Diehl’s shifting media strategy- POLITICO

MAINSTREAM APPEAL — Geoff Diehl rejected offers for televised debates and spurned some interview requests from major news outlets during his primary campaign, calculating that his path to the Republican nomination for governor ran through conservative media.

But he’s making the rounds to mainstream outlets now that he’s facing Democrat Maura Healey, the state attorney general, in a general election in which he’ll need to appeal to a much broader audience of independents and potentially some Democrats to win.

Diehl’s post-primary interviews on GBH and WCVB show how he’s trying to reconcile his conservative ideals and endorsement from former President Donald Trump, which proved popular with Republican primary voters, with the views of general-election voters who twice rejected Trump by at least 27 points and residents who overwhelmingly say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

One example: Diehl said the two parts of the 2020 Roe Act that were vetoed by Gov. Charlie Baker — expanding the “availability of later-term abortions” and permitting 16- and 17-year-olds to seek the procedure without parental or guardian consent — are “two areas we’d like to see if we can improve on.”

But Diehl also acknowledged the political reality of the situation: Baker in July signed a bill expanding abortion access after 24 weeks of pregnancy and protections for patients and providers after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Diehl, a former state representative, said that while he and his wife “believe in protecting life wherever we can … what’s important is people in this state have spoken through their legislators. The Legislature is the one that makes that decision. My job, whether I like it or not, is to make sure that we protect those rights.”

Another example: Diehl told WCVB that President Joe Biden “was duly elected and certified, so the election is over and he won.” But he maintains that the 2020 election was “rigged” — or, as he said on Sunday, “rigged in a certain way,” in part due to “flaws overall with security” from mail-in voting.

The state Democratic Party is now trying to weaponize Diehl’s past comments on both topics. MassDems launched a new video and website this morning painting Diehl as “too dangerous for Massachusetts” given his embrace of Trump’s 2020 election rhetoric, antiabortion stances and past opposition to the Affordable Care Act.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The secretary of state’s office green-lit a ballot question that will ask voters to keep or repeal the state’s new law granting undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses.

The Elections Division said Friday it had certified 71,883 of the signatures collected by the Fair and Secure Massachusetts committee, far more than the 40,120 required to get what’s now Question 4 on the November ballot. Maureen Maloney, the ballot committee chair, said in a statement that the “excess of signatures shows the groundswell of support” for repealing the law.

Now proponents of the law are now mobilizing against the repeal effort: The “Yes for Safer Roads Coalition” is launching today with the backing of more than 60 law enforcement officials, labor unions and immigrant rights organizations. They argue that the new law, which won’t kick in until next year, promotes safety on the roads while also helping people get to work and school. Polling on the matter is mixed.

TODAY — President Joe Biden is in Boston to discuss his infrastructure law at 12:45 p.m. at Logan Airport’s Terminal E, deliver a speech on his Cancer Moonshot initiative at the JFK Library at 4 p.m. and attend a DNC reception at 6 p.m. Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark and Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Jake Auchincloss are among those who will join Biden for his remarks. Gov. Charlie Baker will also join Biden at Logan.

Tips? Scoops? Heading to one of Biden’s events today? Email me: [email protected].

— TURNING ON THE CHARM: With President Joe Biden coming to Boston for his big Cancer Moonshot speech, a bipartisan group of power brokers — including Rep. Richard Neal, UMass President Marty Meehan and MassBio’s Joe Boncore — is ramping up its efforts to make Massachusetts the headquarters for the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.

The group, which has been active since May, is formally unveiling its name, the Coalition for Health Advances & Research in Massachusetts, today as well as a website to push the Bay State’s pitch forward. Massachusetts is expecting competition from other states to land the headquarters for ARPA-H, which will focus on delivering treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases. More on the coalition’s efforts from the Boston Globe’s Jon Chesto.

— NOT A COINCIDENCE: Biden will deliver his speech at the JFK Library 60 years to the day after President John F. Kennedy delivered his moonshot address in Houston.

