POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: ‘Vote her in next, Massachusetts’ — $15 minimum wage, paid family leave ballot questions to be dropped — KENNEDY joins hunger strike
‘Vote her in next, Massachusetts’ — $15 minimum wage, paid family leave ballot questions to be dropped — KENNEDY joins hunger strike
06/27/2018 07:17 AM EDT
By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @LaurenDezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths (bgriffiths@politico.com; @BrentGriffiths)
GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
NY-14'S MASSACHUSETTS CONNECTION — A progressive woman of color, facing institutional opposition and a significant fundraising gap, wages a long-shot bid against a 10-term, scandal-free white male incumbent. Sounds a lot like Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley's campaign to unseat Rep. Michael Capuano in Massachusetts' 7th District, right?
But those were the contours in New York's 14th District, where 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decisively defeated Rep. Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary last night. There's even a Massachusetts connection to the winning campaign — Pressley sent her field director to work on GOTV for Ocasio-Cortez in the last week of the race.
Ocasio-Cortez herself is already leaning into the parallels between her bid and Pressley's, tweeting just before 2 a.m. this morning, "'The people closest to the pain should be closest to the power.' - @AyannaPressley. Vote her in next, Massachusetts. There are more of us, too: @CoriBush, @Chardo2018, @AyannaPressley & more. ... We need to elect a corporate PAC-free caucus if we're going to get things done."
If nothing else, last night's result in NY-14 serves a cautionary tale about the first incumbent Democrat unseated by a primary challenger this year. Just as in the Pressley-Capuano race, Ocasio-Cortez questioned whether Crowley's identity as a white male incumbent made him the right fit for such a diverse, majority-minority district.
Yet there are important differences between the two contests — Capuano is no Crowley. While Crowley raised millions this cycle, he showed few signs of taking the primary challenge seriously. Crowley skipped two debates, sending a surrogate to one of them, and spurring a rebuke from the New York Times editorial board days before the election. Capuano, meanwhile, has moved aggressively to lock down — especially from those who might have potentially backed Pressley like Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, and former Gov. Deval Patrick . The politics in Massachusetts are different too. Crowley was seen as a more moderate Democrat — Capuano is one of the few liberal members of Congress who didn't even attend Trump's inauguration.
And Pressley is no Ocasio-Cortez. The New York political newcomer is a Democratic Socialist, still closely tied to the Bernie Sanders coalition. There is some policy and demographic overlap (both call for the abolition of ICE, for example) Pressley, a Clinton supporter, has been more aligned to the institutional core of the Democratic party. Those looking for a Massachusetts congressional candidate with the Bernie Sanders bonafides of Ocasio-Cortez ought to check out Tahirah Amatul-Wadud (who happens to be challenging Rep. Richard Neal in the western part of the state).
Still, Ocasio-Cortez's win is a major boost to the Pressley campaign (as well as Amatul-Wadud's). In the very least, it will help convince would-be backers (and donors) to jump onto a not-quite-as-longshot congressional bid as we head into the last two months of the primary.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: ldezenski@politico.com.
TODAY — The House meets in formal session. On the agenda: automatic voter registration and conversion therapy - Supporters of the 2016 cannabis legalization campaign will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. in front of the State House to address a ruling by Attorney General Maura Healey that will allow towns to extend cannabis moratoriums into June 2019 - Republican gubernatorial contender and anti-gay pastor Scott Lively plans to campaign outside of South Station at 4 p.m.
MITT WATCH - "Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination in Utah's U.S. Senate race," by Benjamin Wood, Salt Lake Tribune: "Mitt Romney hardly broke a sweat on his way to capturing the Republican nomination in Utah's U.S. Senate race, according to unofficial results Tuesday, earning 73 percent of the vote."
DATELINE BEACON HILL —
- "Backers to drop $15 minimum wage referendum if Baker signs compromise," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "The coalition of more than 100 labor, community and faith-based groups behind a proposed ballot question to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour has agreed to drop that question from the ballot -- if Gov. Charlie Baker signs a compromise bill that would accomplish the same goal. The Raise Up coalition announced that its grassroots committee voted Tuesday to not pursue the wage floor increase on the November ballot as long as Baker signs the "grand bargain" bill the Legislature passed last week."
- "Lawmakers want outside review of Feeley rulings," by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: "State lawmakers are seeking an independent judicial review of recent decisions by embattled Salem Superior Court judge Timothy Q. Feeley and want him removed from the criminal bench in the meantime. Rep. Paul Tucker, D-Salem, a member of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, is leading the effort and cites Feeley's recent decision to let a convicted heroin dealer off with probation, as well as other questionable rulings over the past few months that have drawn protests and calls for his removal."
- "Woman says A.J. Baker groped her on flight, police say; Baker says he was asleep," by Matt Stout and Andrea Estes, Boston Globe: "A "visibly shaken" woman told police that Andrew "A.J." Baker had groped her on a JetBlue flight and only stopped after she asked a flight attendant to move her seat, according to a police report detailing the assault allegations against Governor Charlie Baker's adult son. Federal officials are now investigating the incident, which police say occurred about 45 minutes into the flight from Washington, D.C., to Boston on Wednesday night."
DATELINE DC —
- "Massachusetts lawmakers denounce Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Donald Trump's 'travel ban,'" by Shannon Young, MassLive.com: "Members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation condemned the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday for upholding a Trump administration policy that limited the ability of individuals from five Muslim-majority countries to enter the United States. Massachusetts Democrats, who have vocally opposed the White House's controversial "travel ban," slammed the high court's 5 to 4 ruling that found the president has authority to suspend the entry of foreign nationals into the country."
