|
Presented by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | | | 
Voters fills out ballots in Attleboro, Mass., on Tuesday, Sept. 6. | Steven Senne/AP Photo | While much of the nation’s political attention has turned toward the general election (and rightfully so: only nine weeks to go!), there are still a few important primaries to keep an eye on before we get there. One of those takes place today, as Massachusetts voters head to the polls. Here’s what you should be watching … — The crowded field: While there are plenty of contests on the ballot, our Bay State colleague Lisa Kashinsky writes that candidates have struggled to really break through in this post-Labor Day primary “without a marquee race atop the ticket to draw their attention.” More in today’s Massachusetts Playbook — The big one: Still, perhaps the biggest focus is on the Republican gubernatorial primary, as the retirement of Republican Gov. CHARLIE BAKER has set off a scramble. State Rep. GEOFF DIEHL (who has the backing of DONALD TRUMP ) is taking on the more moderate businessman CHRIS DOUGHTY for the chance to face off in November against Democrat MAURA HEALY, the sitting A.G. and favorite in the race. — The stakes: “The Massachusetts gubernatorial primary is as much a proxy war between the Trump wing of the GOP and more moderate New England Republicans as it is a battle for control of the state Republican Party,” Lisa writes. More pre-primary reads: — “‘A record amount of unpredictability’ hangs over Massachusetts primaries,” Boston Globe — “Why Massachusetts’s Governorship Is The Likeliest To Flip In 2022,” FiveThirtyEight — “Massachusetts primaries divide state and national figures,” WaPo LOOKING AHEAD — Next Tuesday will bring the finale to the primary calendar — and we’re staying in New England to close things out. The key races to keep your eye on: — New Hampshire: The one to watch here is the GOP Senate primary between DON BOLDUC and CHUCK MORSE, who are vying to take on Dem Sen. MAGGIE HASSAN — one of Republicans’ top targets to flip the Senate. There’s also an interesting GOP House primary between a pair of former Trump White House staffers in MATT MOWERS and KAROLINE LEAVITT, who are jockeying for the chance to unseat Dem Rep. CHRIS PAPPAS in New Hampshire’s 1st District. — Rhode Island: Top of the list here is the crowded Democratic primary that is seeking to replace retiring Dem Rep. JIM LANGEVIN. In the gubernatorial race, Democratic Gov. DAN McKEE is also facing a collection of primary challengers. Good Tuesday afternoon.
| | | | A message from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: FDA: End the delays. Protect kids. Eliminate flavored e-cigarettes.
The FDA has missed deadline after deadline to protect our kids from nicotine-loaded flavored e-cigarettes, defying Congress and the courts and leaving these addictive products on the market.
All while tobacco companies continue to target and hook more kids.
FDA: End the delays. Protect kids today by eliminating flavored e-cigarettes. | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS SHAKEUP — JEFFREY MINEAR is stepping down from his post as counselor to Supreme Court Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS at the end of the month, SCOTUS announced in a release today. In the role, which he was appointed to in 2006, Minear has fulfilled a variety of duties, essentially serving as Roberts’ right-hand man. Read the release ALL POLITICS IN PENNSYLVANIA — At a news conference with retiring Sen. PAT TOOMEY (R-Pa.) this morning, MEHMET OZ attacked his Democratic opponent JOHN FETTERMAN for declining to appear for debates in the Senate race. But Oz also made a bit of news during the appearance, saying “he would not have objected to certifying Joe Biden’s election if he had been in the Senate at the time,” per our colleague Holly Otterbein, who was on the scene. Oz also said he would not have voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. — Meanwhile … “Dr. Oz bought Palm Beach mega-mansion with help of man embroiled in immigration fraud scheme,” CBS SECURING THE VOTE — NYT’s Neil Vigdor has the latest report from key midterm states where election officials are facing a barrage of beratement and threats of politically motivated violence. “One in five local election officials who responded to a survey earlier this year by the Brennan Center for Justice said that they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat unlikely’ to continue serving through 2024. The collective angst is a recurring theme at workshops and conferences attended by election officials, who say it is not unusual for them to exchange anecdotes about threatening messages or harassment at the grocery store.” How it’s going: “The discussions have turned at times to testing drop boxes — a focus of right-wing attacks on mail-in voting — to see if they can withstand being set on fire.” CONGRESS HAPPENING TODAY — “Bruce Allen to testify in House committee’s Washington NFL probe,” WaPo
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH THE GEORGIA INVESTIGATION — “Election deniers repeatedly visited Ga. county office at center of criminal probe, video shows,” WaPo: “The new video adds to the picture of the alleged breach in Coffee County on Jan. 7, 2021, and reveals for the first time the later visits by [consultants DOUG LOGAN and JEFFREY LENBERG ]. It also provides further indications of links between various efforts to overturn the election, including what once appeared to be disparate attempts to access and copy election system data in the wake of Trump’s loss.” WOWZA — “A New Mexico judge on Tuesday removed January 6 rioter and Cowboys for Trump founder COUY GRIFFIN from his elected position as a county commissioner for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack,” CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand and Scott Bronstein report. “The ruling is the first time that an elected official has been removed from office as a result of their participation or support for the January 6 riot. This is also the first time a judge has formally ruled that the events of January 6 were an ‘insurrection.’” ABORTION FALLOUT IN THE STATES — CNN is up with a deep dive investigation into the various pieces of abortion-related legislation that have been passed across the country, uncovering a fascinating finding: “Republicans passing increasingly strict abortion bans around the country have been joined by scores of unlikely allies: Democrats,” Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken report. The details: “More than 140 Democrats from eight of the roughly dozen states with the most restrictive abortion laws voted in favor of the bans, and the vast majority of these state lawmakers were men. All but one of the laws would have passed with Republican votes alone, and a few were passed without a single vote from a Democratic lawmaker.