Massachusetts has been short on general election debates so far this cycle — if long on back-and-forth over who’s not debating and why.
So when Gov. Maura Healey and Mike Minogue square up at their podiums tonight in Brighton, it won’t just be the first faceoff in the marquee race but also a chance to discharge all that pent-up political energy.
Minogue zeroed in on Healey early in the electoral calendar, rebuffing calls to debate from primary rival Brian Shortsleeve. Healey, who had no Democratic challenger, hasn’t been on the debate stage since her bouts with Geoff Diehl in October 2022.
With the caveat that anything can happen on live TV, this WBUR headline from four years ago could probably be repackaged for tomorrow, with an update to the GOP nominee: “In first debate, Healey and Diehl clash over the economy, abortion and Trump.”
In tonight’s WBZ-TV debate moderated by Jon Keller, Minogue and Healey will have some fresh ground to cover, too, like his prodigious self-funding and the battle over Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s push to audit the Legislature — Minogue once offered to back up DiZoglio by paying for her lawyers.
Here’s a look at a few other likely flashpoints:
Who’s to blame: The candidates agree (and so do voters): it’s expensive to live here. But each can use their diagnosis of why as a cudgel to go after the other. What Healey calls the consequences of President Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran, Minogue sees arising from Beacon Hill’s misplaced priorities. Expect similar arguments about immigration enforcement, where Healey decries Trump administration tactics and Minogue says the state’s lack of coordination with ICE stokes a climate of distrust.
The gas tax: First, Minogue flooded TVs with ads hyping his plan to suspend the gas tax when gasoline goes above $4 a gallon and eventually scrap the tax altogether. Then, Healey announced her own vision for a two-month tax holiday where gas stations would be required to lower prices accordingly. Healey knocks Minogue’s pitch a giveaway to big oil companies, while he dismisses hers as an election-season stunt without lasting relief. With the Legislature not exactly sprinting to put either proposal in place, it may turn out to be just a theoretical discussion, but one that offers plenty of ammo.
Scholarship tax credits: Healey has been noncommittal about whether she’ll opt Massachusetts into a new federal tax credit program, but a debate setting could nudge her to tip her hand. In states that join up, taxpayers could get a credit for the amount, up to $1,700, that they donate to qualifying nonprofits offering K-12 scholarships. Minogue, who’s enthusiastic about the program as a way to give families more choices, has said he helped craft it and has been calling for Healey to get on board. Critics like the American Federation of Teachers of Massachusetts — which endorsed Healey — say it would divert resources from public schools.
Some common ground could come up, too. The two candidates seem aligned, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, on at least three ballot questions.
Both support expanding the public records law and allowing smaller lot sizes for single family homes (Minogue’s “OK with that”; Healey prominently endorsed Question 7). And they’ve both said rolling back legal marijuana sales is the wrong move.
Are you tuning in for tonight’s debate? Let me know your takeaways at [email protected].
MA voters support stronger AI safety: AI safety requires transparency and accountability. A new poll shows that 75% of Massachusetts voters support requiring the largest AI companies to publish safety plans, report serious incidents, and face penalties for non-compliance. — See the poll.
HEARD AROUND TOWN
...Airbnb announced a donation of at least $100,000 to Legalize Starter Homes, the Yes on 7 campaign, an amount the company says makes it "among the campaign's largest-to-date contributors." Other major donors include the Mass. Association of Realtors, the association’s PAC, and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, which all posted six-figure donations last year. Daniel Hornung, director of Airbnb's Housing Accelerator, says the question, which would allow single-family homes to be built on smaller lots, "is the kind of common sense reform that will unlock more housing and affordable homeownership opportunities, and should be replicated in communities across the country"...
…Micah Jones, the Republican running for the open Sixth Congressional District seat, has been casting himself as a Charlie Baker-style Republican and is underscoring that pitch in texts to voters. Messages from Jones’ campaign, featuring a photo of the candidate and the former governor, tout Baker’s endorsement from earlier this year, and say Jones would bring an “independent approach” to Washington that matches Baker’s “record of bipartisan problem-solving in Massachusetts”...
