Huffington Post – Ed Markey Leads Gabriel Gomez In Massachusetts Senate Polls

Democratic Congressman Ed Markey holds a lead over Republican political newcomer Gabriel Gomez in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race, though a newly released pair of polls differ on how wide his margin is.

A MassInc Polling Group/WBUR poll released on Thursday found that Markey, who has spent more than three decades in the House of Representatives, had the firm support of 41 percent of likely voters, with private equity executive Gabriel Gomez having 35 percent. When undecided voters were pushed to say which candidate they were leaning towards, Markey’s lead broadened to 46 percent to 38 percent.

Boston Globe – New poll finds single-digit Senate race

A new poll released this morning by WBUR found Democratic US Representative Edward J. Markey leading Republican Gabriel E. Gomez by eight points among likely voters in their race for the US Senate.

In the WBUR survey, conducted by the MassINC Polling Group, 43 percent of those polled had a favorable opinion of Markey, while 25 percent had an unfavorable view of him. Thirty-seven percent had a favorable view of Gomez, while 16 percent had an unfavorable view of him. Six percent of those polled had never heard of Markey, while 15 percent had never heard of Gomez, a political newcomer.

CNN – New polls puts Democrat on top in Mass. Senate race

Two new polls suggest the Democrats have the lead in the battle for an open U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts up for grabs next month.

The WBUR survey was conducted May 5-6 by the MassInc Polling Group, with 497 likely voters in the Bay State questioned by telephone. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Boston Business Journal – MassINC: Consumer confidence rebounds in latest quarter

Consumer confidence in Massachusetts rebounded in the first quarter to levels it attained late last year, according to the MassInc Polling Group’s Trend Monitor report.

Fall River Herald – Want to learn more about biking safety? A whole week of programming

A WGBH News poll released over the weekend shows that only one out of three Massachusetts residents feel drivers and bicyclists on the region’s roads interact safely.

The series launched today with analysis on WGBH’s Morning Edition of the WGBH News poll from Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the survey for WGBH News. Coverage will continue on Boston Public Radio and the Greater Boston program on WGBH 2.

Cape Cod Today – 66 percent support more charter schools

Charter school proponents on Monday morning were promoting new poll results showing voters in the Boston area support lifting caps on the number of charter schools by a nearly three to one margin.

There are 22 charter schools in Boston that serve more than 7,700 students but thousands more are on wait lists and the city is “frozen” to new charters, according to the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, which circulated the results of a survey conducted by TheMassINC Polling Group.

The Lowell Sun – Poll: Mass. consumers more confident

Consumer confidence in Massachusetts rebounded last month from a downturn earlier in the year, according to a survey from The MassIINC Polling Group.

Springfield Republican – Consumer confidence on the rise in Massachusetts, new MassINC poll indicates

Consumer confidence  rose significantly last month, according to a a new poll released by Monday by a Boston-based polling group. 

After a sharp downturn in January, consumer confidence rebounded in the April reading, with the Massachusetts Index of Consumer Sentiment nearing the record high attained in October 2012, according to the MassINC Polling Group.

Springfield Republican – Editorial: Fear curbs our yearning for personal freedoms

Almost a dozen years after the World Trade Center attacks, the land of the free is still a much more skittish place than it was on Sept. 10, 2001. 

A poll – taken days after one suspect was killed in a police shoot-out and a second arrested – showed that Massachusetts residents expressed a strongly positive impression of law enforcement and gave their stamp of approval to the overall response to the attack. According to the Boston-based think-tank MassINC poll, a full 91 percent of respondents approved of the decision to lock down parts of Greater Boston while law enforcement officials searched for suspect 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who escaped police after his older brother, Tamerlan, alleged leader of the bombing plot, was killed.

The Boston Globe – Red Sox seek permanent street-lease deal

Before Fenway games, thousands of Sox fans flock to temporary concession stands outside the gates to buy beer and frankfurters. Meanwhile, scores of attendees take their $165 seats atop the stadium’s iconic left-field wall, the Green Monster.