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY BACK TO SCHOOL — As students prepare to return to school this year, there has been perhaps more emphasis on how to keep them safe than ever before following the devastating mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last school year. But despite the concerted effort, “the responses have often reflected political divisions: Many Republicans have emphasized school security spending, while Democrats have called for tighter gun control,” AP’s Andrew DeMillo writes . “At every step, the actions have stirred debate over whether states are doing the right things to address the scourge of school shootings.” OUT WEST — “Historic, unforgiving western heat wave is peaking and crushing records,” WaPo THE FORMULA FUROR — “How Abbott Kept Sick Babies From Becoming a Scandal,” by NYT’s David Enrich: “Abbott’s lawyers at Jones Day negotiated secret settlements and used scorched earth tactics with families whose infants fell ill after consuming powdered formula.” — “The fight to keep a little-known bacteria out of powdered baby formula,” WaPo: “Parents aren’t adequately warned about the risks of cronobacter, say food safety experts. ‘I fed my daughter like I was supposed to,’ said Megan Surber, whose child is now disabled.” GUNS IN AMERICA — “Ghost-Gun Firms Find New Ways to Sell DIY Weapons as U.S. Rule Takes Effect,” WSJ CLIMATE FILES — “It Was War. Then, a Rancher’s Truce With Some Pesky Beavers Paid Off,” NYT: “The ‘highly skilled environmental engineers’ can help to store precious water and rejuvenate land ravaged by climate change. Just don’t dynamite their homes.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | WAR IN UKRAINE THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW — “‘Nothing Has Really Changed’: In Moscow, the Fighting Is a World Away,” NYT: “A detachment from the battle in Ukraine is exactly what President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is counting on as he carries out a domestic strategy of shielding his people from hardships.” THE RIPPLE EFFECT — “Europe’s Odds of Dodging Natural-Gas Shortage Hinge on Winter Weather,” WSJ: “Early forecasts point to mild, dry weather during heating season, which could limit risk of fuel rationing due to Russian supply curbs.” MEDIAWATCH FOR YOUR RADAR — “Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit,” by NPR’s David Folkenflik: “The November 2020 email from an anguished Fox News news producer to colleagues sent up a flare amid a fusillade of false claims. The producer warned: Fox cannot let host JEANINE PIRRO back on the air. She is pulling conspiracy theories from dark corners of the Web to justify then-President Donald Trump's lies that the election had been stolen from him. “The existence of the email, confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of it, is first publicly disclosed by NPR in this story. Fox News declined comment. … The producer's email is among the voluminous correspondence acquired by Dominion's attorneys as part of its discovery of evidence in a $1.6 billion defamation suit it filed against Fox News and its parent company.” MEET THE NEW BOSS — New CNN CEO CHRIS LICHT has made his first batch of big-ticket hires, announcing the fresh faces on a staff call today, and signaling “a less outwardly political direction for the network,” Max Tani reports. The two hires: JOHN MILLER will be the network’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst after a stint as the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism, and Dr. TARA NARULA will be a medical correspondent. MEET THE NEW BOSS, PART II — “Politico’s new German owner has a ‘contrarian’ plan for American media,” by WaPo’s Sarah Ellison: “MATHIAS DÖPFNER has global ambitions for what he calls a more ‘nonpartisan’ kind of journalism — even as his own politics are hard to pin down.” LAYOFFS AT NATGEO — “National Geographic magazine lays off six of its top editors,” by WaPo’s Paul Farhi: “High-level cuts are unusual for any established magazine, and they are unprecedented for National Geographic, which has enjoyed stable editorial leadership since its founding by the nonprofit National Geographic Society of Washington in 1888.” PLAYBOOKERS MEDIA MOVES — John Sakellariadis is now a cybersecurity reporter and author of Morning Cybersecurity at POLITICO. He recently completed work as a Fulbright student research scholar in Greece and is a The Record, Slate and SupChina alum. … Jay Caspian Kang is returning to The New Yorker as a staff writer. He previously was a writer for NYT Opinion. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Stephen Theriault has joined digital advocacy firm Red Edge to bolster its Advocacy Analytics program to propel grassroots knowledge and efficacy. He’s an alum of Heritage Foundation, API and Edelman. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Millicent Hennessey has departed the White House to be a senior manager of public policy at Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. She spent five years on the National Security Council, where she focused primarily on China issues and women’s economic empowerment and is a Matt Pottinger and Dina Powell McCormick alum. TRANSITION — Zaman Toleafoa is joining the Brunswick Group as a partner. He previously was senior managing director at FTI Consulting. WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Will McIntee, associate director of public engagement at the White House, and Allie Panther, White House liaison at the Transportation Department, got married Saturday at the Millwork Ballroom & Event Center in Dubuque, Iowa. The couple met while working on former Rep. Bruce Braley’s Senate campaign and went on to work on the Biden campaign together. Pic by Drew Heskett … Another pic … SPOTTED: Merci Wolff, Carter Bell, Jack Cumming, Caroline Dvorsky, Emily Voorde, Trey Baker, Carli Kientzle, Jana Plat, Julia Reed, Nathaly Arriola Maurice, Bruce Braley, Adrian Saenz, Susanna Billings, Jaclyn Gelfond and Drew Pusateri. BONUS BIRTHDAY: Dan Ronayne of Asta Strategies
| | | | A message from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:   | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
