Salary Council. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Kelly Smith, Michael Segal and Ben Martello. Happy belated to state Rep. Christine Barber, who celebrated Sunday, and to Jaime Watson of state Sen. Becca Rausch's office, who celebrated Saturday. 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. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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