| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity | | Presented by |  | | | CASHING IN — Money isn’t everything, but how much candidates have stashed in their campaign accounts can give a glimpse into where things stand in state legislative and district races that are otherwise hard to get a good read on. Primary elections are less than a month from today, and while most incumbents won’t face opponents this fall, there are a handful of primaries that could get interesting. Here’s what the latest campaign finance reports show about the state of play in some of them: BOSTON’S PROXY BATTLE: The race for a little-known court position has split the city’s politicians along its usual dividing lines (traditional Boston politicians vs. new, more progressive leaders), as long-time attorney Allison Cartwright and Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy face off in the Democratic primary for Suffolk County Supreme Judicial Court clerk. Murphy, who started the race in March with $16,225 in her account after her successful council reelection bid last year, still holds the cash advantage with $49,531 on hand. But Cartwright is closing in. She has $43,924 in the bank and posted her biggest haul yet ($28,084) last month. NEWTON COUNCILORS COMPETE: In the three-way contest between one former and two current Newton city councilors vying to replace outgoing state Rep. Ruth Balser, Councilor Rick Lipof has the most money available, with $35,169. Councilor Bill Humphrey is slightly behind Lipof, with $28,468 on hand, while former City Councilor Greg Schwartz has $14,785 banked (Unlike his competitors who currently hold office, Schwartz had to reopen his campaign account in February after dissolving it in 2023). GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL REMATCH: This race is probably one of the few reasons you’ve heard of the Governor’s Council, a relatively obscure eight-member body tasked with interviewing and approving the governor’s judicial nominees. Mara Dolan, a public defender and former legislative aide, is again attempting to unseat District 3 Governor’s Councilor Marilyn Devaney after coming just shy of victory in 2022. With $59,781 on hand at the end of last month, Dolan has a serious lead over Devaney, who reported just $627 in her campaign account. These receipts matter for more than just showing the power of incumbency — or simply already holding elected office — heading into a crucial contest. More money in the bank means more money available to spend on mailers, advertising and campaign lit at a critical juncture. Winning the money race doesn’t always translate to winning the election — but it sure can help make it more likely. GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The economic development bill isn’t dead yet. After Gov. Maura Healey ramped up the public pressure on legislative leaders Friday, both Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano said they would be willing to call a special session to pass the bill, including bond authorizations. "The economic development bond money and legislation are extremely important to Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement Friday afternoon, calling the bill “absolutely essential for economic growth and development,” and imploring both chambers to get back to work on passing it as soon as possible. “The people of Massachusetts deserve it and are counting on us,” she added. Not long after, Spilka was out with her own statement: “The Senate is ready to return to work and pass this critical economic development bond authorization — and we are prepared to call a special formal session to get it done.” Mariano quickly followed — agreeing to a special session, though seemingly with a caveat. The House he said is “prepared to return for a special session” when both chambers reach an agreement on a bill that “fully invests in the life sciences sector and that makes the additional, critical investments [that] we have consistently pursued.” When that session could happen is still unclear, after the marathon Wednesday night/Thursday session left lawmakers on both sides of the table dismayed. But as state Sen. Lydia Edwards said on WCVB’s “On the Record” Sunday, “it ain’t over til it’s over.” TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have no public events. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at the opening of McGann Park at 11 a.m. in Hyde park and joins the Boston Police Department for “National Night Out” starting at 3:15 p.m. in Brighton. Attorney General Andrea Campbell joins the National Black Prosecutors Association Annual Conference’s Chief Prosecutors Roundtable at 11 a.m. in Boston and joins youth from the city’s Courageous Sailing program for a boat ride at 2 p.m. in Charlestown. Sen. Ed Markey attends a groundbreaking for Navigator Homes at 12:15 p.m. in Edgartown. Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Email me: kgarrity@politico.com
| | | | A message from Uber: Massachusetts Uber and Lyft drivers will now earn at least $32.50 while working on the app, making them some of the highest paid drivers in the country. This new rate sets a high standard for driver pay across the nation. Go deeper. | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — “‘A literal transfer of cash’: How widespread leadership stipends stifle dissent in the Massachusetts Legislature,” by Emma Platoff and Laura Crimaldi, The Boston Globe. — “Massachusetts tenants may now get the chance to wipe their eviction records,” by Alexi Cohan, GBH News: “Tenants in Massachusetts who struggle to find housing due to a prior eviction may now get the chance to have those records sealed. The Legislature’s newly passed housing bond bill includes a provision that would allow tenants to petition a court to seal their eviction record in cases such as a no-fault eviction, a dismissed case, or a case the tenant won.” — “Healey’s dilemma: How to help Steward hospitals without helping Steward,” by Robert Weisman, The Boston Globe: “The bankruptcy of Steward Health Care presents Governor Maura Healey’s administration with a dilemma: How to rescue a half-dozen cash-starved hospitals, which serve low-income patients across Eastern Massachusetts, without aiding executives who enriched themselves while presiding over the health system’s collapse. That dilemma will hang over a Tuesday hearing on a plan for Massachusetts to advance $30 million in interim funding until the hospitals are sold. The funds are conditioned on Steward finalizing the sales of the hospitals before it runs out of money and shuts them down.” RELATED — “Steward to lay off nearly 1,250 workers as it closes two hospitals in Mass.,” by Laura Crimaldi, The Boston Globe: “Steward Health Care has notified the state that nearly 1,250 workers will lose their jobs as the bankrupt company moves to close acute care hospitals in Dorchester and Ayer by the end of the month. The notices said 753 workers at Carney Hospital and 490 workers at Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be out of work.”