Yawkey Way concession revenue appears likely to rise in the future because the team’s competitors — 18 private vendors with permits to sell food and drink around the ballpark — are being gradually phased out by the city. As the current permit holders retire or die, the city will not allow other vendors to replace them, CommonWealth magazine reported in January.

WBUR – Poll: Most Mass. Residents Back Shutdown Of Area For Marathon Manhunt

A strong majority of Massachusetts residents agree with the decision to lock down the Boston area during the search for one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, according to a new poll.

The poll, from MassINC, finds that 91 percent of residents support authorities’ decision to implement a “shelter in place” request and halt MBTA service during the manhunt.

Boston Magazine – Poll: Overall, Residents Approve of the Police Response to the Bombings

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis was pleased with how law officials apprehended Boston Bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev, and the way they responded to the explosions the day of the marathon, calling the actions of officers and first responders “tremendous.”

Following the mayhem that cast a shadow over Boston during a week-long manhunt for the suspects involved with the bombs detonated at the marathon on April 15, the MassINC Polling Group, a non-partisan organization that conducts statewide quarterly polls, asked residents how they thought police, the FBI and other law enforcement officials handled the response to the attacks, and eventual capture of one of the bombing suspects.

Springfield Republican – MassINC Poll: Massachusetts voters hold positive view of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Gov. Deval Patrick
A new MassINC Polling Group survey concludes that a majority of Massachusetts residents hold positive opinions about Democratic U.S. Sen.Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Deval Patrick.

Springfield Republican – Boston Marathon bombing polls shows Massachusetts residents support decision to lockdown city, state police efforts in case
Ninety-one percent of Massachusetts residents agree with the decision to lock down parts of Greater Boston while looking for the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect April 19 and 86 percent have a favorable opinion of the state police’s handling of the case, according to survey results released Tuesday morning by The MassInc Polling Group.

The Boston Globe – A Senate race that has been hard to focus on

Brutal snowstorms, an upheaval in Boston city politics, a contentious tax debate on Beacon Hill, and now terrorism at the Marathon. Since nearly the opening hours of the race to fill John Kerry’s US Senate seat, a series of events has smothered the campaign and raised serious questions over the efficacy of special elections.

Other experienced observers of state politics agree. “This is like a race that didn’t happen,’’ said Gregory Torres, president of Mass Inc, a nonpartisan think tank that has in the past sponsored debates in statewide political races. “This is a United States Senate seat, for God’s sake. We need to have a much more vigorous debate and examination of the candidates and the issues.’’

Fox News – Bombing shifts Massachusetts Senate race before primaries Tuesday

Even before the explosions, polling suggested that Massachusetts voters weren’t excited about the looming special election to replace former U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Weeks before the blasts, Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group, found that more than 40 percent of likely Democratic voters and nearly 50 percent of likely Republican voters hadn’t settled on a candidate.

Boston Magazine – Another Day, Another Report on Massachusetts’ Botched Prison Policies
MassINC and Community Resources for Justice (CRJ) released a new report on the state of criminal justice health in Massachusetts. The report points out well-worn zingers such as “A decade ago, higher education surpassed spending on cor¬rections by 25 percent. Today the higher education budget is 21 percent lower.”.

The Boston Globe – Regional transit systems hope to gain from funding bill

Josh Colon travels four hours per day, five days per week, to get from his North Adams home to classes at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield and back.

A report released last month by MassINC, a research group focused on public policy issues, argued the regional bus services were key to fostering economic growth in the state’s up-and-coming cities.

Go Local Worcester – Report: MA’s Criminal Justice Policies Costly, Ineffective
A Bay State non-partisan think tank and polling group,Massacchusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC), says that the Commonwealth is spending too much on criminal justice and not seeing the benefits.

Cape Cod Times – Gonsalves: Dealing with recidivism from the inside out

The furthest thought from Amelie Scheltema’s mind was to go to prison.

Two weeks ago, MassINC’s newly formed Criminal Justice Reform Coalition published a cost-benefit analysis of the Bay State’s criminal justice system.

