Two candidates bucking the incumbents-rule rule

Political competition is a rare phenomenon in Mass.

WHEN IT COMES to the Massachusetts Legislature, voters won’t have a lot of choice this fall, either during the primary on September 4 or the general election in November. Seventy-eight percent of the 200 candidates running for the House and Senate will face no opposition in the primary. Most of that group (55 percent) will

Can Ocasio-Cortez return the favor for Ayanna Pressley?

The Topline

Going into the 7th Congressional District debate this week, Boston City Councillor Ayanna Pressley trailed the incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano by 13 points, according to the latest WBUR poll. The debate was less about issues than it was whether voters want experience or a new perspective in Congress. That’s in keeping with the polling: only

In Middlesex DA’s race, a progressive face-off

Ryan facing spirited challenge with calls for reform in the air

DONNA PATALANO, who is challenging incumbent Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, looks like exactly the right candidate at the right time. The Winchester attorney is pushing a strong reform platform focused on addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system and the need to rethink policies of the tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and 90s.

Boston considers non-citizen voting

The Topline

Voting is the core of democracy. But who gets to vote has been fraught with political disagreement since America’s earliest days. Recently, a series of decisions from the Supreme Court has loosened enforcement of voting rights in places with sometimes dubious track records. Those rulings, and continued talk of voter fraud from the administration, has

In Suffolk DA’s race, calls to coalesce

Groups urge blacks, progressives not to split their vote

WHAT HAD BEEN a strong undercurrent in the Suffolk County district attorney’s race is now becoming an open topic of conversation – and consternation: The fact that candidates with similar profiles in the five-way Democratic primary could split the vote and hand the election to a candidate who wins far less than majority support. That’s

Late Registration

The Topline

Massachusetts is home to more than one hundred colleges and universities and is the birthplace of American democracy. (Yes, that’s right, Eagles fans.) Nonetheless, the State Supreme Judicial Court recently upheld a voter registration law that makes it harder for college students to vote in our state primary elections. The SJC upheld a rule requiring

Are you there, Massachusetts? It’s me, the primaries

The Topline

Ahhh, the Fourth of July. When we come together to commemorate the beginning of the grand experiment that is America, celebrating government for and by the people. And in Massachusetts – the birthplace of the revolution – the gravity of the moment is not lost on voters as they march toward the purest expression of

Last Exit Before Poll

The Topline

The 2016 cycle was a tough one for exit polling. The major networks’ exit polls showed results far more favorable to Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump, and struggled to accurately represent the demographics of the electorate on key figures such as education, a key indicator of partisanship. This isn’t the first time exit polls have misled the public; don’t

Democracy is breaking out all over Massachusetts

The Topline

2018 was supposed to be the year of blockbuster match-ups in Massachusetts. The de facto leaders of both parties are running for reelection, offering the prospect of bruising contests for both Senate and the Governor’s office. Instead, the two main event races are blowouts so far, while a bevy of interesting and important elections are
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