I'm also incredibly grateful to the excellent group of editors and reporters that I have worked alongside at @wbur.org. That includes my editor, @bethhealy.bsky.social, one of the best in the business, who helps her reporters produce excellent journalism and goes to bat for her team. #mapoli

📰📰 I'm very excited to say that next month I'll be starting at @bostonglobe.com as a political reporter covering state and local politics. I'm looking forward to continuing to cover the crazy world of Massachusetts politics, including Beacon Hill and the 2026 elections. #mapoli

GOP candidate for lieutenant governor recently owed thousands in unpaid taxes, records show Anne Brensley, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, and her husband owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes to the federal government as of March, according to public records. She...

UNPAID TAXES: Anne Brensley, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, and her husband owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes to the federal government as of last month, according to public records. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/04...

Republican Mike Minogue brings big money, outsider status and business cred in run for Mass. governor The wealthy former biotech executive identifies as a "born again" Catholic who would bring CEO-style management to the state as a “new kind of governor.”

A good listen here on Mike Minogue, one of the Republicans looking to take on @massgovernor.bsky.social - he served in the military, made a fortune in biotech and calls himself a "born again" Catholic @wbur.org @bychrisvan.bsky.social
www.wbur.org/news/2026/04...

Republican Mike Minogue brings big money, outsider status and business cred in run for Mass. governor The wealthy former biotech executive identifies as a "born again" Catholic who would bring CEO-style management to the state as a “new kind of governor.”

Mike Minogue, a wealthy former biotech CEO, identifies as a "born again" Catholic who would bring CEO-style management to the state as a “new kind of governor.” He also says he’s “pro life.” More in my profile of the GOP candidate for governor. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/04...

Mass. is increasingly unaffordable. But not for the GOP hopefuls for governor All three Republican gubernatorial candidates have blasted Gov. Maura Healey over the cost of living in Massachusetts. Public records show each owns at least one multi-million-dollar home and addition...

HIGH-END HOUSING: For the three Republicans running for Massachusetts governor this year, owning multiple homes in Boston’s tony suburbs, on beachfronts or near ski slopes, is almost a prerequisite for candidacy. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/04...

Mass. Senate wants to put more money toward legal defense fund for immigrants The program was created over the summer as part of the state budget and has helped hundreds of immigrants facing deportation retain lawyers at no cost. Senate President Karen Spilka said she wants to ...

Mass. lawmakers look to add $1 mil. to a state fund to provide immigration lawyers for people facing deportation @wbur.org @bychrisvan.bsky.social
www.wbur.org/news/2026/04...

Immigrants in Mass. can get free legal help. Beacon Hill is debating the program's future The program, known as the Massachusetts Access to Counsel Initiative, provides pro bono legal assistance to low-income immigrants facing removal.

DEPORTATION DEFENSE: A $5 million program in Mass. to provide legal services to immigrants facing deportation has quickly scaled since it launched in the fall. More than 20 attorneys have been hired and hundreds of case fielded. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/03...

A hearing over a proposed public records ballot question at the State House laid bare the acrimony between former legislator and State Auditor Diana DiZoglio and her one-time colleagues. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/03...

Poll paid for by Michael Minogue shows him leading in Republican gubernatorial primary The poll, which the Minogue campaign shared with WBUR, found the former biotech exec had support from 29% of Republican primary voters and convention attendees. Another 47% of survey respondents were ...

MINOGUE POLL: Michael Minogue, a wealthy former biotechnology executive, holds a lead over his two Republican opponents in the race for governor among primary voters and GOP convention goers, according to a poll paid for by his campaign. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/03...

Mass. inspector general calls sheriffs’ budget process is ‘opaque, chaotic and deeply flawed' Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro said the sheriffs’ budgeting problems start with the state budget. The commonwealth “routinely” underfunds sheriffs, he wrote, with the understanding that departments...