The Boston Globe – Worries over rail project funding

Proponents of a decades-old plan that would connect Southeastern Massachusetts communities with Boston by commuter rail are encouraged that the project is conversation on Beacon Hill, but worry that if it’s not funded this year, it might never get done.

 Pointing to a recent poll conducted by nonprofit think tank MassINC, Egan said nearly 60 percent of Bay State residents are willing to pay more for investments in road and transit projects, with the majority of those willing to invest more in transit projects.

Brockton Enterprise – Officials discuss expanding regional transit in Brockton

Brockton Area Transit sees roughly 3 million passengers each year – and local officials expect those numbers to grow.

Research group MassINC presented the forum, moderated by Chazy Dowaliby, editor of The Enterprise and The Patriot Ledger of Quincy. The forum, held at the Metro South Chamber of Commerce on School Street, brought together city officials and representatives from Old Colony Planning Council and the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, among others.

Brockton Enterprise – Brockton officials to talk transit and its role in economic growth

Mayor Linda Balzotti would embrace more public transit to industrial parks and other areas of the city.

Research group MassINC will present the forum, moderated by Chazy Dowaliby, editor of The Enterprise and The Patriot-Ledger. MassInc research director Ben Forman will speak.

The Boston Globe – Special court in Dedham is serving those who served

Adam Matthews has been in and out of jail since his 2010 medical discharge from the Marines for war-related trauma that for so many in the military results in mental health and substance abuse issues when they return home.

Citing a study by the think tank MassINC, he said the state’s bigger problem is that outdated sentencing guidelines lead to longer-than-necessary prison terms, and because the state falters in providing adequate services — like counseling — many wind up back behind bars.

The Eagle Tribune – Tolls on I-93 gain support in Mass.

Tolls are part of a menu of options for an overhaul of how the state funds its transportation system, state officials have said, reviving a discussion about a toll on Interstate 93.

A report on a series of polls and focus groups released March 14 by the Boston think tank MassINC showed that support for income tax increases among the public stood barely at a majority if the revenue would go into the state’s general fund.

Boston Globe – Report on crime, prisons raises awareness
THE “CRIME, Cost, and Consequences” report released last week by MassINC and Community Resources for Justice raises several points worthy of further discussion (“Crime down, prison costs up,” Page A1, March 25).

Boston Globe – New leaders try to fix Mass. Probation Department

Almost three years after the Massachusetts Probation Department patronage scandal swept longtime Commissioner John J. O’Brien and most of his deputies out of their jobs, the agency is being run by people who bucked his unfair hiring system.

Corbett had served as the agency’s second in command in the 1990s when Massachusetts probation had a national reputation for innovation. Commonwealth Magazine referred to the sky-high hopes around the new leader as “the cult of Corbett.”

Springfield Republican – Pioneer Valley Transit Authority launches year-long review of bus routes in Western Massachusetts

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority has begun a year-long review of routes and services in the 24 communities it serves in response to population shifts and other changes. 

Speakers at the forum sponsored by MassInc and Transportation for Massachusetts stressed the need for expanded mass transit services for quality of life and economic development.

Go Local Worcester – Worcester’s Elected Officials Split Over Senate Special Election

With less than a month before the April 30th U.S. Senate primary special election, and debates just getting underway, some Worcester elected officials have declared their support, while others say that they have yet to decide which of the five candidates they will endorse for the seat previously held by John Kerry.

A WBUR/MassINC poll released on March 26 had Markey leading his Democratic rival Lynch by 11 percentage points. On the Republican side, former Michael Sullivan had the edge over both Winslow and Gomez. However, the poll’s biggest news was that 41 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Republicans still did not yet know who they would vote for.

The MetroWest Daily News – Editorial: Paying too much for policies that don’t work

Like many states, Massachusetts responded to a crime surge in the 1980s by getting tough.

The report, produced by MassINC, a non-partisan think tank, and Community Resources for Justice, projects that counter-productive policies will cost the state $2 billion in the next decade while doing nothing to make its residents safer.