The three GOP candidates running to dislodge Maura Healey are caught in a crossfire inside a phone booth. The hostilities aren’t going well. One campaign issued a memo claiming the other two are “buying votes to rig” polls on Twitter. massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/gop-candid...

The case of Karen Read has stayed alive on social media thanks to upcoming “based on a true story” movies and a conspiracy-driven coterie of online cranks and kooks obsessed with her. The 2026 campaign trail appears primed to play its part, too.

Welcome back to MASSterList. We have a roundup of headlines you may have missed while on break. But first, a brief look at what’s on Beacon Hill’s mind as the new year gets underway. #MAPoli

Thanks to @gintautasd.bsky.social for including me in the @massterlist.com set of New Year’s resolutions. Though apparently I made a mistake by giving an actual resolution when it looks like the thing to do is recite a policy agenda?

Transportation chairs Sen. Brendan Crighton and Rep. Jim Arciero are leaning on a 20-year friendship to navigate "complicated" policy waters. Unlike the legendary "battle of the Toms" in 1999, this duo claims to prioritize shared history over political maneuvering. #MAPoli

The "liberalism that builds" blueprint from @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social and Derek Thompson is the talk of Beacon Hill—from Gov. Healey’s cabinet to local councils. We asked MA leaders for their 2025 reads (and their "Abundance" runners-up). 📚 #MAPoli

The MBTA's pre-pandemic business model has vanished because fewer people make enough round-trip journeys each week to regularly buy passes, argues former Federal Highway Deputy Administrator and MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack. #MAPoli

ALL ABOARD! Only a few tickets remain for tomorrow's @statehousenews.com / @massterlist.com TransitNEXT policy forum. Hear from Phil Eng, Stephanie Pollack, JCT chairs Sen. Crighton and Rep. Arciero, and others at the MCLE in Boston. #MAPoli events.humanitix.com/transitnext

KELLER: There's an understanding that dealing with Michelle Wu offers two options – her way or the highway. Her push to seize control of tax rates is a power grab. In a constitutional democracy, power is shared and limited. Boffo numbers on election night don’t change that. #MAPoli #BOSPoli

PHANTOM OF THE CHAMBER; A review of House video from Nov. 18 appears to show someone else pressing the voting button at Rep. Vanna Howard’s desk while she was allegedly away ahead of her Senate campaign kickoff in a race that includes another House member. #MAPoli

As the holiday shopping season starts up, here’s a list of several books on Massachusetts politics or Mass.-adjacent ones, for yourself or the political junkie in your life. #MAPoli

FIRST IN MASSterList: The MassGOP is looking to recruit Belmont select board member Elizabeth Dionne to run against Treasurer Deb Goldberg, a Democrat. Dionne didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The final week of formal sessions before the Legislature’s 6-week recess offered a revealing snapshot of what's coming—one defined increasingly by a push-pull between what the elected officials on Beacon Hill are trying (or not) to accomplish and what outside forces are readying for the 2026 ballot.

Growing up in Needham, Jeffrey Shapiro remembers his father bringing home the afternoon newspaper with headlines about the UMass Boston corruption scandal that led to the conviction of two state senators and the creation of a state inspector general.

KELLER: Harvard says its A’s are basically participation trophies. Students cry over “soul-crushing” workloads of… an hour a day. And the fix? A+. Better idea: F-minus for wasting a world-class education chasing clout and cash.

. @gintautasd.bsky.social scours the headlines so you don’t have to.

As Wu speaks, these hats are getting handed out

Henry Santana won releection to at-large seat, holding back fmr Cllr Frank Baker, per sources

Mass. Republicans, typically the ones warning against new spending and calling for tax relief, called for the state to fund SNAP, while Democrats demurred. The same party that has championed assistance programs found itself defending fiscal restraint, while Republicans argued for state intervention.

The SNAP blame game has come to Beacon Hill #MAPoli

About 1.1 million Bay Staters could lose food benefits at the end of next week, and Gov. Maura Healey capped the week by ringing the alarm bell in the midst of a federal government shutdown that's boiling over in D.C. and reverberating across the country. #MAPoli

For Wu, despite speculation, being mayor is what’s next Plus: Marty Walsh's former chief of staff has a super PAC, Political Intel and more... #MAPoli

End of an Era via @massterlist.com morning email

After several forays into Massachusetts politics, the Working Families Party (WFP) is seeking to set up a larger shop in the Bay State, with the goal of becoming a force to be reckoned with in local elections. #MAPoli

BULLY POTPIT: Factional tensions linger at the Cannabis Control Commission. During a recent meeting led by fired-and-rehired chair Shannon O’Brien, one commissioner accused another of bullying, saying, “Don’t try to bully me into a vote.” #MAPoli

LAST CALL: Just a few tickets remain for tomorrow’s healthcare workforce development policy event at the UMass Club. Reserve your spot now. Walk-ins will not be permitted. #MAPoli

As Beacon Hill heads into October, the mood is less crisis than fragility: budgets that balance on unspent funds, test scores that reflect unfinished recovery, energy goals at risk from federal reversals and political futures hanging in the balance.

