Tag: University of Massachusetts Boston

The irascible Republican said he plans to leave a very different message for Democrat Janet Mills when he leaves Blaine House, the governor’s mansion in Augusta, next month. “I’m going to leave her a note on the pillow that says, ‘If you mess this up, I’m coming back in 2022,’ ” LePage said recently. As for the threat to run against her in 2022 that LePage promised to leave on her pillow, Mills just shrugged. After a stint in the Maine House representing her hometown of Farmington, she was elected by the Legislature to serve as attorney general in 2008. LePage’s incendiary rhetoric helped drive the GOP out of power, said Roger Katz, a former Republican state senator who also was just term-limited out of office. “To the extent that a voter thinks of a Republican and the first thing that comes to mind is the style we see from President Trump and Governor LePage, that hurt us,” Katz said. James Tierney, a former Democratic attorney general of Maine who has known Mills for 40 years, said her victory marked “a return to sanity.” “People are tired of the drama,” he said. “There’s no question that the economy has dramatically improved under Governor LePage, and having a businessman as governor has allowed the state to post a surplus and promote an economic growth agenda that has dramatically improved Maine’s standing,” said Brent Littlefield, LePage’s senior political adviser. “It’s going to be a love-fest with the new governor. And they only sell newspapers when there’s controversy, so they’re going to be in trouble.” Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.

Asian-Americans in Massachusetts have run for mayor (Sam Yoon, Boston), and some have even won (Lisa Wong, Fitchburg). But Congress? Just take a look at the Democratic field in the Third District: Three out of the 10 candidates are Asian-Americans — Beej Das, Dan Koh, and Bopha Malone. The Third is a sprawling district northwest of Boston, encompassing 37 cities and towns, including Lowell, home to the nation’s second-largest Cambodian-American community. In 2010, a trio of Asian-Americans won state representative races: Democrats Tackey Chan of Quincy and Paul Schmid of Westport and Republican Donald Wong of Saugus. More have since joined their ranks on Beacon Hill: Republican Keiko Orrall of Lakeville and Democrat Rady Mom of Lowell. Then there’s Republican state Senator Dean Tran of Fitchburg, who won a special election last year. And if you need proof we may have reached a critical mass, how about this: In one Lowell race, there are two Cambodian-American candidates — Sam Meas and Rithy Uong — who are running against Cambodian-American incumbent state representative Mom. “Growing up, I never imagined that I would one day meet an elected official, much less see someone like me be in politics and involved in politics,” said Wu, who is supporting Koh in his congressional bid. “It’s a watershed moment for our community to have three very qualified candidates running for Congress,” said Wing, a Boston political organizer and fund-raiser who is backing Koh.

Unite America, formerly known as the Centrist Project, is endorsing and providing polling for independent gubernatorial and legislative candidates across the country. But some independents are reluctant to accept the support because they distrust influence by any outside, special interest group. They're also leery of dark money — contributions from groups such as nonprofits that don't have to disclose their donors under federal law. It also offers funding for resources that parties typically provide, including staffers, helping finding donors, voter data, publicity, research, polling and help organizing campaign volunteers. "We are not a party," Troiano said. In Maine, questions over who should fund such support, and how, have stoked tension among independent lawmakers who include former Democrats and Republicans. But Unite America does not publicly disclose all of its spending for or its donations to its two nonprofit arms: Unite America Inc. and Unite America Institute. Those nonprofits fund efforts such as polling and voter outreach. Unite America offered to fund resources like staffers for independent Maine lawmakers, some of whom had lost access to party-provided staffers. Instead, Ackley runs as a publicly financed candidate.