| | | | During unprecedented times, POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy. Live briefings, policy trackers, and and people intelligence secures your seat at the table. Learn more. | | | | | | | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — 1199SEIU is rolling out a slate of endorsements for five candidates running in open seat primaries next month. The labor union is backing Leigh Davis in the Third Berkshire District, Arielle Faria for the Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket District seat, Bill Humphrey in the 12th Middlesex District, Bridget Plouffe in the Ninth Plymouth District and one candidate for state Senate: Barry Sanders, who is running for the Third Bristol and Plymouth District seat. — The American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts is endorsing Milton Select Board member Erin Bradley in her campaign for the open state Senate seat in the Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol District. MELROSE FOR HARRIS — A group of Melrose pols is putting on their own Harris Victory Fund fundraiser later this month. The event, featuring Melrose Mayor Jen Grigoraitis, state Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian and former Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur, among others, is as much about raising awareness as it is about raising money, Brodeur told Playbook. WELD WATCH — Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is among the Republicans boosting Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign through the “Republicans for Harris” program the campaign launched Sunday. “Donald Trump belongs nowhere near the White House. With democracy hanging in the balance in this election, I’m standing with Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump and his attacks on our democratic institutions,” Weld, who took Trump on in the primary in 2020, said in a statement.
| | | MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | | | — “57 migrant families at overflow shelters given eviction notices, must leave by Friday,” by Helena Getahun-Hawkins, Beatriz Cabral Leite, Nick Stoico and Mike Damiano, The Boston Globe: “Massachusetts overflow shelters informed 57 migrant families on Thursday that they had to leave their shelters by Aug. 9, according to a spokesperson for Governor Maura Healey. The first round of verbal and written notices were given to families who had stayed in the shelters the longest, said Karissa Hand, the spokesperson. Some of these families were reticketed, meaning the Healey administration provided them with a plane or bus ticket to travel within or outside Massachusetts to a location where they might have a place to stay.” — “New Bedford migrant family mourns death of niece trying to cross border,” by Gerardo Beltran Salinas, The New Bedford Light.
| | | | A message from Uber:   | | | | | FROM THE HUB | | — “Wu warns she'll block attempts to re-develop Carney property for anything other than 'health care',” by Bill Forry, The Dorchester Reporter: “Mayor Wu has put Carney Hospital’s landlord on notice: She wants the hospital site to continue to be used for health care and plans to block any attempt to ‘capitalize on the closure of Carney Hospital by redeveloping the property.’ In a letter sent on Thursday, Wu warned Edward Aldag, the chairman and CEO of Medical Properties Trust (MPT)— the company that owns the Carney campus on Dorchester Avenue— that she’ll make sure city planning boards shoot down any future efforts to demolish the hospital buildings and replace it with housing or any other re-use.” — “Providence bishop set to succeed O’Malley in Boston,” by Ted Nesi, WRPI: “Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Richard Henning is set to be named the new archbishop of Boston, less than two years after he arrived in Rhode Island, 12 News has learned. … Rocco Palmo, a well-sourced Vatican expert, reported on social media that the announcement will take place in Boston on Monday. Henning, 59, will replace Cardinal Sean O’Malley, one of the most prominent prelates in the United States and a close ally of Pope Francis. O’Malley, 80, at one time served as bishop of Fall River, where he dealt with the fallout from the sex abuse crisis.
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “The Sumner Tunnel is set to reopen, with more weekend closures on tap through fall,” by Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez, WBUR.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | — “Mass. Sen. Markey talks protecting kids online, Steward mess, veepstakes, more,” by John L. Micek, MassLive.
| | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | — “The state is chopping 275 acres of forest and using herbicide near a drinking water source in Mount Washington. The town is pushing back,” by Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle.
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “A Tale of Two Cantons: Residents weigh what it will take to bring the town back together,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald. — “A judge said this state trooper broke the law. Why does he still have the same job?,” by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: “An undercover state trooper — who a judge last month said had recorded drug investigations illegally and given unreliable testimony under oath — remains in his regular job, state police said Wednesday at a hearing in which dozens of cases tied to the recordings were dropped. Trooper Paul Dunderdale is ‘being utilized by other DA’s offices, the Attorney General’s office, the United States Attorney’s office, and other entities across New England’ in undercover capacity, Siobhan Kelly, deputy chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts State Police, told Fitchburg District Court First Justice Christopher P. LoConto.”
| | | | A message from Uber: Massachusetts Uber and Lyft drivers will soon receive comprehensive benefits alongside their new pay rate. Benefits include health insurance stipends for those working over 15 hours a week, paid sick leave, and occupational accident insurance. These enhancements provide vital support and security for drivers, ensuring they have access to essential healthcare and financial protection. These new benefits mark a significant improvement in the quality of life for rideshare drivers.
Go deeper. | | | | | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Chelsie Ouellette, a longtime political strategist and Deval Patrick and Ed Markey alum, is now a senior adviser for organizing with Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former ambassador, MA-03 candidate and Biden-Harris 2024 finance chair Rufus Gifford, Christina Pacheco, POLITICO's Matt Berg and Jim Puzzanghera of the Boston Globe’s D.C. bureau. 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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