Patrick O’Connor will be the new state Republican state senator from the Plymouth and Norfolk District, but the 31-year-old Weymouth town council president may want to hold off on new drapes for his State House office until November. That’s because less than six months from now he may find himself in a rematch against Democrat […]
Elections
Posted inPolitics
Why whites control Lowell city government
Photographs by Meghan Moore LOWELL IS MOST commonly associated with block upon block of old mill buildings; immigrants from Asia and the world over; and tough streets, the kind that produced famed boxer Micky Ward. What probably does not come to mind are tidy tree-lined boulevards and quiet blocks filled with exquisitely restored Victorian homes, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
We’re on to New Hampshire
Well, that will leave a mark on Donald Trump. The consensus front-runner right up until the first votes were cast is now leading from behind. The Iowa caucuses handed him a humbling second-place finish to Ted Cruz that showed the bombastic billionaire under-performing his poll numbers, suggesting his support is somewhat illusory. But is it? Does the voting […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Bloomberg news
There apparently can never be too many New York billionaires in the race for president. Or, at a minimum, one may not be enough. The weekend brought news that former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has instructed underlings to begin drawing up plans for a potential independent run for president. Medford Mike is said to […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Cruz in for a legal bruising
If money is the mother’s milk of politics, hypocrisy is what journalism runs on. That makes the speculation that Ted Cruz might not be eligible to serve as president under the the narrow “originialist” view of the Constitution that he holds so dear an irresistible storyline . The Republican presidential hopeful was born in Canada, […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Health Care, Opinion
Setting hospital prices by ballot question
A LOOMING 2016 ballot initiative threatens to upend the foundations of hospital finance in Massachusetts, even if the measure never reaches the voters. The clash involves a fractured hospital community, insurers, a labor union, and state government in a controversy more than 25 years in the making. For decades, savvy Massachusetts policy entrepreneurs have learned to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The “logic” of Trump
Donald Trump came to Lowell on Monday, packing the Tsongas Center and once again befuddling those who ask, perfectly legitimately, why so many people are drawn to a candidate who spends so much time talking about himself. Trump is a showman whose idea of digging into the substance of issues was highlighted on Monday by […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Hefner causing unwelcome laughs
It’s hard to say who is the punch line in the saga of Bryon Hefner, the 28-year-old fiancé of Senate President Stan Rosenberg, whose loose-cannon persona is causing headaches for the once-perceived serious progressive policy wonk who has overcome a lifetime of obstacles to lead the historic chamber. But one thing is clear: People are laughing. Hefner’s […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
No go: Hefner’s ‘due diligence’ didn’t take long
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JUST DAYS AFTER SAYING he was “seriously considering” running for a soon-to-be vacant state Senate seat, the fiancé of Senate President Stanley Rosenberg has decided not to run for office, according to a source with knowledge of his decision. Bryon Hefner, 28, had been giving thought to campaigning for a seat […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Rosenberg’s fiance says he may run for Senate
This is awkward. Byron Hefner says he is “strongly considering” running for a seat in the Massachusetts Senate, which is led by his fiance, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg. The 28-year-old Hefner shared his plans with Politico’s Lauren Dezenski on Monday, prompting a Boston Globe story on how a Hefner candidacy could create political problems for […]