| | | | |  | | By Lisa Kashinsky and Kelly Garrity | WE’RE ONTO THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL — The Patriots finally won a game. It’s (most likely) not going to save their season. New England is 3-10 heading into the last four games of the regular season. Still, there’s a silver lining to being one of the worst teams in the NFL besides a high draft pick. The worse the Pats play — last night excluded, props to Bailey Zappe and company for an electric first half — the more time presidential hopefuls have to shake every last hand in New Hampshire. Campaigning during Patriots games has long been verboten in the first primary state (and in Massachusetts, for that matter — though some of you politicians like to test the limits of our goodwill by holding canvass launches during kickoff). The three hours a week the boys march down the field in Foxboro or tangle with a rival on the road were instead time for calling donors or doing TV hits. But the team has shown so little spark this year that some of the people running to be the next president have decided — after some internal debate, according to the candidates and their campaigns — to change the playbook. Vivek Ramaswamy knocked on doors in Londonderry during last month’s game against the Giants. He was greeted at one house by a guy wearing a long-sleeve “Do Your Job” T-shirt, because what else would one wear when the Pats are playing. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) dropped in on businesses in Portsmouth during Sunday's Patriots-Chargers game. “Even with the season [the Pats] are having, their games play into our decision making — absolutely,” said Fred Doucette, senior adviser to Ramaswamy’s campaign in New Hampshire and a 24-year season-ticket holder. Katie Dolan of Phillips' campaign described it as a ”pro-con situation.” More people are likely to be home during games. But intercept them during a key play and risk losing their vote. Just ask the now-benched Mac Jones about that. Even New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who’s served as a campaign sherpa of sorts for many of the candidates trekking across his state, said it’s not totally taboo to hit the trail while the Pats are on the field — so long as you pick the right place. “I would never go to a grocery store. Like, sometimes you go to Market Basket, you sit outside and say hi to people. Well, no one goes to the grocery store during the game. You go right before the game,” Sununu told Playbook. “A good place to do it is if you’re going to go to a brewery.” Still, not everyone is ready to call an audible on game-day campaigning. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told Playbook he wouldn’t dare encroach on game time — unless he was stopping by a sports bar, as he did once during his 2016 campaign. “I always ask ‘when are the Patriots games?’” Christie said. “And we don’t do it.” True to his word, Christie wrapped up his last event in New Hampshire Thursday a full 50 minutes before kickoff.
|  Zappe hour. | Matt Durisko/AP | GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. We bet the powers that be are regretting punting the Pats from Monday Night Football. TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and state and federal officials tour the state’s new veterans’ home in Chelsea at 9:30 a.m. Rep. Ayanna Pressley joins a roundtable with Amplify Latinx at 10 a.m. in Brighton. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu opens the new BHA police HQ at 10 a.m., speaks at a BPD ceremony at 11 a.m. and at a Haitian Adult Day Health Center celebration at 12:30 p.m. Reps. Jake Auchincloss and Ro Khanna participate in a panel on U.S.-China relations at 1:30 p.m. at Harvard. THIS WEEKEND — Warren is on WBZ's "Keller @ Large" at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday. Misinformation researcher Joan Donovan is on NBC10’s “At Issue” at 11:30 a.m. Tips? Scoops? Patriots takeaways? Email us: lkashinsky@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com.
|  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — “Most sheriffs scored a $20,000 raise in Legislature’s overdue spending bill, their second in three years,” by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe: “For the second time in less than three years, the Massachusetts Legislature is giving hefty raises to the state’s county sheriffs, most of whom will see a nearly $20,000 increase that will push their salaries to $191,000 a year. State lawmakers folded raises for the state’s 14 elected sheriffs into the $3 billion spending bill they passed, and Governor Maura Healey signed."
| | MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | | — “Mass. to close shelter in MBTA office building for homeless migrant families, shift ‘operations’ to Quincy,” by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe: “Governor Maura Healey’s administration said Thursday it is closing the overnight shelter site it set up inside the state’s transportation building in Boston for homeless and migrant families, ending a near three-week run of housing families in the government building. State officials said they will close the site at 10 Park Plaza on Friday, and ‘transition operations’ to a site at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy.” Healey said on WBUR that the number of new families seeking shelter is “actually going down.” The state is seeing about 25 new families each day, down from 35 to 40 families per day in the late summer, the Boston Herald reports.
| | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | CONSEQUENCES AT THE BALLOT BOX? — A state representative candidate in Cambridge says they’re running explicitly against the “shameful status quo” of State House “dysfunction.” Evan MacKay, a Harvard teaching fellow who describes themselves as a political progressive and who identifies as nonbinary, launched their campaign Thursday for the seat currently held by state Rep. Marjorie Decker, who told Playbook she’s seeking reelection. EXTRA SUPER TUESDAY — The House set a March 5 special election to fill the seat Peter Durant left open when he was sworn into the Senate last week, lining up the election with the state’s presidential primary. Two Republicans — Southbridge town councilor David Adams and Dudley Select Board member John Marsi — have already jumped in the race. Other candidates have until Dec. 26 to file with the secretary of state’s office ahead of the primary set for Feb. 6. DESANTISLAND — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis picked up another two backers in the Bay State after this week's debate: Republicans state Sen. Ryan Fattman and state Rep. Kelly Pease. — “Two networks announce GOP presidential debates just days apart at same New Hampshire school,” by Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press: “Two television networks on Thursday announced they would hold separate Republican presidential debates at the same location in New Hampshire just ahead of that state’s GOP primary next month, but officials at Saint Anselm College said they were only aware of one of the events. … According to a person familiar with the plans, the RNC’s Debates Committee is discussing releasing candidates from prohibitions on participating in debates not approved by the party, but that decision has not yet been made.”
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Homeless advocates question new jail lockup for people arrested near Mass. and Cass,” by Tori Bedford, GBH News: “A coalition of advocacy organizations working with the homeless population near Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue, or Mass. and Cass, are raising concerns that a new city arrangement to hold people arrested in the area at Nashua Street Jail may create ‘devastating health and mental health outcomes.’" — “TORCHED: A look back at the failed Boston 2024 Olympic bid and lessons learned since,” by Greg Ryan, Grant Welker and Hannah Green, Boston Business Journal.
| | WHAT'S ON CAMPBELL'S DOCKET | | TAKING ON NSC-131 — Attorney General Andrea Campbell is suing neo-Nazi group NSC-131 and two of its leaders, Christopher Hood and Liam McNeil, for alleged civil rights and other violations after members protested outside hotels housing migrant and homeless families and disrupted events organized by LGBTQ+ groups. Campbell’s office is trying to stop NSC-131 members from engaging in the activities it alleges are unlawful, and to make them pay damages. Read the complaint.
| | ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | | — “As the left agonizes over Israel-Hamas cease-fire, New England’s progressive leaders stand apart,” by Jess Bidgood, The Boston Globe: “New England’s congressional delegation, stocked as it is with high-profile progressives, exemplifies the way the war in Gaza, where health officials say 16,000 people have been killed, has complicated the usual, easy-to-define ideological coalitions. Liberal activists who usually have few criticisms for the likes of [Sen. Bernie] Sanders or [Sen. Elizabeth Warren] have been frustrated by both, while it has been other members of the delegation, like Representative Ayanna Pressley of Boston, a Democrat, who have more directly embraced the activists’ calls.” — “‘Harvard hates Jews’: Group takes credit for hiring plane to fly over campus,” by Boston.com staff.
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “‘Insane.’ T reports back-to-back worker safety incidents. Again,” by Daniel Kool and Taylor Dolven, The Boston Globe: “The T disclosed Thursday a pair of safety incidents — including a worker injury and a near-miss involving an electrified third rail — less than three months after a series of similar incidents led the agency to be rapped by federal officials.” — “Healey Pledges To Enforce Rezoning Mandate,” by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service (paywall): “Pledging to take enforcement 'very seriously,’ Gov. Maura Healey said Thursday that her team will not hesitate to block some state funding for cities and towns that fail to comply with mandatory zoning reforms."
| | | DATELINE D.C. | | | — “Pittsfield native Jeannine Ryder's nomination to major general in the Air Force was on hold for months. The Senate finally approved it,” by Matt Martinez, The Berkshire Eagle: “It was March 6 when Brig. Gen. Jeannine Ryder, a Pittsfield native, was nominated for a promotion to major general in the U.S. Air Force. That promotion was formally approved by the Senate on Tuesday — nearly nine months later. Ryder was among the more than 400 nominations that had been held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville.”
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | SPOTTED — on Lisa’s flight back to Boston from Washington, D.C., Thursday: Reps. Seth Moulton and Lori Trahan. TRANSITIONS — Alyssa Ring is joining Tremont Strategies Group as director of federal government affairs. She most recently was at MassDOT. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Scott Ferson, founder of Liberty Square Group, Jeremy D’Aloisio of Sen. Ed Markey’s office, Margaret Geller, Sophia Narrett and Honey Sharp (h/t son Daniel Lippman). HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to The Boston Globe’s James Pindell and Brian Muldoon, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Jessica Enes, Susan Milligan and Jasper Craven. NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: LONG DARK NIGHT OF THE POLLS — MassINC Polling Group’s Rich Parr joins hosts Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela for a polling extravaganza. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and SoundCloud. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
