By Lisa Kashinsky

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: THE PICKS ARE IN — Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll are looking to add to their win column in this year’s mayoral contests.

With their chosen candidates now on to November in Gloucester and Amesbury, Healey and Driscoll are rolling out another batch of endorsements in local races.

Their latest picks: Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan, Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner, Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson, and Haverhill mayoral candidate and City Councilor Melinda Barrett.

Coogan was the top vote-getter in Fall River’s preliminary election yesterday. He now faces former Mayor Sam Sutter in November. Barrett led the field in Haverhill’s open mayor's race last week, and is expected to face Guy Cooper in November. Nicholson faces two opponents in Gardner’s Oct. 10 preliminary election. Koch and Wedegartner have each drawn a challenger from their respective city councils.

Healey and Driscoll were already backing Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga, Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove and now-Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo. Verga and Gove breezed through their preliminaries last night, while Pangallo won a special election earlier this year to finish out Driscoll's term in Salem.

The endorsements reflect the relationships that Healey has built over three statewide campaigns, eight years as attorney general and eight months as governor. They’re also a product of the connections that Driscoll, who is highly regarded among her former peers, cultivated over her 16 years leading Salem.

And they offer the first — albeit limited — tests of the governing partners’ political power since they stormed to the State House last November with nearly two-thirds of the statewide vote.

Municipal elections are often heavily rooted in local issues and political dynamics, so Healey and Driscoll’s impact in these races could be muted. But for incumbents facing tough reelection fights or candidates looking for an edge in open-seat races, being able to tout the support of the top two officials in state government could prove valuable.

Kim Driscoll (left) and Maura Healey on Election Night 2022. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Yesterday’s preliminaries set up a slew of November showdowns. Here’s a look at the matchups, based on unofficial tallies:

It’s Mayor Robert Sullivan versus businessman Fred Fontaine in Brockton; City Council President Peter Marchetti versus former City Councilor John Krol in Pittsfield; and City Councilor Jennifer Grigoraitis versus former City Councilor Monica Medeiros Solano in Melrose.

Gove faces former City Councilor Richard Marggraf in Amesbury; and Verga will vie against former city health director Mary Ellen Rose in Gloucester.

Results in Revere were delayed last night by an issue at a polling location, but as it stands it’s Acting Mayor Patrick Keefe and former Mayor Dan Rizzo moving on to November.

Revere Acting Mayor Patrick Keefe (center) and supporters hold campaign signs outside of a polling location on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

TODAY — Healey, Driscoll and Veterans Secretary Jon Santiago announce the Veterans Equality Review Board at 10 a.m. at the State House. Healey is on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” at 11:30 a.m. and swears in new Board of Higher Education members at noon. Driscoll chairs a Governor’s Council meeting at noon.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu attends grand openings at Parkway 1208 at 11 a.m. and State Street’s new HQ at 6:15 p.m. AG Andrea Campbell testifies on “An Act to advance health equity” at 10 a.m. at the State House. Auditor Diana DiZoglio testifies in support of collective bargaining rights for legislative employees at 1 p.m.

Tips? Scoops? Running for mayor? Email me: [email protected].

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LITTLE RELIEF IN SIGHT — Gov. Maura Healey appears to be no closer to getting adequate federal funding to support the state’s overburdened emergency shelter system than lawmakers are to reaching a deal on long-languishing tax relief.

Here’s what we learned — and what we didn’t — after Healey huddled up with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka for the first time in three months:

— Lawmakers still won’t say what’s holding up tax relief. They also won't commit to closing on a deal before formal sessions end on Nov. 15. “I know the [House and Senate Ways and Means] chairs are working hard and they are making progress,” was all Spilka would say.

— Healey is clearly growing more frustrated by federal inaction on immigration, after she’s been "begging the Biden administration” for more money and expedited work permits for migrants “for a long time” to little avail.

“It's clear help isn’t coming from the feds. I mean, we’ve been continuing to call upon and call upon the federal government and Congress to act. And it is because help has not been forthcoming that we find ourselves in this situation,” Healey said in some of her most forceful and exasperated comments yet on the situation. “I want to be really clear,” she added, “that this is not sustainable.”

— There are now more than 6,520 families in the emergency shelter system, or roughly 22,000 people. The state estimates that half of them are migrants.

Healey said some of the new arrivals are coming from Florida, Texas and New Mexico — not as a product of red-state governors’ migrant transport programs, but through the help of unidentified “organizations” that have provided migrants plane tickets to Boston and other major cities.

— It’s unclear how much more money the Legislature is going to give the governor to prop up the shelter system. Healey has asked for another $250 million, but Mariano said representatives are “still searching for some answers” on the finances and mechanics of the shelter system and want “hard numbers” on the scope of the crisis before moving forward with her request.

— Legislative leaders don't seem interested in retooling the “right-to-shelter” law. Mariano said the topic hasn’t come up in his discussions with other representatives. Spilka signaled that she doesn't think of it as a solution to the worsening shelter situation. More from the Boston Globe’s Matt Stout.

From left: Gov. Maura Healey, House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka in a more lighthearted moment from Tuesday's leadership meeting. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE — Depending on which publication you’re reading, this year’s MCAS scores are either “bleak” (The Boston Globe) or “offer hope of a recovery” (WBUR).

