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Changing the gender balance on Beacon Hill

It’s been a busy couple weeks in #mapoli, and for MPG. We have you covered with a new WBUR article and not one but two new podcasts. WBUR: How The Mass. Legislature Can Get Closer To Gender Balance  Steve Koczela and Jake Rubinstein, writing for WBUR: “State Sen. Harriette Chandler, a Democrat from Worcester, became the acting

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Gomez still weighing Senate run

His entry would crowd the ‘moderate’ lane in GOP primary This article originally appeared on CommonWealth. The Republican primary field to take on US Sen. Elizabeth Warren next year now includes three candidates, but another contender is still eyeing the race. Businessman and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez is meeting with potential advisors to chart a

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Amazon, but for Amazon HQ

With its radically open bidding process for its second headquarters, Amazon is doing to economic development what it did to retail. Amazon, the company that disrupted bookselling and then the selling of most everything else, has thrown economic development agencies for a loop with the bidding to host their second headquarters. From the start, Amazon’s

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We've got a podcast!

We’re pleased to announce the launch of “The Horse Race”, a new podcast hosted by MPG President Steve Koczela and Politico’s Lauren Dezenski. As the name suggests, we’ll be focusing on campaigns and elections, particularly here in Massachusetts. We’ll also look at how developments in Washington could impact politics in the Bay State. We’re two

As Tsongas bows out, does the GOP have a shot in the Third?

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Massachusetts Congresswoman Niki Tsongas announced yesterday she will not run again for the seat she has held since 2007. Past election results show her seat in the Third Congressional District may be less safe for Democrats than it first appears. Though Tsongas cruised to reelection in her own recent matchups, Charlie Baker won the district

The Topline: The Independence of Independents

Party leaders, consultants look for ways to win on new landscape

Party leaders, consultants look for ways to win on new landscape The ranks of political independents continue to swell in Massachusetts, while the number of Democrats and Republicans remains roughly steady. Younger voters are choosing to remain “unenrolled” when they register to vote, rather than choosing a political party. The result is an increasing tilt

The Art of Repeal

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Health care bills moves votes. They cost seats. They start waves. The Democrats’ two runs at health care reform ended with Republican gains of 54 seats in 1994 and 63 seats in 2010. In the latter case, Massachusetts was the canary in the coal mine, as health care helped propel Scott Brown past Martha Coakley

Massachusetts is #1, but not for everyone

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We’re the best. Number one. The greatest of all time. That’s what the US News and World Report told Bay State residents last week, naming Massachusetts the  best state in the union in their first annual Best States rankings. The news prompted Gronk-level football spiking up on Beacon Hill this week, as well as scattered

Not the usual faces in state Senate race

A changing East Boston draws new blood to special election

FOR DECADES, AN East Boston resident has held the state Senate seat representing the First Suffolk and Middlesex District, which extends north from the neighborhood to Revere and reaches west to sections of Cambridge. Michael LoPresti in the 1970s and 80s. Robert Travaglini in the 1990s and early 2000s. Anthony Petruccelli from 2007 until he

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Extreme Makeover – GOP Debate Edition

Belated happy new year, and, perhaps more importantly, happy GOP Debate night! Only seven candidates made the cut for the main stage, based on polling averages nationally and in Iowa and New Hampshire. The primetime show will feature Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Ben Carson. Carly Fiorina and

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