THE KENNEDY COMPOUND —
- "90-year-old Ethel Kennedy joins hunger strike against immigration policies," by J.D. Capelouto, Boston Globe:"At 90 years old, Ethel Kennedy is joining the fight against the Trump administration's separation of immigrant families at the border to Mexico. Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert Kennedy, plans to participate in a hunger strike in protest of the administration's "zero tolerance" policy for immigrants who enter the country illegally, in conjunction with several activist groups and nearly 50 other members of the Kennedy family."
ON THE STUMP —
- "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former BU student, shocks Crowley in Democratic primary in NY," by Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Bernie Sanders supporter and Boston University graduate, has upset longtime US Representative Joseph Crowley in the Democratic congressional primary in New York. She earned degrees in economics and international relations at BU, and also spent time working in the office of the late US Senator Edward Kennedy."
- "From future speaker to primary loser: Inside Crowley's crushing defeat" by Gloria Pazmino and Laura Nahmias, POLITICO: "New York insiders say the Crowley campaign failed to grasp the signs in his district — one of the nation's most diverse — where Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Bernie Sanders organizer with Puerto Rican roots, made the Irish-American Crowley's establishment ties a central issue."
TSONGAS ARENA —
— Janet Beyer, Democratic State Committee Member from Concord, endorses Dan Koh for Congress, Koh campaign: "Today, longtime Democratic activist Janet Beyer endorsed Dan Koh in the Third District congressional race. Beyer has served as a member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee since 2000. She also has served as Chairwoman of the Concord Democratic Town Committee, as a member of the Electoral College, and as one of the first women on the Concord Board of Appeals. Additionally, she served as Chair of the Third Middlesex Area Democrats and is currently a clerk of that organization."
WOOD WAR — Herald: "'NOT MY CALL,'" "NORTH END SAYS NO WAY TO STARBUCKS," "READERS RESPOND" — Globe: "High court upholds Trump's travel ban," "Where there's no pot smoke, there's firing," "STRUGGLING TO REGAIN ITS POWER, GE SLIMS DOWN," "Romney walks a fine line on Trump in run for Senate," "Partners moving employees to in-house health plans."
THE LOCAL ANGLE —
- "Mass. will train some marijuana workers, entrepreneurs," by Dan Adams, Boston Globe: "When Massachusetts regulators set up the process for licensing marijuana businesses earlier this year, marijuana advocates hailed a program meant to benefit communities hit hard by the War on Drugs. But so far, just three of the 123 applicants who qualified for faster licensure under the program in April have submitted completed applications, compared to nearly 40 applications from medical dispensaries seeking to also sell recreational pot."
- "A look inside Massachusetts' first legal marijuana growing facility," by WHDH Boston 7 News: "Endless rows of marijuana plants. Stacks upon stacks of edibles. That's what you'll find inside Sira Naturals in Milford — the first licensed grow operation for recreational marijuana in Massachusetts. 7's Sharman Sacchetti got a firsthand look inside the facility Tuesday and observed cannabis experts stirring up hard candy infused with THC."
- "7th Circuit gives Trump temporary win on 'sanctuary' policy," by Ted Hesson, POLITICO: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily narrowed the scope of a nationwide injunction against the Trump administration's attempt to withhold grants from so-called sanctuary cities. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stay the nationwide aspect of the injunction, so that it will apply only to the plaintiff, the city of Chicago, pending further consideration."
- "Kathy Shaw, Watchdog on Clergy Sexual Abuse, Dies at 72," by Sam Roberts, New York Times: "Kathy Shaw, a journalist who doggedly investigated allegations of sexual abuse by clergymen and compiled a national register of misconduct accusations so that the public could grasp the dimensions of the crisis, died on Sunday in a hospital in Worcester, Mass. She was 72. As a religion reporter for The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Ms. Shaw was credited in 2003 with bringing into view a confidential 1962 Vatican document that mandated complete secrecy by church leaders in dealing with cases of sexual abuse by priests and bishops."
- "Former adjutant general George Keefe dies," by Luis Fieldman and M.J. Tidwell, Daily Hampshire Gazette:"Retired Maj. Gen. George W. Keefe, 79, of Northampton, died Thursday at Massachusetts General Hospital after a life brimming with close-knit Northampton family and friends and dedication to serving his country. After 49 years of service, Keefe retired from the Massachusetts Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force in 2005 with the rank of 39th adjutant general of Massachusetts, and the federal rank of major general."
- "A slice with stardom: Harrison Ford dines at Antonio's in Amherst on Tuesday," by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "When an actor known for his famous movie characters such as Han Solo and Indiana Jones decides to dine at your restaurant, his presence alone will bring buzz to your establishment. That's what happened late Tuesday morning, when "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" star Harrison Ford, his actress wife Calista Flockhart, who has her own fame from the television series "Ally McBeal," and their son Liam made Antonio's Pizza by the Slice on North Pleasant Street their lunch spot."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Paul Tencher, COS for Sen. Ed Markey, is 38, Lexington state Sen. Michael Barrett, and Plymouth state Rep. Mathew Muratore.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! — The Red Sox crushed the Angels 9-1.
ICYMI - THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE HORSE RACE: We have a "Grand Bargain"...kind of. State House News Service reporter Katie Lannan discusses the bill moving through the house that would combine a minimum wage increase, paid family leave and a permanent sales tax holiday; then Steve chimes in with polling on education spending and regional ballot initiatives. Plus Chris Lisinski of the Lowell Sun circles back to the race to replace Rep. Niki Tsongas. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud
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