SHERIFF SPENDING: The budget process for the state’s 14 sheriff departments is “opaque, chaotic and deeply flawed,” Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro said in a report released Friday, laying blame on both state lawmakers and sheriffs themselves. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

HEALEY BANS SOME TRAVEL: Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order today immediately banning “non-essential motor vehicle travel” in Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable counties because of the blizzard. Speed on Mass Pike also reduced to 40 MPH. #mapoli

AG Campbell asks SJC to toss out DiZoglio lawsuit on auditing the Legislature In a filing with the SJC, the state's attorney general argues she is the "gatekeeper empowered to determine when, if ever, the Commonwealth’s intragovernmental legal disputes require judicial resoluti...

NOT SO FAST: AG Andrea Campbell asked the state's highest court to toss out a lawsuit Auditor Diana DiZoglio filed last week that seeks to force the Massachusetts House and Senate to hand over documents as part of an audit of their inner workings. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Once a Baker-style Republican, Brian Shortsleeve tacks right in his run for governor Brian Shortsleeve left venture capital more than a decade ago to overhaul the MBTA’s troubled finances at the request of then-Gov. Charlie Baker, a moderate Republican of the classic Massachusetts sty...

SHORTSLEEVE: Brian Shortsleeve took the helm of the MBTA a decade ago at Gov. Charlie Baker’s request, a popular moderate Republican. But as Shortsleeve runs for governor in 2026, he is waging an aggressive campaign that has tacked right of Baker. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Trump administration fights effort by Healey’s Venezuelan aide to get work papers Attorneys for the Trump administration argue that a federal court in Boston lacks jurisdiction to force immigration authorities to decide if a Venezuelan staffer working for Gov. Maura Healey should i...

The Trump administration is fighting an effort by a Venezuelan aide to Gov. Maura Healey to quickly obtain a temporary work authorization, court documents filed Monday show. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Criminal immigration charges in Mass. increased sixfold in last year U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley has overseen a more than six-fold increase in the number of federal immigration cases charged in the state in the year since she was appointed as the state’s...

IMMIGRATION: MA U.S. Attorney Leah Foley has overseen a more than six-fold increase in the number of federal criminal immigration cases prosecuted in the state in the year since she was appointed, according to data she provided Thursday morning. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

NO AUTHORITY? Attorney General Andrea Campbell says Auditor Diana DiZoglio “does not have the authority to file this lawsuit.” “This is another ploy to sidestep the required approval of my office and will bring her no closer to auditing the Legislature,” Campbell says. #mapoli

Nearly half of Gov. Healey's cabinet has turned over as she heads into an election year Gov. Maura Healey’s cabinet has seen major turnover this year, in roles from veteran services to transportation, as the first-term Democrat faces reelection in 2026 and a continuing onslaught from the...

HEALEY CABINET: Education Sec. Patrick Tutwiler will step down from his post Friday. Healey appointed Salem Public Schools Superintendent Stephen Zrike to the role. This is the latest turnover in Healey's cabinet as she finishes her first term. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2025/10...

DiZoglio takes her battle to audit the Legislature to the state's high court Massachusetts Auditor Diana DiZoglio filed a lawsuit Tuesday with the state’s Supreme Judicial Court to force the Legislature to hand over financial documents as part of an audit into lawmakers' busin...

DIZOGLIO AUDIT: Massachusetts Auditor Diana DiZoglio filed a lawsuit Tuesday with the state’s high court to force the Legislature to hand over financial documents as part of an audit into lawmakers' businesses. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Venezuelan aide to Gov. Healey sues Trump administration to keep her job A Venezuelan staffer working for Gov. Maura Healey could lose her job because her H-1B visa is about to expire and the Trump administration has not granted her permanent residency, even though she wor...

