Your weekly look at politics, policy and elections in Massachusetts
7/2/20--It’s almost the 4th of July, though if we’re going by the amount of fireworks set off, it’s been 4th of July for several weeks now.
There’s also reason for celebration because it’s Poll Release Day. Steve Koczela & co. at The MassINC Polling Group have new data on Massachusetts parents of K-12 students and their experiences with remote learning.
But first up, we bring you the latest headlines. Voting reform legislation is on the move after the Massachusetts House and Senate struck a deal this week. After the bill is expected to be voted through by both houses, it will go to the governor’s desk, where, if signed, the Secretary of State’s office would send all Massachusetts voters applications to request mail-in ballots. Voters would receive applications by July 15 for primary ballots and in September for general ballots.
As Stephanie Murray reported yesterday, Senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders filed a bill to end qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that bars police officers from being sued in their personal capacity when they violate someone’s constitutional rights. A version of the bill has been filed in the house by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Congressman Justin Amash.
Stephanie also notes Ed Markey and Bernie Sanders have been teaming up a lot lately, and she wonders if Sanders might endorse Markey some time during his re-election campaign.
In the Massachusetts 4th Congressional District, the field of candidates vying for Joe Kennedy’s vacant seat is busy. We spoke with yet another candidate in the race yesterday afternoon. Dave Cavell served in Governor Deval Patrick’s administration as well as President Obama’s, and he told the Horse Race hosts he’s running because….. “I thought we needed to bring real leadership and experience and integrity and professionalism to this work and to the federal government at a moment of real crisis for the country.” “This is the time for somebody who can not just vote the right way, but lead the right way.”
The District 4 race is still wide open. Polling shows 60% voters in the district are undecided. Cavell says winning is not determined by who raises the most money. He points to lessons he’s learned from his previous “bosses,” (Maura Healey, Deval Patrick, the Obamas). “Go everywhere and you meet everyone,” Cavell said. “And that’s the way that you win these races.”
Thanks to last week’s special guest, MassINC Polling Group Research Director, Maeve Duggan, we got a glimpse into data on Massachusetts parents of K-12 students, who were largely divided over school reopening plans.
This week, Steve Koczela brings us more findings on that polling, namely, parents’ experiences in terms of how their kids interacted with school was not at all homogeneous. Whether parents were asked how frequently their child participated in an online class, received personalized feedback, or had a one-on-one check in with a teacher, responses were all over the map. Check out the full slides at https://www.massincpolling.com/the-topline/2020/7/1/new-poll-of-k-12-parents-finds-remote-learning-has-taken-academic-emotional-toll
This week on The Horse Race, a routine audit uncovers an accounting error that could cost the state billions. And we’ll take a closer look at the …
This week on The Horse Race, the push to bring back happy hour gets another shot on Beacon Hill and plans for the machine gun range on Cape Cod draw fire from residents and the …
This week on The Horse Race, we've got two new MPG polls to discuss and two new MPG polling experts to introduce to our listening audience! Research …
This week on The Horse Race, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins calls it quits amid federal investigations into her conduct. We’re …
This week on The Horse Race, we’ve got chaos in the council chambers and a new 56 billion dollar spending plan at the State House. All that, plus …
This week on The Horse Race, we’re looking at elections. They weren’t races so much, but they were elections as strictly defined. We'll also sift through a new survey of Boston Public …
You can listen to episodes right here on the website, or if you prefer, in a podcast app. Listening in an app makes it easier to keep track of what you’ve already heard, listen without using your data plan and many other conveniences.