The Horse Race

4/7/21-- This week, Steve, Jennifer, and Stephanie discuss the #bospoli news that Acting Mayor of Boston Kim Janey is in fact running for full-term mayor. She made the announcement Tuesday morning, alongside the release of a campaign ad that speaks to Boston's long history of white male leaders as well as her promises to address issues such as housing and income inequality. She will have been mayor for eight months by the time the election rolls around, giving her a significant incumbency advantage over her peers also running for the office.

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And speaking of running for office, former state senator and once-co-host of The Horse Race Ben Downing stopped by the virtual bunker to discuss his officially campaign for Governor. The Democrat also recently released his climate plan that he says goes further than the recently passed legislation under the Baker administration.

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Finally, Stephanie asks pollster Steve and law scholar Jennifer about the recent Supreme Court decision that allows the use of auto-dialers to cell phones. The move significantly shifts the polling landscape and is a resolution that has come after a decade of litigation and millions of dollars spent.

Full transcript here: https://www.massincpolling.com/the-topline/episode-176-born-to-be-dialed

3/31/21--After weeks of COVID cases on the decline in Massachusetts, data show that they are on the uptick. Not just here in the Bay State, but in states across the nation. This week CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said she felt a sense of "impending doom" and stressed the necessity for people to "hold on a little while longer."

In #mapoli news, state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz has said she's "seriously considering" a run for governor in 2022, which brings Steve to take a look at the most recent approval ratings for Governor Baker out from Suffolk University and the Boston Globe. He explains the context behind the governor's high ratings.

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We're joined this week by two guests. Ally Jarmanning, senior reporter for WBUR, covered the recently published report out of Suffolk County that found not prosecuting low-level crimes led to less crime overall.

Then, State Director at Climate XChange for Massachusetts Tim Cronin stops by to break down the landmark climate bill that was just passed into law late last week.

3/24/21-- It's a momentous day in Boston as the city swore in its first non-white non-male mayor in Kim Janey. Stephanie Murray says it's "hard to overstate" just how historic the moment is, as Janey takes on the new role in a ceremony including Ayanna Pressley and Kimberly Budd who are Massachusetts history-makers as well.

Later, Stephanie and Steve are joined by outgoing mayor of Lynn, Tom McGee. McGee is one of eight Massachusetts mayors who won't be seeking re-election this year. The news comes as we enter the second year of the pandemic. McGee says the past three years have felt like 25. While he has no plans for the future, he's certain that stepping away from the mayor's office will not mean discontinuing his passion -- working to make change for the better of his community.

Full transcript here: https://www.massincpolling.com/the-topline/episode-174-mayor-may-not

Full transcript: https://www.massincpolling.com/the-topline/episode-173-orange-you-glad-we-didnt-say-red-line

3/17/21-- Happy St. Paddy's Day, listeners! All three co-hosts are back in the virtual bunker, and there's a whole lot to discuss. The Baker administration announced Wednesday the timeline for all remaining groups to receive the vaccine. In not so pleasant news, the Orange Line derailed. Steve brings up the grim award the MBTA carries for ranking high on a list of transit systems with the most derailments.

We're joined this week by Danielle Allen, a Harvard professor who has announced she is exploring a run for Governor. She explains what she sees as the divided nature of the commonwealth and discusses her views on transit, the economy, and education.

Later, MassINC Polling Group Research Director Maeve Duggan stops by to break down the results of the latest MPG poll of parents of K-12 students in Massachusetts. According to the data, parents are split over whether the state should focus on getting all kids back into school full-time or work on improving remote school.

3/10/21--This week, Jenn and Stephanie discuss the Baker administration's announcement of a new vaccine preregistration system. The centralized tool allows people to preregister for a vaccine appointment in any of the state's seven mass vaccination sites.

Jenn is also keeping an eye on the continued tensions in state leadership, where, after a year of Governor Baker operating under a state of emergency, she describes an "active effort by a few state legislators to hem in Baker’s emergency power."

We're joined this International Women's Week by two excellent reporters. The first is CommonWealth Magazine's Sarah Betancourt, who broke a story surrounding a 2017 provision designed to increase women's access to birth control by allowing them to receive a 12-month supply all at once. Sarah discovered that very few people knew this provision existed, and when some women had tried to take advantage of it, they were often met with obstacles.

Later, Melissa Hanson of MassLIVE has been covering schools' reactions the announcement that Massachusetts elementary schools are to return to in-person learning on April 5. She details the Worcester Public School district's attempt to get a waiver to delay the full-time in-person transition.

3/3/21--Stephanie and Jenn regroup in the virtual pod bunker, starting the episode with a quick recap of a special election. Jeff Turco pulled off a victory in the 19th Suffolk district Democratic primary to replace Bob DeLeo. Stephanie breaks down the contributing factors to Turco's win, including the fallout from allegations of sexual misconduct aimed at then-candidate Tino Capobianco.