HEALEY AIDE: A Venezuelan staffer working for Gov. Maura Healey could lose her job because her H-1B visa is about to expire and the Trump administration has not granted her permanent residency, according to court documents. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Boston's White Stadium rebuild will cost taxpayers $135M, nearly 3 times an earlier estimate The total $325 million project cost will be split between the city and Boston Legacy Football Club, a new professional women’s soccer team, which has agreed to put $190 million into the rebuild, as pa...

WHITE STADIUM COST: The city of Boston’s plan to rebuild White Stadium in Franklin Park will cost taxpayers $135 million, nearly three times as much as the city estimated for the project two years ago. Via @evezuckoff.bsky.social #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Healey's proposed ICE restrictions in Mass. could provoke legal challenges, experts say Gov. Maura Healey’s executive order restricting federal immigration agents from entering or using state buildings is likely legally sound, legal experts say, but legislation she filed that restricts t...

IS IT LEGAL? Gov. Healey’s executive order restricting federal immigration agents from using state buildings is likely legally sound, experts say, but legislation she filed restricting them from entering daycares or schools could face challenges. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

NINTH TERM? Secretary of State William Galvin says he’s seeking a ninth term in office. He says President Trump is threatening people’s right to vote, he’s worried about interference with the 2028 election, and wants to ensure an accurate census count in 2030. #mapoli

Healey, Denmark sign ‘collaboration agreement’ amid Trump’s Greenland gambit Gov. Maura Healey called Denmark a "significant trading partner" for Massachusetts, with a quarter billion dollars in trade.

DENMARK: Gov. Healey and Danish officials signed a “collaboration agreement” as tensions between the Nordic country and the U.S. remain over Trump’s repeated calls to takeover Greenland. But neither side appeared willing to talk about Trump. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Can't get a law passed on Beacon Hill? Float a ballot question A record number of ballot questions are proposed this year, in a state where people on both ends of the political spectrum argue the Legislature gets little done.

MAKING LAWS: Can't get a law passed on Beacon Hill? Float a ballot question. It’s increasingly how the business of lawmaking is getting done in a state where people on both sides of the political spectrum argue the Legislature gets little done. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/02...

Massachusetts union members sue to block proposed income tax ballot question A group of union members in Massachusetts and a director of a local nonprofit filed a lawsuit Thursday with the state’s highest court to block a potential ballot question to lower the income tax from ...

INCOME TAX BALLOT QUESTION: A group of union members and a director of a local nonprofit filed a lawsuit Thursday with the state’s highest court to block a potential ballot question that would lower income tax from appearing before voters. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/01...

Healey moves to keep ICE agents out of schools, courts, hospitals and other 'sensitive spaces' The governor said federal immigration actions are “making no one safer." Any legislation she files to bar agents from entering certain spaces would need buy-in from lawmakers.

HEALEY'S ICE ACTION: Gov. Maura Healey says she plans to file a bill to bar federal immigration agents from entering spaces like schools and day cares, and would sign an executive order prohibiting them from using most state resources. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/01...

HOUSE IMMIGRATION: Democratic leadership in the Massachusetts House plans three closed-door meetings next week to discuss "what the Commonwealth can do on immigration policy." Reps. Dan Cahill of Lynn and Carlos Gonzalez of Springfield plan to lead "candid" discussions. #mapoli

Healey's new $63 billion budget, up 3.8%, would eliminate coverage for weight loss drugs Healey’s spending plan comes as state revenues are growing. But her administration is contending with an uncertain economic outlook, a president who’s increasingly hostile toward Democratic states and...

HEALEY’S BUDGET: Gov. Maura Healey plans to file a $63 billion fiscal 2027 budget Wednesday — a 3.8% increase that outpaces inflation and aims to rein in rising health care costs, while responding to federal funding cuts from the Trump administration. #mapoli www.wbur.org/news/2026/01...

ICE ACTIONS: Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey plans a 2:30 p.m. press conference at the State House today to “to announce new actions to protect Massachusetts residents from the harmful actions by the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” #mapoli