From the State House News Service’s Sam Drysdale (paywall): “In English and math, students in grades three through eight are still about 10 percentage points behind where they were in 2019, prior to learning losses from remote school and other pandemic challenges. However, achievement levels in these subjects either went up or stayed the same compared to last year's results across all grades.”

— “Board approves first updated sex ed standards in decades,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Magazine: “Under the new guidelines, students should be receiving comprehensive health education that is inclusive of LGBTQ identities, emphasizes consent and safe sexual and personal boundaries, and highlights modern understandings of mental and emotional health, including the impacts of social media and increased usage of personal internet-connected devices.”

— “BPS on track to avoid state takeover, Wu tells education board,” by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald.

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— “AG makes push for powers to crack down on wage theft,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “A pair of bills filed by Rep. Daniel Donahue and Sen. Sal DiDomenico heard by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on Tuesday would empower the Attorney General to take action on behalf of employees seeking lost wages and allow her office to investigate complaints of wage theft and take civil action against employers who steal from their staff.”

— “Some RMV driving-related info could again become public under proposed regulations,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Some information found on driving records could again see the light of day under proposed regulations from Attorney General Andrea Campbell that attempt to clarify what documents are considered public records after the implementation of an immigrant driver’s license law this summer. But it is unclear if entire driving records will be accessible to the public.”

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ENDORSEMENT CORNER — House Democratic Whip Rep. Katherine Clark has endorsed Breanna Lungo-Koehn for reelection as mayor of Medford.

— Springfield City Councilor Justin Hurst continues to consolidate support from his former rivals as he tries to unseat Mayor Domenic Sarno in November. State Rep. Orlando Ramos has now joined psychotherapist David Ciampi in endorsing Hurst in the general election.

— “Mayoral challengers have not always voted in local elections,” by Paul Leighton, Salem News: “Two candidates for mayor who have criticized low voter turnouts in Beverly have skipped the voting booth themselves in some recent local elections, according to city records."

— “Workers say Red Line train ignored a warning and blew by them at 25 mph on Monday, according to report,” by Taylor Dolven and Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: “The worker safety crisis at the MBTA seems to be getting worse. Two new reports of subway trains coming dangerously close to employees came to light Tuesday, including a near-miss on Monday when a flagger apparently signaled for a Red Line train to stop only to have the driver blow past the track workers at 25 miles per hour.”

— “Governors, including Healey, raise concerns about offshore wind pricing,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “In a letter to President Biden, the governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland said offshore wind is facing cost increases that threaten new and previous procurements.”

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— “Woman sentenced to probation for racial incident involving Muslim Melrose city councilor,” by Maggie Scales, Boston Globe: “A woman accused of racially harassing a Muslim Melrose city councilor and assaulting her husband at a gas station nine months ago was sentenced Tuesday to six months probation and ordered to take a course on anti-Islamophobia during a hearing in Malden District Court.”

— “Chicopee School Committee member pushes idea of allowing students in Gateway cities to attend community college for free,” by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican: “[Chicopee School Committee member Tim] Wagner is working to get a coalition of school committees and others to join forces and petition [Gov. Maura] Healey to extend the MassReconnect program to include those under 25. He will ask his own School Committee to endorse the plan Wednesday.”

— “Housing costs hit historic median price,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Massachusetts housing costs are continuing to rise, with the median price of a single-family home hitting a record $600,000 in August, according to a new report.”

— “Worcester City Council tables crisis pregnancy center ordinances another week,” by Kiernan Dunlop, MassLive.

— “Northeastern among sites chosen by CDC to establish ‘National Weather Service’ for infectious disease,” by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe.

— “Voters pick 2 finalists for mayoral race in Manchester, N.H.,” by Steven Porter, Boston Globe: “The four-way mayoral primary was nonpartisan, but the two candidates who advanced after Tuesday’s vote were the ones with clear backing from each party’s establishment players. [Republican] Jay Ruais and [Democrat] Kevin Cavanaugh will face off in the Nov. 7 general election."

— New Hampshire Democrats also flipped a state House seat in a special election yesterday, a win that puts them one step closer to catching up with the Republican majority, Madison Fernandez writes in. Following Democrat Hal Rafter’s win over Republican James Guzofski, Republicans will have a 198-197 majority. Another state House special election — which Democrats are favored to win — in November could create a 198-198 deadlock in the chamber.

A message from Choose Who You Use:

Last winter, customers of Massachusetts utility companies saw the largest electric rate increases in recent memory. If those customers had contracted with a retail electric provider instead, they would have saved close to a billion dollars. Competition means more choices for consumers. Now is not the moment to give the utility companies a bigger monopoly. Join the Choose Who You Use coalition to protect electricity choice and give Massachusetts ratepayers the ability to choose the most affordable, renewable options for them.

TRANSITIONS — Gov. Maura Healey has appointed Harvard professor Danielle Allen, who was briefly one of her opponents in last year’s race for governor, to the state’s Board of Higher Education. Healey also appointed Harneen Chernow and Christina Royal to the panel, and reappointed Chris Gabrieli as its chair.

— Matthew Brett is now general counsel for 2Life Communities.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley, former congressional candidate and MassDPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein and Vanessa Kirsch.

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