…Boston law firm WilmerHale hired Pat Moore, formerly first assistant attorney general under AG Andrea Campbell, to focus on commercial and government-facing litigation, crisis management and regulatory matters. Moore was involved in both the Biden and Harris presidential campaigns and served as deputy counsel to Govs. Baker and Deval Patrick, but his name may also ring a bell for followers of the legislative audit saga. In the long back-and-forth between Auditor Diana DiZoglio and Campbell, Moore wrote many of the letters from the AG's office to the auditor's team…
HAPPENING TODAY
8:00 | MASSterList and State House News Service host "Healthcare Cost Crunch: Understanding Drivers and Designing Solutions in Mass." Speakers include Health and Human Services Kiame Mahaniah, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts CEO Sarah Iselin, Beth Israel Lahey COO Peter Shorett, Harvard Medical School professor Michael Chernew and Dr. Zirui Song of Massachusetts General Hospital | UMass Club, 1 Beacon St., Boston | Register
8:30 | Sen. Howard joins the Greater Boston Food Bank and Dwelling House of Hope in Lowell to celebrate a $25,000 Community Investment Grant for transportation, computer upgrades and food pantry improvements | 125 Mount Hope St., Lowell
9:30 | Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce hosts a hybrid discussion about the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation's annual competitiveness index and poll. The index explores the commonwealth's strengths and weaknesses, as well as factors influencing economic growth, business competitiveness and quality of life | 265 Franklin St., Suite 1701, Boston | Register
9:30 | Auditor DiZoglio speaks at the Teamsters Local 25 retiree breakfast | Loyal Order of Moose, 562 Broadway, Malden
10:00 | Massachusetts DeafBlind Awareness Day will highlight the importance of services to support residents who are deafblind. The event's theme is "From Infants to Elders: Real Stories...Real Lives." Rep. Livingstone gives remarks | Great Hall
10:00 | Boston After School & Beyond celebrates its "5th Quarter of Learning" with state and city education leaders, including DESE Commissioner Pedro Martinez and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper. The event will feature data from summer 2026 on enrollment, attendance and student skill growth, along with recognition of summer programs and discussion of summer learning | School Committee Room, Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington St., Roxbury
10:00 | Federal, state and local officials tour new 56-unit, transit-oriented, mixed-income apartment community in Braintree, according to Winn Development. Media are welcome to attend the VIP tour of The EastWalk, built on the long-vacant location of the power plant and offices for the Braintree Electric Light Department | 44 Allen Street, Braintree
10:30 | Ellie Fund and the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators convene researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, and lawmakers for an expert panel focused on breast cancer action | Room 428
11:00 | House meets in an informal session | House Chamber
11:00 | Senate is likely to meet in an informal session | Senate Chamber
12:00 | Former Massachusetts Education Secretary Jim Peyser hosts former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Jim Blew for the Harvard Kennedy School's Education Policy Colloquium. Blew will discuss the new federal scholarship tax credit | Wapp Cason Seminar Room, Taubman 102, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge
12:00 | UMass Amherst hosts a forum on Question 9, the ballot referendum in which voters will decide whether to uphold or repeal the 2024 gun reform law. Speakers include Toby Leary, leader of The Civil Rights Coalition and No on 9 Campaign, and Megan DesAutels, campaign coordinator for the Yes on 9 Campaign. The event is part of the Commonwealth Ballot Forum Initiative that also involves Salem State University and Worcester State University | UMass Amherst, Old Chapel, Great Hall, Amherst
12:15 | Salem State University hosts a forum on Question 7, the ballot measure enabling single-family homes to be built on smaller lots. Speakers include Andrew Mikula, campaign chair for the Yes on 7 Campaign, and Dave Koffman of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, representing the opposition | Salem State University, Forten 123, Harrington Campus, Salem
5:30 | Candidates for governor Maura Healey and Mike Minogue square off in their first debate, hosted by WBZ-TV | 1170 Soldiers Field Road, Boston
6:00 | Department of Conservation and Recreation holds a public meeting to review final draft recommendations for the Leominster State Forest Trail Master Plan | More Info and Zoom
7:00 | MassDOT holds a public meeting about a proposed bridge preservation and superstructure replacement project in Conway and Shelburne. It involves Bardwell's Ferry Road over the Deerfield River | Conway Grammar School, 24 Fournier Road, Conway | More Info
JOB BOARD
Chief Financial Officer — NEW, Cooperative for Human Services Inc
Justice Geraldine S. Hines Legal Fellowship — NEW, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Newton
Financial Investigator III, Mass Gaming Commission
Vice President of Administration and Finance, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Government Relations Officer, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
1099 Admin Hourly, Shepherd Strategies
Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
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ON BEACON HILL
ON THE RECORDS: Supporters of expanding the public records law through Question 1 are ready to sue if the question passes and lawmakers usher through a post-election substitute. | State House News Service (gift link)
ENERGETIC DEBATES: The future of energy efficiency program Mass Save is in limbo as lawmakers try to decide whether to slash its budget, complicating efforts to plan for its next three-year cycle. | CommonWealth Beacon
SJC GOES LONG: As they consider the role police chiefs have in issuing firearm licenses, Supreme Judicial Court justices looked back to the 18th century, exploring the legacy of Shays' Rebellion in gun laws. | The Republican
SEEKING OPPORTUNITIES: Massachusetts is proposing 104 areas in 46 cities and towns as "opportunity zones" under a federal program intended to boost development in low-income communities. The state's list includes census tracts in Lawrence, Salem and Gloucester | Eagle-Tribune
NEWS NEXT DOOR
TPS TALK: A Boston City Council resolution calls for the city and state to make emergency shelter available to Haitian immigrants who lost their legal status after the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. Without tallying potential costs, the resolution says there are public buildings that could be temporarily converted to shelter space. | Boston Herald
SCHOOL SMARTS: The Cambridge School Committee banned smart glasses that can record audio and video, like those from Meta, from classrooms, and the Worcester School Committee is set to consider a similar policy at a meeting tonight. | CBS Boston
PICKET LINE OR MONEYLINE: For Encore Boston Harbor regulars, gambling trips mean crossing a picket line. More than a third of the casino's staff is on strike. | Boston Globe
HOME FROM THE OFFICE: The landlord for office parks off Route 128 in Weston and Waltham is pursuing a plan that would turn some of the properties into residential neighborhoods with up to 880 homes and a possible new commuter rail station. The moves come after rezoning under the MBTA Communities Act. | StreetsblogMass
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JOB BOARD
Lead Organizer / Civic Engagement Coordinator, Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants
Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
Vice President of Membership and Engagement, Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers
Staff Attorney, Disability Law Center
Chief Financial Officer, Boston Public Health Commission
Financial Investigations Manager, Mass Gaming Commission
Behavioral Health Coordinator, For Kids Only Afterschool
Assistant Secretary / MEPA Director, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Director, Finance & Accounting, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod
Director of Grants Development, Boston Public Health Commission
Chief Procurement Officer, Barnstable County
Deputy Comptroller, City of Newton
