By Lisa Kashinsky

SETTING THE STAGE — Eight Republican presidential hopefuls tired of playing second fiddle to Donald Trump will take the first debate stage at 9 p.m., desperate for a breakout moment that can boost their bids — or at least dent the frontrunner’s lead.

So far they haven’t had much luck with that in Massachusetts, at least when it comes to campaign cash.

Trump raked in $353,914 from Massachusetts donors in the first six months of the year, according to the former president's most recent campaign finance filings.

That’s more than double the dollars raised by the next-highest candidate, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. After launching her bid in mid-February, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations took in $159,906 from Bay Staters through the end of the second quarter in June.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, raised $118,034 from Massachusetts in the first six weeks of his campaign. The dollar amounts dwindle from there:

— South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott: $66,724

— Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: $38,650

— Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy: $23,308

— North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum: $20,955

— Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson: $3,300

— Former Vice President Mike Pence: $1,430

That order changes slightly when factoring in donations to super PACs aligned with certain candidates. Never Back Down, the super PAC all-but running DeSantis’ campaign, reported raising $100,000 from Massachusetts — in one lump sum from auto-parts magnate and former congressional candidate Rick Green. SFA Fund, a group backing Haley, took in $5,000 each from former MassGOP Chair Jennifer Nassour, New Balance Chair Jim Davis and Putnam Investments CEO Bob Reynolds. Plus, these tallies don’t count collections since July 1.

Trump is running away with the money race in part because he launched his second bid for a second term last November, giving himself months of fundraising lead time over his rivals.

Still, MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale told Playbook — by phone from Milwaukee, where she’ll be attending the Fox News-hosted debate that Trump is skipping — that “it’s clear that [Trump] retains a strong and deep support among active Republicans not only nationwide, but back home in Massachusetts. These donations are further evidence of that.” Join me and my colleagues tonight for live debate analysis and bingo!

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. I’m back! Many thanks to Kelly Garrity and Mia McCarthy for holding down the fort this past week-plus.

But I come bearing sad news: Massachusetts Playbook is taking its annual end-of-summer hiatus next week. We’ll be back Tuesday, Sept. 5.

You know what that means: Get all your tips, scoops, birthday and transitions to [email protected] before Friday.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey, Sen. Ed Markey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu talk national clean financing network funding with EPA Administrator Michael Regan at 10 a.m. at Franklin Field in Dorchester. Wu hosts a media availability on the city’s “vision for a restored public health and recovery campus on Long Island” at 2:45 p.m. Rep. Jim McGovern wraps his annual district farm tour.

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— “In-state tuition costs for undocumented students rolls out,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “Effective immediately if a student spends three years at and makes it through a Massachusetts high school or earns their GED they’ll pay in-state tuition costs at state schools regardless of their citizenship status. … Healey’s staff said any student who is in college now that would qualify for in-state tuition under the law will begin paying that rate at the start of the next semester. Refunds for previous out-of-state tuition costs will not be made.”

— “Healey, Spilka say they expect tax cuts before the end of the year,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “Following an event in Lawrence on Tuesday, Gov. Maura Healey and Senate President Karen Spilka were asked if either thought the state would see a significant tax cut package pass this year. Both said it is their hope the joint conference committee working to iron out the differences in proposals offered by the House and Senate — for more than two months now — will soon have a compromised piece of legislation for lawmakers to consider and make law.”

— “Rent control supporters are divided over 2024 ballot campaign push,” by Emma Platoff, Boston Globe: “As a group of progressive activists and elected officials, largely from Cambridge and Somerville, push to put the issue [of bringing back local-option rent control] before voters on the 2024 ballot, a coalition of housing advocacy organizations argue the smarter course would be to continue pressing the Legislature to take action.”

Greater Boston Real Estate Board CEO Greg Vasil told the Globe that industry groups could spend as much as $30 million to oppose the ballot initiative put forward by state Rep. Mike Connolly and a group of Cambridge, Somerville and Boston residents.

That battle is already underway. Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office has received at least four memos challenging the legality of Connolly’s proposed ballot question from real estate, property owner and landlord groups, as well as from the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance Foundation. That includes one filed on behalf of members of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, according to copies shared with Playbook.

Among the groups’ arguments: that Connolly’s petition is too wide-ranging, and would violate the constitutional requirement that ballot questions only include “related” or “mutually dependent” subjects.

