Why two senators may be in Boston mayor’s crosshairs

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With her reelection squared away, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu may be turning her attention to the Senate.

No, not that one. The state Senate on Beacon Hill.

Boston insiders say the mayor, who crushed her preliminary opponents on the way to a second-term win in November, appears interested in helping candidates, if they emerge and run against a pair of state senators who helped kill her property tax shift proposal, Will Brownsberger and Nick Collins.

Collins represents South Boston and Dorchester, along with Chinatown and parts of downtown Boston and the South End; Brownsberger has a Belmont-anchored district that stretches down through Watertown into Boston’s Allston-Brighton and Fenway neighborhoods. Both are up for reelection next year.

"The mayor hasn't spoken to any candidates about next year's elections," a spokesperson for Wu’s political operation said in a statement.

“First I’ve heard,” said Brownsberger, who was first elected in 2012 and hasn’t faced a challenger in over a decade. He said he is focused on his job and confirmed he is running for reelection next year.

A member of Senate leadership as president pro tem, he noted that he supported Wu in the last election. “People don’t always agree on everything, but that’s never been a barrier to me supporting other people.”

An extensive listing of endorsements on Wu’s campaign website left off Brownsberger while including most of his Senate colleagues and House lawmakers representing Boston.

Collins won his last Democratic primary challenge in 2024 with 80% of the vote. He did not publicly endorse a candidate in the mayoral election. Wu won most of his Senate district, with the exception of nine precincts that went to Josh Kraft in South Boston and Dorchester.

A Collins spokesperson said the senator is running for reelection with the “broad coalition of support” he’s had in past campaigns, and shared an invite to an upcoming fundraiser listing a dozen elected officials on the host committee, including House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, a Wu ally.

During the 2024 debate over Wu’s property tax shift proposal, the legislation stalled and then died in the Senate after clearing the City Council and the House twice. The proposal would have temporarily shifted more of the property tax burden over to commercial properties to avoid a spike in residential tax bills.

Senate President Karen Spilka demanded that Wu obtain approval from pro-business groups, and Collins and Brownsberger questioned numbers released by city officials in support of the proposal. Wu noted they kept shifting goal posts and never gave it a vote.

Boston mayors have a history of keeping score and getting involved in local and state politics. Wu has fared better than some of her predecessors, though she has notched some losses, including her preferred candidate for attorney general (Shannon Liss-Riordan).

But while her mentor Tom Menino tended to operate by proxy, Wu has personally campaigned for candidates she supports. In a 2023 City Council race, she knocked on doors at night, sent city workers into the district, and annexed a real estate company’s office in an effort to oust incumbent Ricardo Arroyo and elect former aide Enrique Pepen. Pepen ended up topping the ticket, securing a seat he still holds today.

Well, this could make next year’s St. Patrick’s Day breakfast roast, which the state senator from South Boston traditionally hosts, more awkward than usual. Who do you think was the best host since Bill Bulger’s retirement? Let me know: [email protected].

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HAPPENING TODAY

8:30 | The Health Policy Commission holds its annual Health Care Cost Trends hearing. Attorney General Andrea Campbell provides opening remarks. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mass. Foundation CEO Audrey Shelto and HPC Executive Director David Seltz give "grounding research presentations." Panel discussions follow. | Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont St., Boston | Register

9:00 | The Boston Foundation hosts release of the 2025 Greater Boston Housing Report Card, which features a core metrics section that highlights the region’s trajectory toward meeting a state housing goal of 222,000 new units by 2035. | Edgerley Center for Civic Leadership at the Boston Foundation, 75 Arlington St., Boston

10:00 | Gov. Maura Healey attends the Massachusetts Girls in Trades 10th annual eastern conference. | IBEW Local 103, 256 Freeport St., Dorchester

10:00 | The Massachusetts Association of Approved Special Education Schools marks 50 years of the civil rights law known as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, modeled after a 1972 Massachusetts law. Attendees include Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Rep. Alice Peisch, Sen. Michael Rodrigues. | EMK Institute for the U.S. Senate, 210 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester

AARP thanks the Massachusetts House for passing H.4706, An Act to Improve Massachusetts Home Care, creating the state’s first Family Caregiver Commission. During National Family Caregivers Month, we urge the Senate to pass this vital bill and give the state’s 1.4 million caregivers the support they deserve. Learn more: aarp.org/ma

JUDGE WHO RESIGNED OVER TRUMP SIGNS WITH LAW FIRM

Days after penning a piece for The Atlantic citing Donald Trump’s threat to the rule of law and democracy as the reason for his retirement from the bench, former U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf has landed a boutique law firm. Wolf, who was appointed by President Reagan in 1985, has joined Todd & Weld.

Howard Cooper, a founding partner at the 50-lawyer firm, said he has known the judge professionally, but not personally for decades. Cooper said talks started over the summer about Wolf leaving the bench for the reasons he eventually outlined in The Atlantic.

Wolf joins as senior counsel, and he will help with strategizing about cases and teaching younger lawyers. “He also has other interests that relate to what he’s clearly labeled the preservation of the rule of law,” Cooper said.

During the first administration, the firm filed one of the first cases, along with other attorneys, challenging the separation of children from parents at the American border. Recently, they’ve started working with Democracy Defenders Fund, co-founded by Norm Eisen, and filed amicus briefs on behalf of retired judges and prosecutors in the Trump administration’s prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James.

“We’re hopeful we’ll be able to step up and there will be meaningful opportunities to contribute,” Cooper said.

Wolf was a senior judge when he resigned, a status meaning that Trump is unable to nominate someone to replace him. “That’s the first thing I asked him. You’re not going to leave an open seat in Massachusetts, are you?” Cooper quipped.

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FROM BEACON HILL

FIRED HEALEY AIDE: Questions persist about how a former Healey administration aide in western Massachusetts was hired and who was behind the hiring. LaMar Cook was fired after he was arrested for drug trafficking. – MassLive

HOUSE ENERGY BILL: House lawmakers on the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee have until today to vote on a 105-section bill that would cut back on the Mass Save program and link clean energy regulations and requirements to new affordability standards. – State House News Service

NEWS NEXT DOOR

BISHOP BLASTS ICE: The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fall River is criticizing federal immigration officials, saying if they want to deport criminals, “go right ahead,” but dividing families and taking parents away from children will backfire on the government. – New Bedford Light

FERRY EXPANSION: MassDOT and MBTA officials are eyeing possible new ferry routes to Everett, Chelsea, Salem and Gloucester. A 12-month study will review the potential for the new routes and expanding current ones. – StreetsBlogMass

COLLEGE CLOSURES: New England colleges are closing at a faster rate over the last decade, as they’ve faced demographic shifts and declining enrollment amid high operational costs. – Boston Business Journal

WORCESTER HOUSING: Worcester must create 12,000 new housing units by 2033 in order to meet demand, according to an analysis. – MassLive

WU IN CANADA: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Tuesday attended a ceremony honoring fallen service members as part of Canada’s annual Remembrance Day. The mayor is in Halifax to participate in a tree-cutting ceremony Wednesday. The tree is headed to Boston Common, an annual thank-you from Halifax to Boston for sending relief after a 1917 explosion. – NBC Boston

MBTA COMMUNITIES: A developer has reworked plans for more than 700 apartments south of the terminus of the Red Line, in Braintree’s first proposal under the MBTA Communities Act. – Patriot Ledger

Big Pharma has a new scheme that will make them even more money: undermining patients' bargaining power and blaming anyone who gets in their way. If we want to solve the Rx cost crisis, we need to hold Big Pharma accountable. To find out how, go to saveourbenefitsma.org.

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