Gov. Healey is considering removing obesity medication coverage from the state employee health plan in her upcoming budget. Cutting treatment would jeopardize progress for thousands and harm workforce health. Urge the Governor to protect access to GLP-1s and treat obesity like any other chronic disease. Use our quick tool to send your message today.
If you want a sense of how the GOP primary to dislodge Democrat Maura Healey from the governor’s office is going, take a look at several releases from the three Republican candidates that recently came over the transom.
The three candidates – former medical device executive Mike Minogue and former Baker administration officials Mike Kennealy and Brian Shortsleeve – have been caught in a crossfire inside a phone booth. They’re pouring their own cash into their efforts as they also attempt to take aim at Healey.
Inside the booth, the hostilities aren’t going well. Kennealy’s campaign issued a memo Tuesday claiming that Shortsleeve and Minogue are “buying votes to rig” polls on Twitter, the site currently known as X.
“It is frankly concerning and embarrassing that two Republican primary candidates seeking to be flag-bearers of the party that champions election integrity are actively rigging social media polls to mask their lack of grassroots support,” wrote Logan Trupiano, Kennealy’s communications director.
Online polls aren’t scientific, but the results can show up in fundraising emails anyway. Kennealy’s campaign has issued other releases on other topics, but the memo, with a detailed rebuttal of several results, underscored a dynamic that the Kennealy camp felt compelled to respond to.
In the other corner, Shortsleeve’s camp has focused on LaMar Cook, the former Healey aide who is accused of trafficking drugs. It’s been a gift that keeps on giving, with the Boston Herald breaking the news this week that the Healey administration mistakenly paid out $31,000 in unused vacation time to Cook.
Drugs and money make for a potent story mix, but whether it can be sustained into the summer and fall is another matter. The fragmentation of media consumption means scandals come and go quickly. Patterns, vibes and party loyalty matter more, while media influence is overstated. The online sermons from the left and the right often decry media bias, but the simpler explanation for the alleged bias may be that newsrooms are indifferent to orthodoxies and sacred texts from party clerics and their true believers.
As for Minogue, the wealthy medical device exec, his camp issued a release boasting the “strongest financial position in the race, out-raising and out-funding opponents for the third consecutive month and reporting 2-6x cash on hand.” The big asterisk: He poured in $5.5 million of his own money. (For what it’s worth, Shortsleeve is the least self-funded candidate, according to his campaign.)
As November approaches, the usual caveats apply as we’re in early innings. Healey’s camp recently conducted a survey of voters, according to campaign finance filings, but they haven’t publicly released it.
Maybe a Twitter/X poll is in order.
Who do you think has the best shot of topping the Republican primary for governor? Send me your thoughts here: [email protected].
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HAPPENING TODAY
10:00 | The Massachusetts Gaming Commission holds a virtual public meeting. The agenda includes a commissioner update and commissioners plan to hear second quarter reports from sports wagering operators Bally's, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel and Penn Sports Interactive. | More Info and Access
10:00 | Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners holds a hybrid board meeting. The agenda includes a presentation and discussion of the fiscal year 2027 plan and service program and budgets for both the Massachusetts Library System and Massachusetts Center for the Book and consideration of approval of municipalities meeting the requirements for the fiscal year 2026 state aid. | MBLC Offices Suite 500 at 90 Canal St., Boston | More Info and Zoom
11:00 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the city’s Age Strong Commission host “Bloom Boston: A Floral Design Event” for older adults as part of 2026 inauguration week. | Union Church, 485 Columbus Ave., Boston
2:00 | Gov. Maura Healey announces action to "protect Massachusetts residents from health care cost increases" following the expiration of so-called Federal Enhanced Premium Tax Credits under the Affordable Care Act. The governor's office said hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents who get health insurance through the Mass. Health Connector relied on the credits to help afford their coverage. Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah and Health Connector Executive Director Audrey Morse Gasteier also participate. | Room 157, State House, Boston
FROM BEACON HILL
CONVENTION CENTER HIRE: John Barros, former Boston mayoral candidate and former mayor Marty Walsh’s economic development chief, is in line to be the next head of the Mass. Convention Center Authority, sources say. – State House News Service
NIH FUNDING: Total National Institutes for Health (NIH) funding for Massachusetts dropped 3.7% in 2025 from the previous year, according to a MassBio report which said the decrease was smaller than expected. – Boston Business Journal
SHERIFFS PROBE: Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro is looking for financial data and communications with top Beacon Hill officials in his investigation of Massachusetts sheriffs. – WBUR
2026 CAMPAIGN FIX
WAR POWERS VOTES: As senators consider a war powers resolution on Venezuela, Rep. Seth Moulton is criticizing Sen. Ed Markey’s vote as a House member in 2002 to support the use of force in Iraq, and his vote to confirm Marco Rubio as President Trump’s secretary of state. – Gloucester Times
WARREN DONATIONS: Sen. Elizabeth Warren has cut checks to nearly two dozen state Democratic parties with the goal of boosting them ahead of the 2026 midterms. The money is going to 23 states, including Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. – POLITICO
NEWS NEXT DOOR
ICE CONDEMNATION: Massachusetts officials are condemning ICE after one of the immigration agency’s officers shot and killed a woman. “ICE just murdered a woman in Minnesota in broad daylight,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley said. – WCVB
BOSTON REAL ESTATE: Two reports show mixed, but slightly positive signals, for real estate in the Boston area, pointing to office space possibly turning a post-pandemic corner. – Boston Business Journal
COLLEGE CLOSURES: Massachusetts has seen 11 college closures and mergers since 2016, a new analysis says. That places Massachusetts third nationwide, but the analysis does not include several such a branch campus of Bard College. – MassLive
PLYMOUTH POLICIES: Plymouth’s select board spent five hours debating immigration policies in front of a packed Town Hall crowd. The board voted unanimously not to change policies, after the police chief noted policies that already restrict officers aiding in immigration enforcement crackdowns. – Plymouth Independent
SPRINGFIELD COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Tracye Whitfield took a “winding path” to the Springfield City Council presidency. The first woman of color to serve in the role, she was once a city finance department employee who got a seat on the body after a councilor resigned to become the mayor’s chief of staff. – Western Mass. Politics and Insight
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CFO/Director of Administration & Finance, City of Framingham
Chief External Affairs Officer, YMCA Greater Boston
Director of Climate Policy, City of Boston
Deputy Administrator, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority
Government Affairs Assistant, NAIOP Massachusetts, The Commercial Real Estate Development Association
Chief of Staff, SEIU Local 509
Statewide Community College Apprenticeship Coordinator, Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges
Transportation Planner I or II, Northern Middlesex Council of Governments
