How Lombardo's loss could be a harbinger for Beacon Hill's future

The lower 49 are getting all the ink for flushing the toilet on Trumpism. Not so much true-blue Massachusetts, which was expected to shun anything MAGA-related, and did.

But while the defenestration of eight-term Billerica Republican Rep. Marc Lombardo, has drawn attention mostly for the tender age of the 19-year-old Democratic selectman who beat him, it deserves closer scrutiny as a harbinger of Beacon Hill’s future.

“I wasn’t running as a partisan,” says Daniel Darris-O’Connor, who beat the seemingly entrenched incumbent by just 438 votes out of 18,245 cast in a town that often breaks narrowly for Democrats but was one of the few to back Trump in 2016. “I ran on bringing professionalism back. My opponent was simply not willing to do the job.”

Lombardo won his seat easily in 2010 amid the Tea Party wave that helped Scott Brown win the infamous U.S. Senate special election. He was unopposed in most of his subsequent re-election campaigns. 

But like a motionless lobster in a tank, Lombardo began to stink. While still Middlesex County’s most Irish-Catholic town, Billerica was changing as a younger, more diverse mix of families were drawn to the relatively affordable home prices and access to commuter rail. 

Meanwhile, Lombardo was compulsively playing to the far-right cheap seats. His Twitter feed is a steady drip of celebrations of ICE, evisceration of Maura Healey, denunciations of “the Green New Scam,” transgender baiting, and other staples of the Trump playbook.

And Lombardo’s ideological venom wasn’t limited to Democratic targets. He flopped badly in a 2024 bid to unseat House Minority Leader Brad Jones, who he later claimed had “conspired [with] Beacon Hill Democrats to sabotage the Mass. GOP, GOP candidates and the taxpayers” because he is “bought and paid for.” A Jones supporter, Rep. Paul Frost, alluded to Lombardo’s rep as a Beacon Hill no-show when he told the Herald: “Marc Lombardo would actually have to come into the building and advocate for people to vote for him to do the job. He brings nothing to the caucus and has brought nothing to the caucus.”

But Lombardo’s surfing of the Trumpian wave finally hit the rocks during a Sept. 24 debate with Darris-O’Connor on the Billerica town cable channel.

Jon Keller is a MASSterList columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].

9:00 | Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government accepts written testimony on legislation affecting Holyoke, Scituate, Oxford, Brockton, Southborough, East Bridgewater and Marshfield. Testimony is due by 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16 | More Info

10:15 | Boston Mayor Wu, Chief of Boston EMS James Hooley and Commissioner of Public Health Bisola Ojikutu attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new 5,700-square-foot EMS station along the South Boston waterfront. A media tour starts at 10:15 a.m., followed by a press conference and ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. | 34 Drydock Ave., South Boston | Livestream

11:00 | House meets in informal session | House Chamber

11:00 | Senate meets in informal session | Senate Chamber

12:00 | Outgoing Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer discusses Massachusetts climate policy and what comes next in a virtual event hosted by MCAN. Hoffer, who worked four years as the Healey administration's climate chief, departs this month to become president of Vermont Law and Graduate School on Dec. 1. A one-hour program with Q&A is followed by open discussion | Register

1:00 | Special Commission on Correctional Consolidation and Collaboration meets to review and discuss draft alternatives as it nears the end of its work. The agenda also includes a review of the commission's charge and process | Room 428 | Virtual Access

1:00 | Department of Fire Services' Fire Service Commission meets. Agenda includes discussion of the interview and selection process for the next state fire marshal, as well as discussion and possible vote on whether to conduct initial interviews in an open session or establish a preliminary screening committee to conduct them. State Fire Marshal Jon Davine announced Nov. 5 that he will step down Jan. 22 after three and a half years on the job | Info and Access

1:00 | UMass Lowell holds a ceremony in honor of Veterans Day. An American flag measuring 36 feet by 20 feet will be unfurled, and Chancellor Julie Chen will give remarks | Martin T. Meehan Student Center, 100 Meehan Way, Lowell

7:00 | Gov. Healey speaks at the Massachusetts Women’s History Center gala inducting the inaugural class of the Massachusetts Women's Hall of Fame. Attorney General Campbell is among those being recognized | Sheraton Boston, 39 Dalton St, Boston

Digital Organizer — NEW, App Drivers Union

Motor Equipment Repair Person, City of Newton

Real Estate Specialist, Town of Nantucket

General Counsel, Group Insurance Commission

Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council

General Counsel, Worcester County Sheriff’s Office

Managing Director of Development and Communications, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

Job board continues below the fold — post a job

WHAT’S PAST IS PREAMBLE: Gov. Healey signed an emergency preamble that put a new state law easing restrictions on abortions later in pregnancy — the subject of a repeal effort in the works for the 2028 ballot — into effect early. The preamble blocks the law from being suspended while the ballot fight plays out. | CommonWealth Beacon

ZONING SQUEAKER: Ballot fatigue, the confusing nature of zoning, lack of affordability regulations and resistance to a top-down approach are all cited as reasons behind the narrow defeat of Question 7, after the measure that sought to allow smaller lot sizes for single family homes was officially called as a loss Friday. | State House News Service (gift link)

GALVIN WATCH: Will the next term be Bill Galvin's last? The secretary of state once said he doesn't intend to run in 2030 but didn't come down one way or the other in a new TV interview, other than to say he's committed to making sure the 2030 Census is done and wants to keep working as long as he can. | WCVB

TICKET TOPPER: Auditor Diana DiZoglio got the most votes of any statewide candidate, and when it comes to her plans for the next election, a spokesman says to ask her again in four years. | Boston Herald

DIONNE’S REBOUND: Belmont Republican Elizabeth Dionne announced a run for chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, days after an election in which all statewide GOP candidates lost their races, including Dionne's challenge to Treasurer Deb Goldberg. Current MassGOP chair Amy Carnevale told the Globe Friday she's "considering passing the torch" but is keeping all options open. | Boston Herald | Boston Globe

POT’S TIN ANNIVERSARY: Ten years after Massachusetts voters legalized adult-use marijuana, the cannabis industry is now an established part of the state's economy, with many public leaders who were initially opposed having changed their minds. | GBH News

STREET SMARTS: Bike and transit advocates see promising signs in the street safety projects Boston Mayor Wu's administration is rolling out months after the death of cyclist and city planner Lousia Gag, but say there's a lot of unanswered questions and ground to make up. | Boston Globe

REMOVAL ORDERS: Immigrant teens in foster care through Massachusetts' Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program have received orders of removal from the U.S. government after a 2025 federal policy change. | MassLive

Nancy Pelosi receives the Edward M. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award in Boston

John Kerry, Bill Weld call for bipartisanship, 30 years after they were political rivals

Ayanna Pressley: “This is Our Moment, and We Have A Mandate From the People to Match Their Energy”

State police ID skeletal remains found in shallow grave in Quincy 35 years ago

Vineyard Wind, the country's largest offshore wind project, is fully up and running

Springfield downtown businesses fear closures if courthouse relocates

Dozens of Brookline public housing residents got $750 a month for a year. Here’s how they used the money

Dracut Town Meeting to vote on MBTA Communities zoning for third time

Real Estate Project Manager, Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance

Senior Legal Advisor, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General

Program Officer for Science, Engineering, and Technology, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Newton

Chief Economic Development Officer, City of Chelsea

Commission Counsel, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination

Individual and Corporate Giving Manager, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation

Legislative Director, Massachusetts AFL-CIO

Litigation Attorney, Disability Law Center