Why Ayanna Pressley opted against U.S. Senate run

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When Ayanna Pressley faced off against ten-term Congressman Michael Capuano in the 2018 Democratic primary, her winning campaign slogan was “Change can’t wait.” 

A 44-year-old Boston city councilor, she trounced him in the city and neighboring Cambridge, and came within 137 votes of beating the 66-year-old lawmaker in his former stronghold of Somerville. In an interview with WBUR after the election, she said the Democratic Party was in an “identity crisis” as it grappled with President Trump, then in his first term. “Ultimately, this was a generational shift,” she told the radio station.

So it was not a surprise that insiders felt a nagging sense of deja vu in the last six months, as rumors came and went in waves and Ed Markey, who turns 80 next year, geared up for reelection: Ayanna Pressley could run for U.S. Senate, maybe? 

Another wave crested after Rep. Seth Moulton, a more moderate Democrat from Salem, got into the race, citing Markey’s age as his main argument for running. What about Ayanna?

The answer came on a rainy Tuesday, when she started making phone calls: Change can, in fact, wait. In a statement blasted out to reporters, Pressley said she would run for reelection to Congress.

The chattering of dozens of consultants, candidates and reporters was silenced as the possibility of an open Congressional seat – covering half of Boston – evaporated.

In retrospect, and in private moments, insiders acknowledged a Pressley for Senate run was more unlikely than likely. 2026 is not 2018, when she had a City Council seat to go back to if she lost to Capuano. She would have had to give up her Congressional seat this time.

Then there was the question of money. She had $147,000 in her campaign account, though others noted that she could have quickly raised money if she’d given the signal she was in.

And then there was Markey. He had been moving quickly – some would say spryly –  to lock down support earlier this year from unions and lawmakers. He was, and is, everywhere, and if he wasn’t, one of his top aides, Jim Cantwell, was. Markey and Pressley also frequently appeared together at press conferences condemning the Trump administration for this and that, hardly the behavior of two soon-to-be rivals.

In her note to supporters, Pressley raised something else that she had pointed to in private as she acknowledged she was looking at U.S. Senate and fielding calls to jump in. “This is also my daughter Cora’s senior year of high school and last year at home before she heads off to college,” she wrote. “I want to be able to sit around the dinner table as a family and attend her dance team performances. You just don’t get moments like those back.”

She has the name recognition, carries the potential to change the electorate, as happened in the battle with Capuano, and has a high likelihood of marshaling support from one of the Democratic Party’s top leaders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

But change can wait, Pressley essentially said this week. The natural follow-up to that is the question of how long.

Did Rep. Pressley make the right call? And what will the primary for Elizabeth Warren’s seat, whether it’s 2030 or sooner, look like? Feel free to shoot me an email with your take: [email protected].

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.....2026 initiative petition supporters need to file at least 74,574 certified signatures with Secretary of State William Galvin's office by Wednesday. Next stop is the Legislature before additional hurdles......

7:30 | The annual North Shore and Merrimack Valley Holiday Toy Drive returns with a live broadcast tour featuring 14 locations. Guests available for interviews include Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, and members of the police and fire departments. | Capitol Diner 431 Union St, Lynn | More info and Livestream

8:30 | Auditor Diana DiZoglio attends the Massachusetts Conference for Women. |  Menino Convention and Exhibition Center, 415 Summer St, Boston

10:00 | Gov. Maura Healey’s “Competitiveness Council” kicks off with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, cabinet members, and co-chairs Dan Kenary and Mark Nunnelly. | Room 157, State House, Boston

10:00 | The MassDOT Board of Directors meets. | 10 Park Plaza, MassDOT Board Room, Boston | More Info

1:15 | Gov. Maura Healey holds media availability ahead of 1:30 p.m. convening with DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, pediatricians, care providers, public health staff, community partners, state leaders, autism experts and others "for a discussion about the importance of preserving access to safe, effective and life-saving vaccines, especially for children," according to the governor's office. | Public Health Council Room (second floor), Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston

2:00 | Attorney General Andrea Campbell gives opening remarks at AGO’s “Train the Trainer” summit on cryptocurrency scams. The event is closed press. | Virtual Event

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is renewing a push for Beacon Hill lawmakers, who are on a holiday break, to approve her property tax shift proposal. She is pointing to projections that indicate residents are facing double-digit tax increases while commercial values decline.

Her proposal would temporarily shift more of the tax burden onto commercial properties to avoid a spike in residential taxes. Senators blocked the measure in 2024, questioning the need for it. Earlier this year, Wu and city councilors again sent the measure up to Beacon Hill, but senators, who are up for reelection next year, have kept it in limbo.

“With taxes for the average single family home projected to be up by 34% from 2023 to 2026, residents are facing serious financial hardship,” Wu wrote in a letter to city councilors providing an update on the topic.

Without the tax shift, the average increase in 2026 for homeowners will be 13%, or $780, she added, while the tax bill for the average class A office tower is set to drop 4.4%, or $210,000. Property tax bills will be mailed out on Jan. 1.

On the budgetary front, as fiscal year 2027 approaches, Wu has asked city departments to propose budgets that are 2% below the current fiscal year.

Wu sent a separate letter to leaders of business-backed groups, including the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, which had backed away from supporting her proposal last year. She asked for them to return to their support for the proposal. “[A]llowing continued double-digit residential property tax increases threatens to weaken our economic prospects and our ability to remain a talent hub,” she wrote.

RENT CONTROL QUESTION: Organizers of a ballot question to bring back rent control to Massachusetts delivered more than 90,000 certified signatures to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office, after collecting more than 124,000. Opponents say they plan to spend $30 million to defeat the measure if it clears other hurdles and makes it onto the ballot. – WBUR and Contrarian Boston

PUBLIC DEFENDERS: A new group is set to lobby the corridors of Beacon Hill. Headed by Sean Delaney, the Massachusetts Association of Private Appointed Counsel will prioritize increasing pay for private attorneys who represent indigent defendants. – Eagle-Tribune

FLOOD DISCLOSURE: Gov. Maura Healey has proposed a requirement for flood risk disclosure when property owners sell a home. Massachusetts is one of 14 states in the country that does not require flood disclosures. – CommonWealth Beacon

TEACHER TENURE: A bill that would place teacher seniority behind bilingual capabilities and high performance, proposed by national nonprofit Educators for Excellence, drew criticism from Senate Education Committee’s Jason Lewis and the union Massachusetts Teachers Association. – State House News Service

TROOPER TROUBLE: Michael Gagnon, a State Police trooper, was charged with assaulting a child and domestic assault and battery by the Plymouth County DA’s office. The State Police have suspended him without pay. – Boston Herald

GUARANTEED INCOME PILOT: Fifty-three Brookline residents have started receiving monthly payments as part of a guaranteed income program that provides $750 checks to low-income housing residents. The program will run for a year. – Brookline.News

HOTEL TAXES: Tax collections from hotels and short-term rentals are up despite a tough year for tourism, with 250,000 fewer visitors this year. – Boston Business Journal

Mayor Wu’s trip to Nova Scotia cost more than $13,000

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