| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity and Lisa Kashinsky | CHALLENGE NOT YET ACCEPTED — Election Year is here, but still no high-profile Republican has emerged to challenge Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Republicans notched a key victory last November, flipping a state Senate seat that had been in Democratic hands for decades. Soon after, Democratic legislative leaders’ delay in coming to a consensus on a multibillion-dollar spending plan left Republicans with unusual — if short-lived — legislative power. But so far, that momentum hasn’t persuaded any of the prominent Republicans whose names have been floated as potential Warren challengers to jump in the race. “We’re still talking to prospective candidates,” MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale told Playbook. The state party is talking to two potential candidates (Carnevale declined to say who.). However, an announcement isn’t likely to come “imminently,” she said. Mike Kennealy, who served as housing and economic development secretary under Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and is now the MassGOP’s finance chair, has been approached about running, according to two people familiar with the conversations. But he hasn’t publicly expressed interest in the seat. The reasons Republicans have opted out this cycle vary. “For some it’s personal, it just wasn’t the right time,” Carnevale said. “Others have pointed out that it is a presidential election year, which tends to be more difficult for Republicans to run in in Massachusetts.” Exacerbating that challenge is the likelihood that former President Donald Trump, who has lost two general elections in Massachusetts by wide margins, is almost certain to top the GOP ticket come November — something Carnevale said hasn’t been a defining question, but is “certainly a factor” that’s come up in conversations with potential candidates. Plus there's the fact that Warren is a formidable Democratic incumbent with a nearly $3.7 million war chest, according to her most recent campaign finance filings. She handily defeated then-Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl in 2018, earning 61 percent of the vote to Diehl’s 36 percent. Still, a couple of virtual unknowns have made moves to take on Warren. There's perennial candidate Shiva Ayyadurai. Bob Antonellis, a Republican who wants to “end The Satanic Takeover,” according to his website, filed to run last year, though the latest available FEC reports show his campaign running in the red. Socialist and Whitman planning board member Brandon Griffin announced plans in September to run for Warren’s seat. GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Thinking of running for the Senate? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com. TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey headlines an organizing call for the New Hampshire write-in Joe Biden campaign at 7 p.m. Rep. Ayanna Pressley celebrates federal funding for Clarendon Hill at 10:30 a.m. at Tufts. Auditor Diana DiZoglio attends inauguration ceremonies in Gardner at 6:30 p.m.
|  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | SHELTER MONEY WARNING SIGNS — The Senate’s top budget writer was hesitant to endorse Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to use $700 million stashed in the state’s transitional escrow fund to cover the costs associated with the emergency shelter system. "We protect our reserve funds — whether its transitional escrow or the state fund — you know, we worked very hard. We've been very responsible for building up this reserve fund, and we're going to think long and hard about how we expend any of those reserve funds," Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues told reporters Wednesday. Rodrigues said he was “not surprised” by reports from the Healey administration that show the state will need another roughly $224 million to cover shelter costs this fiscal year and could spend $915 million on the emergency assistance program in the next one. Healey plans to file a supplemental budget early this year, which is something “we’ll take a look at,” Rodrigues said. COMING SOON — Senate Democrats privately huddled for hours Wednesday ahead of today’s votes on three bills that seek to improve interactions between police and people with autism, tighten wheelchair warranty protections and legalize the use of fentanyl test strips. A large portion of the afternoon was spent discussing guns and featured briefings from members of Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office and the Executive Office of Public Safety, Majority Leader Cindy Creem told reporters, as the Senate prepares to release its gun reform bill by the end of the month. RODRIGUES WATCH — Rodrigues is running for reelection this year, he told reporters Wednesday. Will he serve as Ways and Means chair again if Senate President Karen Spilka taps him again to head the powerful committee? “Why not,” he said. — "MA state employee overtime in ‘fantasy world,’ $100K earners up 25 percent," by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: "The ink is now dry on 2023, and the number of six-figure overtime earners in state government soared 25.4 percent in Gov. Maura Healey’s first year, a Herald payroll analysis shows." — “Slew of farm bills advancing on Beacon Hill,” by Scott Merzbach, Greenfield Recorder: “A permanent disaster relief fund to assist farmers devastated by acts of nature, and providing farmers more flexibility for using their properties once they are protected in the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program, are among the bills the state Legislature is moving forward.”
| | BALLOT BATTLES | | MOVING ON — Ballot questions that would replace MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, legalize psychedelics, set a minimum wage for tipped workers with tips on top and let ride-hailing drivers unionize are onto the Legislature after getting enough signatures certified by the secretary of state's office. So is one that would let Auditor Diana DiZoglio probe the Legislature, as we wrote Wednesday. But the Boston Herald reports the MCAS initiative received a "lukewarm reception" from House Speaker Ron Mariano, who said he's never been "a big MCAS reformer." Meanwhile, two of the five versions of a question that would keep app-based drivers as independent contractors have also advanced to lawmakers, who have roughly four months to act on the petitions. The other three are expected to be sent over later this month, the secretary of state's office said. GO DEEPER — “A half-dozen ballot measures affecting Uber and Lyft drivers cleared a hurdle for the November ballot. It’s as complicated as it sounds,” by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe.
| | MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | | — “Migrant families begin to arrive in Lowell,” by Melanie Gilbert, The Lowell Sun: “After months of angst and anticipation, the families fleeing unrest and violence in their home countries started arriving at UMass Lowell’s Inn & Conference Center in Downtown Lowell on Wednesday. A Tuesday email sent to the state delegation from Secretary Ed Augustus’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which is working to address overflow capacity needs, noted, ‘The first families are scheduled to be placed into shelter tomorrow, 1/3/23.’”
| | FROM HARVARD YARD | | HARVARD’S NEXT PRESIDENT? — A day after Harvard President Claudine Gay announced her resignation, speculation swirled about who would replace her. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, perhaps? Or maybe Harvard professor (and former gubernatorial candidate) Danielle Allen? Allen didn’t completely close the door to the possibility. But she called on those tossing her name in the hat to “take a breath.” “Look, friends, I appreciate the kind words out there- & don't mind the not so kind ones,” Allen wrote on X Wednesday. “But let's all just take a breath. My heart just hurts for Claudine right now. We've all been [through] a big, no good thing. We faculty members have lots of work to do. That's my only focus.” MEANWHILE — Gay defended her academic record and offered a few “words of warning” in a New York Times op-ed published last night, calling the conservative activist-led campaign to oust her “merely a single skirmish in a broader war to unravel public faith in pillars of American society.” AND — “Mayor Michelle Wu defends Claudine Gay in interview, points to ‘racial bias’,” by Jeremy C. Fox, The Boston Globe. — “Nikki Haley says she would go after tax-exempt status for universities, in reference to Harvard,” by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe.
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Up to half of Boston Public School buildings could close, according to new district plan,” by Deanna Pan and Christopher Huffaker, The Boston Globe: “As many as half of Boston’s public schools could close in the coming years, as the district reckons with problems of declining enrollment, crumbling infrastructure, and rife inequities in student offerings, particularly at the high school level, according to a new plan released Wednesday by the city.” AI MEETS BOSPOLI — The first AI-generated transcripts from Boston Policy Institute are live, the organization announced Wednesday. The think tank, which launched last month, will create transcripts of Boston City Council meetings and hearings with help from Legislata.
| | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | — “Vineyard Wind, country’s first large-scale offshore wind project, is producing clean electricity,” by Miriam Wasser, WBUR: “Electricity from the country’s first large-scale offshore wind project is officially flowing into Massachusetts and helping to power the New England grid. The Vineyard Wind project achieved ‘first power’ late Tuesday when one operating turbine near Martha’s Vineyard delivered approximately five megawatts of electricity to the grid. The company said it expects to have five turbines operating at full capacity in early 2024.”
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “Gov. Healey talks migrants, North Adams storm aid, and minimum wage in Pittsfield,” by Josh Landes, WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Convicted former mayor Jasiel Correia moved to 5th federal facility. Where he is now,” by Jo C. Goode, Herald News: “[A]s of Jan. 3, Correia, the city’s ex-mayor and self-described entrepreneur, has now been moved to the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta (USP Atlanta), a low-security U.S. federal prison for 1,800 male inmates, according to the online Bureau of Prisons inmate tracker.” — “[Newburyport] officials receive antisemitic postcards,” by Jim Sullivan, Daily News of Newburyport: “The troubling correspondence, postmarked from California, accused the Anti-Defamation League of being ‘an anti-white Zionist hate group.’ It also claimed the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust never happened. Making the postcards all the more unsettling was the fact that they were mailed to councilor homes as opposed to City Hall.” — “New Bedford City Councilor Shane Burgo to continue rent stabilization fight in 2024,” by Frank Mulligan, The Standard Times.
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE | | HALEY TAKES ON TRUMP — Nikki Haley is finally ratcheting up her attacks on former President Donald Trump — over her record on the gas tax, of all things. But for some Granite Staters who want to vote for the former South Carolina governor in less than three weeks’ time, it’s still not enough, Lisa reports. — “N.H. bill targets undocumented immigrants driving with legal Mass. licenses,” by Molly Farrar, Boston.com: “Legislators in New Hampshire are looking to criminalize undocumented immigrants driving with legal out-of-state licenses, countering Massachusetts’s recent efforts to increase access to driver’s licenses for undocumented residents. … Drivers would be punished with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a fine or probation.”
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Former Springfield City Council President Jesse Lederman is now western Massachusetts regional director for Sen. Ed Markey, based out of the Springfield office. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Shawnee Tannenbaum; Chris Huntley, VP of strategic comms at Blue State and a former Warren speechwriter; and Emily Polston of Boston City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune’s office. 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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