We’re down to the wire, readers!
We are just four days away from the primary election. I’m sending this from the backseat of a car on the Mass Pike, driven by a wonderful volunteer, heading back from Wilbraham, Massachusetts after a successful canvass for Michael Lachenmeyer in the 12th Hampden. All across the state, folks have been turning out to knock doors, phonebank, flyer, and tell their neighbors about candidates who have committed to a mission of transparency and accountability in the state house. We are just four days away from the primary election. I’m sending this from the backseat of a car on the Mass Pike, driven by a wonderful volunteer, heading back from Wilbraham, Massachusetts after a successful canvass for Michael Lachenmeyer in the 12th Hampden. All across the state, folks have been turning out to knock doors, phonebank, flyer, and tell their neighbors about candidates who have committed to a mission of transparency and accountability in the state house.
Candidates themselves have told me that transparency is one of the main issues they’re hearing from voters on the doors: where is the audit we voted for? Why aren’t they getting anything done in Boston? Is it true that the Speaker gets to choose their salaries? (Yes.) Trump is attacking our state, why aren’t they doing more?
It’s clear to me: our movement is growing, and the powers that be are scared.
We’ve got just four more days to turn that growing movement into electoral power at the ballot box. If we can elect a slate of progressive transparency champions to the legislature, we’ll have more allies within the building who can file reform legislation and work collectively to spotlight and stand up to leadership’s crooked practices.
Our dream of a functional, democratic, and transparent legislature is within reach. Here’s what we’ll be doing in the last few days—can you join us?
TUESDAY 1 – 4 PM: Canvass for Lorena Betts in Chelmsford!
TOMORROW 10 AM – 12 PM: Canvass for Evan MacKay in Cambridge! *now at Porter Square*
Canvass launch in Wilbraham!
State House Scoop
Tuesday’s primary is a referendum on the Beacon Hill status quo
Massachusetts’ primary election is coming in the midst of a national reckoning with the cruelty and abuses committed by the Trump administration since January 2025. Like many progressive Americans, I have struggled opening the news each morning to witness the carnage, violence, and economic devastation that Trump and his cronies have wrought on our nation, our institutions, and on people across the globe who should not suffer for our political choices.
It’s a time when many have looked to the Democratic party—the opposition party—for leadership and active mobilization against the worst of Trump’s policies. Many feel that the Democratic establishment has come up short, in D.C. and Massachusetts. The national Democratic Party’s favorability rating among Democrats has taken a record slump in the last two years, with many attributing this to frustration with the party’s Trump response. At home, Massachusetts’ congressional delegation is facing the highest number of challengers in more than a decade, with six out of nine seats contested.
In other states, we are already seeing this play out in upset elections in Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, and Florida—just to name a few. Said one Democratic strategist: “the through line between these races isn’t ideology. It’s impatience with this political system that feels disconnected from the urgency voters feel.” Challenger Luke Bronin, who defeated a 14-term congressional incumbent in Connecticut, was direct: “if leaders in our party don’t recognize that we need to make changes, then the changes are going to come from the ground up.”
We need that ground-up change here in Massachusetts too. Since last January, blue states across the country have jumped to action to pass new state laws to protect their citizens from the actions of the Trump administration. Yet, as we’ve written over and over and over in the Saturday Scoop, our legislature’s “Trump response” was characterized by delay and excuses, conveying none of the urgency that Bay Staters have been feeling. During the entirety of last year, the state house passed just one law that directly responded to the threats of the Trump administration: the Reproductive Shield Act. It was one of just eight total statewide policy laws passed last year.
Last month, legislators finally finalized the PROTECT Act to codify immigrant protections and restrict the cooperation of state employees with ICE. We were thrilled that our state will finally have laws on the books to protect immigrants. Still, it is frustrating that it took our Democratic supermajority legislature 14 years to get there. Also, after years of waiting, relief would have been welcome in early 2025 when violent ICE raids first began sweeping the state. Instead, legislators waited 1.5 years until the last day of session to finalize this law. The new law will still leave us as the only blue state in the country with a state level contract with ICE.
