Karen Read cuts a check

The case of Karen Read, the woman who saw a 2024 mistrial and 2025 acquittal after a retrial for murder, 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.

Read and members of her defense team recently donated to Adam Deitch, a former federal prosecutor now running for Norfolk County district attorney. He worked on a probe of the case’s Norfolk prosecutors, meaning he “investigated the people who investigated Karen Read,” as the Boston Globe put it when the first-time candidate launched his campaign in November.

Michael Morrissey, the incumbent, has not said whether he’s running again as Deitch and others have jumped in amid criticism of his office’s handling of the Read case. Aside from $200 donated by an attorney and ex-aide to House Speaker Tom Finneran, Morrissey didn’t pull in any other money in 2025.

He still has $409,000 in cash on hand if he makes another run for the seat he’s held since 2010. Morrissey, who has defended his office’s handling of the Read case and others in the media, did not respond to a request for comment.

Since getting in, Deitch raised $103,000 in two months, according to publicly available campaign finance filings. An upcoming filing is expected to bring the total to $110,000. Roughly 300 people donated.

Read gave $1,000, as did her lawyers Alan Jackson and David Yannetti. Members of Jackson’s California-based law firm also pitched in. Deitch’s former colleagues at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Andrew Lelling, a former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, also donated.

Deitch has hired Pendulum Creative Group, which has done work for labor unions and a pro-Michelle Wu super PAC.

Three others are running for the seat: Djuna Perkins, a lawyer and former prosecutor; Cohasset School Committee Craig MacLellan, also a former prosecutor; and defense attorney Jim Barakat.

Perkins has raised $83,000 since getting in Sept. 2024, with donations from former state attorney general Scott Harshbarger, former Suffolk Sheriff Andrea Cabral, former Middlesex DA Gerry Leone, and former Suffolk DA Ralph Martin.

MacLellan has pulled in $52,500 from attorneys at the law firm Nutter and Boston Consulting Group, among others, while Barakat has raised just under $500, according to filings.

This is one of the races to watch in 2026. What are some others? Send your list to: gin@massterlist.com.

SOX, REAL ESTATE FIRMS PITCH IN ON WU INAUGURATION TAB

A who’s who of Boston brands and power brokers helped power a $1.1 million haul for Mayor Michelle Wu’s second inauguration fund. The figure is in line with what she raised four years ago as her first term got underway.

The Red Sox cut a check for $50,000, double what they donated in 2021. Companies linked to the Celtics (Banner Seventeen LLC) and the Bruins (Delaware North) also donated five-figure sums. Boston Legacy, the women’s soccer team that plans to play at a renovated White Stadium, a key priority for Wu, donated $15,000.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no sign so far of New England Patriots owners. (Robert Kraft donated $25,000 to Wu’s first inaugural fund four years ago, but that was well before they started negotiating over a soccer stadium on the Boston-Everett border and his son Josh ran against her.)

This year’s fund saw donations from Sam Adams brewer Boston Beer Company, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, unions like UNITE HERE and SEIU 32BJ, and real estate firms Related Beal, Tishman Speyer and Synergy. Whoop, the wearable tech company based down the street from Fenway Park, donated $50,000.

WBUR has more.

HAPPENING TODAY

9:00 | The Supreme Judicial Court sits with six cases on the docket. | Adams Courthouse, Rm 1, Boston | More Info

9:00 | Evan MacKay announces candidacy in the 25th Middlesex House District, which is represented by Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge. MacKay came close to unseating Decker in 2024. | Porter Square MBTA Station, Cambridge

10:00 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll chairs a Seaport Economic Council meeting and announces “actions to strengthen Massachusetts’ maritime economy and support the long-term vitality of the state’s waterfronts and harbors,” including the announcement of fiscal 2026 Seaport Economic Council grant awards. Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley participates. | Menino Convention Center, Room 150, 415 Summer St., Boston

10:30 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu reads “Make Way for Ducklings” to children and families at an inauguration week event meant to highlight a city literacy and library initiative. Boston Public Library President David Leonard attends. | BPL’s Brighton Branch, 40 Academy Hill Road, Boston

11:00 | Gov. Maura Healey gives remarks and administers the oath of office at Mass. State Police 92nd Recruit Training Troop graduation. Attorney General Andrea Campbell also gives remarks. State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble and Secretary of Public Safety and Security Gina Kwon also attend. | Mass Mutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield | Livestream

12:00 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 70th annual New England Boat Show. Organizers say there will be a backdrop of more than 500 boats for sale. | Menino Convention Center, Main Entrance, 415 Summer St., Boston

FROM BEACON HILL

DEPARTURE LOUNGE: More people left Massachusetts than arrived, placing the state 46th in the nation for population growth, based on rental truck data. Many appear to be young professionals, endangering the state’s economic sectors that depend on them staying after graduation. – MassLive

BALLOT ROYALE: State elections chief Bill Galvin warned of the complicated logistics of 12 initiative petitions if they make it onto the 2026 ballot. His office delivered on Tuesday to the State House more than 100 boxes filled with signature sheets gathered by ballot question organizers. Eleven questions have been certified, including ones dealing with rent control, public records, tax refunds, and allowing single-family homes on smaller lots. A twelfth measure, repealing a 2024 gun reform law, was previously certified. – State House News Service

NEWS NEXT DOOR

EVERETT EXIT: Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, on his way out of office this weekend, announced a new deal with casino owner Wynn Resorts, which DeMaria said would allow new hotels and a new commuter rail stop in the city. – Boston Business Journal

QUINCY RE-ENTRY: Anne Mahoney, a critic of Mayor Tom Koch, returned to the City Council on Monday, and was elected as the new council president after her swearing-in ceremony. – Patriot Ledger

CASHING IN: Rep. Seth Moulton has raised more than $2 million in his primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, and now has more cash on hand than the longtime incumbent. – Boston Globe

DA LOSES RECORDS CASE: A judge ruled that Northwestern DA David Sullivan’s office can’t block names and case numbers of police officers charged with crimes like driving under the influence and assault and battery. Prosecutors sought to shield the names and used taxpayer money to pay for its resistance. – Mass Dump/Substack

CELEBRATION AND ANXIETY: Venezuelans in Massachusetts celebrated the removal of dictator Nicolas Maduro from power, but voiced anxiety about what comes next as President Trump seeks to broker deals with his successors. – GBH News and WBUR

ETHICS REVIEW REQUEST: Unions that represent police in Holyoke have asked City Councilor Israel Rivera to recuse himself on matters involving the department, pointing to his recent DUI arrest and alleged threats to cut the police budget. – MassLive

ENDOWMENT TAX: The new year brings a new tax for big private schools. The tax has a school such as MIT having to pay up to 8% on the growth of their endowment, while a smaller place like Wellesley College would pay nearly nothing, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year. – Boston Business Journal