A correction has been added to this story clarifying that Ed Markey and Joe Kennedy III agreed that Markey would have won the convention and Kennedy would have won the necessary support to appear on the primary ballot. ED MARKEY, with rival Joe Kennedy III’s blessing, is declaring himself the winner of the state Democratic Party’s […]
Elections
Posted inThe Download
Markey ‘wins’ state Dem convention
Ed Markey is going to win the state Democratic Party’s nomination for US Senate without even having to go to the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell and give a speech. Gus Bickford, the chairman of the party, said on Monday that he was moving to cancel the May 30 convention because of the coronavirus pandemic. With […]
Posted inPolitics
The virus’s toll on democracy
WHILE PRESSING LIFE-AND-DEATH ISSUES of course must remain the paramount focus of efforts in the face of the coronavirus (notwithstanding the president’s pivot to talk of getting commerce flowing by Easter), the pandemic’s effect on important aspects of normal societal functioning can’t be ignored. Count democracy as one of its potential victims. While people are hunkering […]
Posted inThe Download
The virus’s toll on democracy
While pressing life-and-death issues of course must remain the paramount focus of efforts in the face of the coronavirus (notwithstanding the president’s pivot to talk of getting commerce flowing by Easter), the pandemic’s effect on important aspects of normal societal functioning can’t be ignored. Count democracy as one of its potential victims. While people are […]
Posted inHealth Care
Campaigning in the coronavirus era
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE DOOR-TO-DOOR CANVASSING has been replaced with phone calls and tweeting. Local elections officials are weighing new ways to expand absentee ballot access for worried voters. Candidates are experimenting with virtual town halls and blending public health information into their messages. This is campaigning in the coronavirus era, and for the next […]
Posted inPolitics
Galvin seeks emergency election powers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH FOUR SPECIAL House and Senate elections planned for the end of the March and hundreds of municipal elections on the calendar in the next couple of months, the state’s top elections overseer plans to seek emergency powers from the Legislature to be able to respond to the evolving coronavirus outbreak. […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. primary: What ranked choice voting would have meant
VOTERS ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS approached last week’s presidential primary with different views on whom to support and what issues are most critical to address this election season. Yet many shared a common emotion: frustration at a system that stifles their voice by giving them only one choice, especially with over a dozen on the ballot. This […]
Posted inPolitics
‘A low point for Republicans in Mass.’
TWO REPUBLICANS trying to straddle the deep ideological divide in the Massachusetts GOP say the bitter fight that culminated in last week’s state committee election was all about gaining control of the party’s resources. On the CommonWealth Codcast, Amy Carnevale, who was reelected to the state committee last week, and Anthony Amore, the GOP nominee […]
Posted inPolitics
Lyons has votes to remain Mass. GOP chair
THE MASSACHUSETTS GOP released unofficial results on Friday indicating conservative Jim Lyons should have enough support on the 80-member state committee to continue as chairman of the state Republican Party. The state committee races were unusually contentious and bitter this year, with undisclosed amounts of money pouring in to the campaigns. Forces allied with Gov. […]
Posted inOpinion
Citizens United gaining super PAC adherents
ON JANUARY 21, 2020, the famous US Supreme Court decision, Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission (Citizens United), celebrated its tenth birthday! As the court decision matures, so do many of its original skeptics. Massachusetts US Sen. Elizabeth Warren rose to prominence in 2012 by not using a super PAC to defeat incumbent US […]