It’s the same clause that felled last year’s tech-industry-backed push for a ballot question to classify app-based drivers as independent contractors. And it’s the same argument a coalition of business groups and former state education officials is making to Campbell to reject a ballot question to replace MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, the Salem News’ Christian M. Wade reports.

Connolly and his allies are fighting back. “Not surprisingly, the real estate industry, which has extracted untold profits from our communities and reaped the gains of housing inflation, opposes the initiative petition,” an attorney for supporters of the rent-control initiative wrote in a memo to Campbell’s office urging her to certify the question. The “Tenant Protection Act has but a single purpose,” they argued, “to empower municipalities ‘to adopt ordinances and or by-laws protecting residential tenants.’”

Campbell has until Sept. 6 to certify which ballot questions can move forward.

— “Feds to allow partial enforcement of Mass. right-to-repair law,” by Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe: “In June, NHTSA warned carmakers not to comply with the law, saying it would weaken cybersecurity protections for automotive computer networks, raising the risk that hackers could remotely steal sensitive data or even seize remote control of vehicles. … But NHTSA now says carmakers can obey the law by providing wireless access to cars through short-range Bluetooth radio connections instead of longer-range cellular networks. Because a Bluetooth connection only works within a few feet of the car, the risk of criminal intrusion is far lower.”

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here.

— ENDORSEMENT CORNER: Boston Democratic Socialists of America have endorsed Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, a former Cambridge city councilor, and Dan Totten, an aide to outgoing Councilor Quinton Zondervan, for Cambridge City Council.

— The Dorchester Reporter’s Gintautas Dumcius has the backstory of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s endorsement of Enrique Pepén (which Playbook first reported earlier this week) for District 5 city councilor. And Dumcius has the response from the incumbent she snubbed, Ricardo Arroyo, who told the Reporter in a statement that he’s “the only candidate in this race with a proven independent and progressive record.”

— “Feds approve offshore wind farm south of Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard,” by Steve LeBlanc, The Associated Press: “A planned offshore wind farm moved a step closer to construction Tuesday with the Department of the Interior announcing it has approved the project, to be located in federal waters near Rhode Island south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The Revolution Wind project will have an estimated capacity of more than 700 megawatts of renewable energy, capable of powering nearly 250,000 homes, and is expected to create about 1,200 jobs during construction, regulators said.”

— “Pot prices have tanked. Dispensaries are closing. Is a great crash coming?” by Erick Trickey, Globe Magazine: “[R]etail marijuana prices in the state have plummeted by more than half over the past two years, from an average $13.92 per gram in July 2021 to $6.21 this summer. Meanwhile, retail licenses in Boston — super-hard to get in the early years of legalization, requiring acrobatic twirls through a web of red tape — are now flying out the doors at the rate of about one every month."

— “Database of police disciplinary records a step toward transparency, but still ‘more to do’,” by Sean Cotter, Matt Stout and Sarah L. Ryley, Boston Globe: “The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, database includes more than 3,400 records of sustained complaints leveled against nearly 2,200 officers including those from local, state, and college agencies. … Some complaints listed on the database are relatively minor department infractions, such as parking violations or being absent from work. Others were more serious and included sexual harassment and use of force."

The Springfield Police Department, which had the second-highest number of disciplinary records in the database, is already petitioning state regulators to remove more than 220 complaints for being misleading because they only resulted in officer “retraining,” the Boston Herald’s Chris Van Buskirk reports.

— “Worcester Councilor Delays Crisis Pregnancy Center Ordinance Debate,” by Neal McNamara, Patch: “Debate and a possible vote on a proposal to regulate so-called crisis pregnancy centers in Worcester will be delayed until mid-September after a parliamentary maneuver by a councilor at Tuesday's meeting. … On Monday, a Wakefield-based anti-abortion organization sent a letter to Worcester officials threatening to sue if they adopted the ordinances.”

— “Mass. Planned Parenthood union reaches first tentative agreement,” by Hannah Reale, GBH News.

— “The Obamas’ chef died from an accidental drowning on Martha’s Vineyard: Massachusetts medical examiner,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald.

— “Battle lines drawn in fight for Cambodian, local democracy,” by Melanie Gilbert, Lowell Sun.

TRANSITIONS — Herschel Herndon is the new chief diversity officer for the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Springfield state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, Everett state Rep. Joe McGonagle, Joshua Ostroff, George Schadler, Dianne Bagley Smith, Shelley Long (the actress who played “Diane Chambers” in “Cheers”), Robert Solow and Yanisa Techagumthorn. Happy belated to James Kugel, who celebrated Tuesday.

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: [email protected].

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