Monday at the UMass Club #MAPoli

Emails obtained through a records request provide a behind-the-scenes look at the effort to lure Hasbro to Boston, known in government circles as “Project Brainstorm.” #MAPoli

Sitting pointlessly beside the top businessman was...

Gov. Maura Healey met privately in Devens with Trump’s energy chief, Chris Wright, after a Boston solar summit.

Mass. competes not so great while competitor for highway service plazas takes the exit ramp

Clocking in at just over an hour, BPI's event on Wednesday morning is the most comprehensive overview of the different strands of the “how to revitalize Boston post-COVID” conversation - check out this coverage from @massterlist.com & @gintautasd.bsky.social: massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/eastern-ba...

A top businessman believes Boston should tear down some of its office buildings and replace them with housing, saying that initiatives supported on Beacon Hill and in Boston City Hall aren’t enough as the region remains hampered by a post-pandemic slowdown. massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/eastern-ba...

A seat at the online gambling table massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/igambling-...

Don't ask Gov. Maura Healey how she feels about efforts to redesign the Massachusetts state flag! #MAPoli

🚗 🛣🚂 Skidding into Friday In today's MASSterList: What's next for the multibillion dollar Allston megaproject Plus: Political Intel returns, with a look at Everett and an energy sector move massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/next-stop-...

EVENT: Downtown Boston’s slow post-COVID rebound and falling property values threaten the city's finances. With its tax base at risk, what are the strategies and opportunities for Boston’s business districts?

Alan Leventhal, ex-U.S. ambassador and Boston real estate mogul, is weighing a 2026 bid for governor. He’s enlisted PR help from George Regan and political strategist Doug Rubin. #MAPoli

In Winthrop, a recall fight against Councilor Max Tassinari has become a proxy war over the MBTA Communities law. Noncompliance has already cost the town $1.2M in aid. #MAPoli

With Michelle Wu’s reelection now a foregone conclusion, the undercard at-large race has moved up to become November’s prime bout, and it’s likely to be viewed by insiders as a Walsh versus Wu battle through at-large candidates. #BOSPoli massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/keller-wha...

What does a 1795 bank robbery have to do with Dean Tran's appeal in his ethics case? No, not the one in which he stole a Colt .45 from an elderly constituent, nor the one in which he was convicted of 23 felonies. We're talking about the charges Tran used his Senate staff for campaign activities.

Before Josh Kraft signed up for the Boston mayor’s race, he was known for being a nice guy doing spadework in the city's nonprofit sector. Seven months later, insiders still regard him as a nice guy, but one who isn’t built for a bare-knuckle mayoral campaign, even if his bank account is. #BOSPoli

Happy Friday folks In this morning's MASSterList, we've got a look at vaccine politics Plus! Ed Markey lands endorsements from 2 of Beacon Hill's Big 3, and the Wu-Kraft poll that has everybody talking massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/healey-vac...

Gov. Maura Healey dodged questions on whether Mass. Democrats are leaning populist, touting tax cuts, free community college, and cost-of-living efforts instead while hinting at possible 2026 reelection talking points. massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/gov-healey...

NEW: Consultants Will Keyser and Eileen O'Connor have parted ways with the Josh Kraft campaign less than a week before mayoral prelim

When Rich Davey walked through the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s foyer for the last time as the agency’s NYC Transit president, the crowd that greeted him included a staffer who held up a sign that read “BOSTON SUCKS.” An addendum in smaller print followed: “Davey OK.”

The SHNS is hiring a full-time reporter to cover Massachusetts government and policy. Join our world-class team, delivering trusted coverage of Beacon Hill for more than 130 years. #MAPoli

Gov. Maura Healey is reviving a push to open state institutional records, proposing access to documents 75+ years old, including from Fernald School. The plan echoes Bill Galvin’s past efforts but applies more narrowly. #MAPoli

KELLER: Judge Frank Caprio, famed for “Caught in Providence,” was celebrated for his compassion, seeing humanity in all. As today’s politics grows harsher, his legacy raises a question: how many current leaders will be remembered the same?