Meanwhile, despite housing being the #1 issue of concern for Bay Staters, the legislature failed to pass a single policy bill tackling the housing crisis. At the last minute, the House tacked a few housing provisions onto the “kitchen sink” economic development package that passed in July; the Senate opted for different provisions, so it is unclear which (if any) will emerge from the conference committee, or when. As a young person who has written about my own struggles with the housing crisis, I find this lack of concern indefensible.
With a Democratic supermajority, in times like these, we need a legislature that can act with urgency and strength to tackle the issues facing voters. Unfortunately, these are just a few examples of how our current legislative culture is allergic to desperately needed change.
I was recently speaking with a friend of mine who is a state house staffer, who spoke openly about the frustration of working close to the center of power in our state and yet seeing their weekly efforts accomplish nothing. As they put it: “on every issue, it’s preferable [for legislators] to disappoint people by not taking action, than to take action and risk anger from opponents that could result in an election challenge.” Take it from an insider!
When legislators send a bill “to study” instead of voting it down, it is this dynamic at play. They can tell supporters that the policy is still being considered, but needs another session to get it across the line. They can tell opponents that the policy is dead, and kick the can down the road while ensuring re-election. All the while, donations from corporate interests like the real estate industry (the largest source of donations to the campaign accounts of Beacon Hill leaders!) keep flowing.
All that to say: Tuesday’s primary presents us with an incredible opportunity to challenge a broken political culture. I like the way that policy blogger Dr. Elijah Miller put it in his article about the state rep race in Cambridge. He points out that “Cambridge already possesses a progressive electorate, but Massachusetts does not reliably convert progressive majorities into progressive government,” thanks to “concentrated power inside an opaque legislature [and] a political culture that rewards access over public conflict.” In other words, it is no longer sufficient to judge a candidate purely from their progressive policy positions. In order to see actual action, we need progressive candidates who are also willing to critique and confront the political system that has kept those policies from becoming law for decades.
I am thrilled that so many candidates have chosen to take up that mantle this year. We have the opportunity to elect a crop of new legislators who are not just progressive, but willing to openly mobilize against the power structure that prevents progress. Those allies can introduce reform legislation, force public votes on key progressive issues, and leak stories to the press and the public about what’s really going on behind the scenes. Facing entrenched power structures, their strength will be in numbers: the more transparency champions we can elect, the stronger they will be together.
Reform-minded candidates who unseat an incumbent will also have another tool under their belt: familiarity with “public conflict.” Unlike incumbents who have gone decades without a challenger, they will not fear a competitive election, because they’ll know they can win one. They will not prefer disappointing their constituents. And it’s our job to make sure it stays that way.
If you’re in a district with a contested election, I hope you will vote for a candidate who is ready to challenge the status quo. With our endorsed candidates, Act on Mass has eight fantastic suggestions. For other districts, you can look to see which candidates in your district have signed the Every District Accountable pledge. What organizations and individuals have endorsed them? Do they seem aware of the problems in the legislature? Or content to ignore them?
We need legislators that are actively engaged and accountable to tackle both the threats of the Trump administration and the affordability crisis which are squeezing Bay Staters at both ends. Tell your neighbors and friends: the status quo is not cutting it. On Tuesday, vote for change!
| Missed a Scoop or two? You can find a full archive of all past Saturday Scoops on our blog. |
Take Action
Support Act on Mass’ endorsed candidates!
Take action by signing up to knock doors, phonebook, or get a yard sign for one of our endorsed candidates this weekend!
- Michael Lachenmeyer, 12th Hampden: sign up here
- Ravi Simon, 13th Middlesex: sign up here
- Evan MacKay, 25th Middlesex, sign up here
- Alison Leary, 10th Middlesex: sign up here
- Lorena Betts, 16th Middlesex: sign up here
- Daniel Lander, Suffolk & Middlesex: sign up here
- Persis Yu, Norfolk & Suffolk: sign up here
- Mike Zullas, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol: sign up here
Thanks for reading and for supporting Act on Mass! Here’s hoping that we will have many victories to celebrate on Tuesday night.
Scotia
Scotia Hille (she/her)
Executive Director, Act on Mass