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Category Archives: Mass 1st District

COVID Mt. tom

Analysis: COVID Could Shift 1st Congressional Calculus…

This post is the first of two assessing how the outbreak has altered top-ticket Bay State races.  Last Thursday on the floor of the House of Representatives, US Representative Richard Neal was managing a pending bill. It was not the first time he managed, but

The Coronavirus Looms over Campaigns up & down the Ballot…

The video opened with 90 seconds of tropical elevator music before cutting to a split-screen of US Senator Ed Markey and Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson. “Hello! And I hope you’re all staying safe,” he said opening their discussion about protecting airline workers. “Hope

Capitol

How 2019 Lap of the 1st District’s Money Race Concluded…

UPDATED 2/3/20 10:10AM: To clarify and identify the non-donor income to Neal’s campaign finance report. With hours only spare, campaign finance reports for the Democratic primary for the 1st Massachusetts district were filed with the Federal Election Commission. The fundraising and spending numbers for both

Analysis: Incumbent Dems’ Opening Arguments, Now in Previews…

HOLYOKE—With state Democratic primaries, rising to full boil, including many against incumbents, candidates are missing few opportunities to meet party activists. The 413-based chapter launch for the College Democrats of Massachusetts was no different. On the surface, the event was not explicitly about primaries. US

Alex Morse Congress announcement

Morse Matriculates to National Politics…& a Faceoff with Neal…

HOLYOKE—Alex Morse, the Paper City electoral wunderkind who became his hometown’s mayor at 22, formally kicked of his bid for Congress Monday night. Surrounded by supporters from various phases of his eight years in city politics, Morse declared that the national political moment called for

Has Morse Begun to Telegraph His next Move?…

WORCESTER—On a seasonably brisk spring day, College Democrats had assembled in the basement of Clark University’s student center for their annual convention. There was drama, but that did not concern their guests, including one who was a few years out of college himself, Holyoke Mayor

Analysis: Should He Steyer or Should He Go (His Own Way)?…

AGAWAM—As political events go, Need to Impeach and its founder and funder Tom Steyer accomplished something Wednesday night. The Californian found an engaged audience. Steyer laid out a convincing case for performing a Trumpectomy upon the White House. His audience posed thoughtful questions about the

The Primary Numbers: To Put Our District First, Neal is the Choice…

On March 3, 1925, Frederick Gillett stepped down as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to become Massachusetts’s Junior Senator. Arguably, the district centered on Hampden County has not enjoyed such influence since. That could change next year if Democrats take the House.

Analysis: Behind a Clash of Congressional Candidacies, a Regional Divide…

UPDATED 8/13/18 8:37PM: To include additional quotes from Our Revolution. NORTHAMPTON—At a recent fundraiser for Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, supporters gathered around the candidate, packing the hosts’ airy living room in the city’s Florence section. They sat, rapt, as she told her story of her life, career,