Election Campaigns

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Same Old Faces

It's an outsider's year for candidates, but the consultants are old Beacon Hill mainstays. Plus, who spent what at the conventions, and Baker goes on TV first.
If you're wondering who the geniuses are behind the political campaigns in Massachusetts this year — the strategists, media firms, ad teams, and fundraisers — well, it's a lot of the same folks who have been behind Massachusetts campaigns for a long time. Candidates may win or lose, but consultants are forever.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 24, 2010

Spookin' the horses

Scary trumps stupid every time
Move over, Freddy Krueger. Here come the real scary monsters: Libby Mitchell and Paul LePage.
By AL DIAMON | June 16, 2010

Heck of a Guy

Despite a history of illiberal views and a boorish reputation, Guy Glodis enters the Democratic state convention unscathed
Scott Brown’s stunning victory in January’s special US Senate election continues to reverberate through Massachusetts politics.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 26, 2010

Face the nation

SpeakEasy’s The Great American Trailer Park Musical; Zeitgeist’s Farragut North
White-trash collection has seldom been as hilarious as it is in The Great American Trailer Park Musical , which makes its Brahmin-area debut courtesy of SpeakEasy Stage Company.
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 04, 2010

Tea Party Progressives?

Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 03, 2010

Joe Paolino weighs a different kind of mayoral run

The Independent
It had been rumored for some time.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 14, 2010

Lynch’s left flank

The Southie Congressman may have pushed progressives too far this time.
US Representative Stephen Lynch has held Massachusetts’s ninth congressional district since 2001 — a fact that has irritated the state’s liberals ever since.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 02, 2010

Murph’s Last Grasp?

Can Stephen Murphy rally his troops one last time, or is this stab at higher office his last?
The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 24, 2010

Down ballot drama

Important races to watch in '10
The race for governor and the scramble to replace retiring Representative Patrick J. Kennedy have obsessed Rhode Island's chattering class. But all the talk has obscured an intriguing set of "down ballot" races for lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and secretary of state.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | March 10, 2010

Might as well jump

Recent retirements of key democrats paint a picture of a powerful Republican rogue wave forming. So why are high-profile Republicans jumping ship too?
Last Thursday, Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — the last of his legendary clan in Congress — announced that he will not run for re-election.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 22, 2010

What now?

Kennedy's exit rewrites the political game book.
Representative Patrick J. Kennedy's campaigns were always about something far larger than Rhode Island's First Congressional District, which snakes from Burrillville down through the Blackstone Valley and into Newport.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | February 17, 2010

Political pig pile

Kennedy sets off a free-for-all; bad news for Loughlin and Dennigan
For some time now, we at Casa Diablo have been aware of what is either a heinous conspiracy involving the timing of local news revelations or just another unfair law of nature.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | February 24, 2010

The next Scott Brown?

John J. Loughlin’s suddenly high-profile campaign to oust Patrick Kennedy
Republican Scott Brown's victory last month in the race for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat has every two-bit GOP hopeful in the Northeast claiming the mantle of the pick-up truck populist.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | February 10, 2010

Second choice

The ills of instant-runoff voting
The word "instant" makes me suspicious.
By AL DIAMON | January 27, 2010

Free speech for me, but not for thee

Freedom Watch
Last Thursday's Supreme Court opinion striking down corporate campaign advertising restrictions might as well have been divorce papers in the rocky marriage between the political left and the First Amendment.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | January 29, 2010

Elephant in the Room

Massachusetts Republicans suddenly think this is their year — but if they shoot too high, they might fall hard
Platoons of state Republicans, energized by Scott Brown's stunning victory over Democrat Martha Coakley last week, are setting their sights on November.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 27, 2010

A fool for everyone

Trimming the flab from the governor's race
Time to dispose of a few inconsequential gubernatorial candidates.
By AL DIAMON | January 20, 2010

Massachusetts: You might be living in a red state if

31 signs that Scott Brown’s victory is changing the face of the commonwealth for the worse
Scott Brown’s Senatorial victory is merely the latest sign that red tides are creeping upon our once-progressive Commonwealth. Don’t believe us? Consider that Kenny Chesney sells out Gillette Stadium every summer, and, of course, that wealthy Republican presidential hopeful with the fantastic hair was recently our Governor.
By CHRIS FARAONE | January 25, 2010

Ready to rumble

As the Senate race comes to an end, the challengers for Deval Patrick's job are sharpening their knives
Last summer, the upcoming race that got most Bay State politicos salivating was the run for governor.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 13, 2010

Finally, a GOP gubernatorial contender!

Robitaille gives it a go. Plus, voter unrest, Reid puts his foot in it, and more.
Speaking of the GOP, it appears the party has a candidate — at last! — for the gubernatorial race, provided he doesn't wimp out like Rory Smith did when he realized he was in a no-win, not-ever situation.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | January 13, 2010

Chaos Theory

2010 might be the year Massachusetts politics undergoes an unprecedented reshuffling.
In less than two weeks, when Massachusetts voters elect Martha Coakley to the US Senate — let's not pretend that Republican state senator Scott Brown has any chance of pulling off the monumental upset — they will trigger a massive domino effect that has the state's political class buzzing with anticipation.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 08, 2010

It will not be a dull year!

The governor’s race, gambling, drama on Smith Hill, and more is on tap in 2010
The New Year is shaping up as potent dope for the political junkie.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 06, 2010

Caprio's ad campaign quietly goes dark

Off the Air
A month-and-a-half ago, Treasurer Frank T. Caprio erased any doubt that he was running for governor with a splashy, front-page announcement of his candidacy and the launch of a $100,000-per-month advertising campaign.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 22, 2009

Brown Bagging

Even GOP insiders don't expect Scott Brown to beat Martha Coakley. But they care how he loses.
If you are finding it hard to get enthused about the seemingly preordained drubbing that Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley will give to the GOP nominee, State Senator Scott Brown, in the special election for US Senate, you are not alone.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 16, 2009

The X factor

Come Monday, it's a one-week spring to the primary — and to capture the hearts of undecided voters.
Martha Coakley should be plenty thankful for the holiday weekend. The polls suggest that, if nothing significant changes between now and the December 8 primary, she should handily claim the Democratic nomination for US Senate.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 24, 2009

Ladies' man

In his race for US Senate, Michael Capuano is using well-known women to battle the race's female front-runner.
Early last week, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government announced suddenly that Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, would speak at a forum that Friday afternoon.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 18, 2009

Future wounds

Brains, spines, and guts wanted
Welcome to the 2009 post-election trauma center.
By AL DIAMON | November 11, 2009

All the right wrongs

The 2009 Gaggie Awards for Political Cluelessness
With the end of another campaign season, it’s time to recognize those who may not have been successful in influencing voters, but were clear winners in eliciting derisive snorts.
By AL DIAMON | November 04, 2009

For Mayor: Vote Flaherty + Yoon

Boston District City Council: Henriquez, Ross, ciommo, LaMattina
Boston’s mayoral candidates are running campaigns that are variations on a theme.
By EDITORIAL | November 04, 2009

Taking sides

The US Senate election is forcing Massachusetts pols to choose their team. Plus, Pagliuca’s plan, and the state GOP tries to get serious.
The stakes are high in the battle for Massachusetts’s first new US senatorship in a quarter-century.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 04, 2009