Later, the hosts are joined by a pair of student journalists who covered the COVID outbreak and breakdown at UMass Amherst at the beginning of the spring semester. Cassie McGrath and Will Katcher describe a scene in which thousands of students were welcomed back to campus without preparations in place prevent and/or treat a massive spike in COVID-19 cases. The fallout has left many students with a bad taste in their mouths and the university with an image to clean up.

2/24/21-- A year ago this week marks one of the last weeks before a state of emergency was declared in Massachusetts and self-isolation began. In that time, schools throughout the state have implemented remote learning for at least a portion, if not most of that time when the school year was in session. Massachusetts Education Commissioner Jeff Riley on Tuesday called for elementary school students to return to in-person learning five days a week in April. Jenn and Stephanie discuss the implications for both students and teachers, who, as a category are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The hosts also discuss the new entry to the Boston mayoral race: state Senator and Boston Medical Center emergency room doctor Jon Santiago.

Finally, guests Tori Bedford of GBH and Lisa Kashinsky of the Boston Herald stop by the virtual bunker to share their coverage of the race to replace former House Speaker Bob DeLeo in the 19th Suffolk District. Allegations of sexual misconduct were made against candidate Valentino Capobianco on Tuesday, as reported by Tori. She and Lisa break down the ramifications of these allegations and the future of the race.

2/17/21-- The vaccine rollout continues here in Massachusetts, and while this week bring some good news -- the state now ranks 10th in the country in vaccinations per capita. Still, officials across the state are criticizing Charlie Baker's administration for its vaccine rollout thus far for a few reasons. It got off to a notoriously sluggish start, and the disparities in vaccination rates between racial groups indicate massive inequity in distribution, to name just two. Jennifer and Stephanie dig into the details of these issues and break down which officials had what to say about the Baker administration's rollout thus far.

Later, Sean Cotter of the Boston Herald drops by to discuss U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling stepping down from his post to make way for a Democratic appointee now that the Biden administration has begun. Cotter discusses what kind of legacy Lelling leaves behind, and what Massachusetts residents can expect to see change with the installation of a new top prosecutor.

2/10/20-- This week on The Horse Race, Jenn and Stephanie bring you something a little different than the usual programming.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh sat through a Senate confirmation hearing last week as President Biden’s pick for Labor Secretary. It looks very likely that he will be confirmed. If that happens and the mayor leaves office before March 5, normally the rules say we would have to have a special election. But given that we are still in the middle of a pandemic and a mayoral election year already, the Boston City Council discussed a proposal to scrap the special election.

They sent a home rule petition cancelling the potential special up to the mayor, and so far it has not yet been filed in the legislature. The terms say that Council President Kim Janey would be acting mayor until the winner of the regularly scheduled November election is sworn in immediately after certification of the votes. Joining Jenn and Stephanie to talk about the city charter more broadly, special elections, the history of the home rule petition, and the run-up to the Boston municipal election is a panel of Boston experts-- City Councillor Lydia Edwards, Jon Hillman of Rivera Consulting, and Bill Forry, editor and publisher of the Dorchester Reporter.

2/3/21-- Steve, Jennifer, and Stephanie are back in the virtual bunker, each with a different opinion on this week's snowfall.

Vaccine rollout rolls on throughout the country, but unfortunately, Massachusetts doesn’t rank too highly in terms of distribution. Steve points to a comparison conducted by NPR which finds the Bay State ranking 37th for efficiency (proportion of doses administered to doses received) and 39th for percent of overall population that’s gotten at least one dose. There are also big disparities in terms of who’s getting the vaccine.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley called the distribution so far “vaccine redlining,” according to the Boston Herald, which pulled a statistic from the state Department of Public Health last week that found "Black people account for less than 3% of those who have received at least one vaccine dose in Massachusetts, while Hispanics were at 3.3%”

Steve also relays reporting from the Boston Globe that found many of the people who showed up and were first in line at a vaccination site in a Roxbury were white. Roxbury is a predominantly Black neighborhood. This is happening across the country, Steve points out. “The share of people who are getting vaccinations does not correspond with the racial makeup of that area’s population.”

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Later, state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and Beth Huang of the Massachusetts Voter Table stop by to discuss this year's redistricting effort. Beth is a member of the Drawing Democracy Coalition which has asked the Massachusetts Senate President and House Speaker to appoint a Joint Committee on Redistricting that is racially and geographically representative.

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A new poll out from Gallup asked Massachusetts high schoolers about their experience learning during the pandemic. Unsurprisingly to Steve, who has conducted surveys on Massachusetts parents of K-12 students, remote and hybrid learning has had the worst impacts on students. Kids partaking in these models of learning are far less likely to say they learn a lot every day, as compared to kids learning in person full time. Social and emotional health has also declined among students learning at least part-time remote.