 — “After redrawn districts, far more candidates of color are poised to join State House ranks,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Priscila Sousa remembers visiting the Massachusetts State House on a fourth-grade field trip. Two and a half decades later, there aren’t many details she recalls, aside from one. ‘There weren’t a lot of people who looked like me,’ said Sousa, a Brazilian immigrant. ‘Unless they were pushing a mop.’ If only her younger self could see her now. Sousa, a 34-year-old Framingham Democrat, is among a new class of candidates — many of them women, young people of color, or immigrants — who last week captured primary victories in newly drawn legislative districts designed to empower communities of color to elect the candidates of their choice. In four House districts drawn with no incumbents, Democrats nominated a woman of color in each one. Pavel Payano, a Dominican American, is on the verge of representing Lawrence, a majority-Latino city, in the Senate after decades of it having only white senators. The roster of the Black and Latino legislative caucus, currently with 17 members, could grow by at least seven next session, depending on November’s general election results.”

— “Monkeypox cases decline, but ethnic and racial disparities persist,” by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: “Among reported monkeypox cases in Massachusetts, 29 percent were in Hispanic people and 15 percent in Black people, according to a report last week from the state Department of Public Health. But among those who have received the vaccine, the state’s analysis shows, only 11 percent were Hispanic and only 5 percent were Black.”

— “Rachael Rollins recused as feds eye Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden in MBTA Transit Police case,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office has sought and received a recusal from a possible federal review of Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden’s actions and those of his top deputy in a case involving MBTA Transit Police, according to a memo obtained by the Herald. … A federal law-enforcement source said this centers around the Boston Globe story that made claims and suggestions that Hayden and his top deputy Kevin Mullen broomed an investigation into allegedly false reports written by MBTA Transit Police officers.”

— “Marty Walsh, Dan Koh, federal judge all on witness list for Felix Arroyo lawsuit trial,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, many of his erstwhile City Hall lieutenants and a federal judge could all take the stand in the trial next year for the lawsuit between Felix G. Arroyo and the woman who says he sexually harassed her.”

— “Wu dialed back search for fire commissioner,” by Colman H. Herman, CommonWealth Magazine: “When Boston Mayor Michelle Wu went looking for a new police commissioner, the search was extensive. … But when Boston’s fire commissioner, John Dempsey, stepped down in June, a very different process was followed in the search for his replacement. There was no search committee, no listening sessions, no job postings, and no search firm. Instead, Wu announced the appointment of Paul Burke, a 32-year veteran of the department, as Dempsey’s replacement.”

— AD WARS: The coalition opposing the Fair Share Amendment is hitting the airwaves with a 30-second spot urging voters to reject the constitutional amendment on the ballot this November that would add a 4 percent surtax on annual income above $1 million and earmark that revenue for education and transportation projects.

“Proponents claim that it will raise taxes only on Massachusetts’ highest earners, but in reality, Question 1 would nearly double the income tax rate on tens of thousands of small business owners, family farmers, retirees, and other Massachusetts residents,” No on Question 1 spokesperson Dan Cence said in a statement. Top contributors to the coalition, as listed on the ad, are Suffolk Construction, Sandra and Paul Edgerley, New Balance Chair Jim Davis and Rand-Whitney.

Gerly Adrien of the Yes on 1 coalition, known as Fair Share for Massachusetts, said “the wealthy investors and super-rich CEOs funding the opposition to Question 1 are trying to scare people because they don’t want to pay their fair share in taxes.” Fair Share for Massachusetts has already aired two television advertisements as part of its $10 million fall advertising blitz in support of the ballot question.

— More: “Opposing camps evenly matched on millionaire tax fight,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “Its unions versus businesses in a high-stakes and so far evenly matched battle to raise the tax rate on high-income earners. This November, Massachusetts voters will decide whether to pass a constitutional amendment that would raise the tax rate by 4 percentage points on income over $1 million. If the initiative passes, the extra tax money would be earmarked for education and transportation. A coalition made up primarily of unions has raised nearly $10 million this year so far for its campaign to pass the amendment, while a group of mostly business people opposing the tax hike has raised over $9 million.”

— “AG Ruling Derails Bid To Limit Super PAC Contributions,” by Matt Murphy, State House News Service (paywall): “[Super PAC spending] has come under fire from some candidates for office who oppose the influence money has on the electoral process. But on Wednesday a bid to severely curtail the ability of super PACs to raise and spend huge sums on political campaigns was nixed by Attorney General Maura Healey’s office as ‘inconsistent’ with constitutional rights to free speech.”

— “At an old mill in Littleton, gun dealers openly defy Maura Healey’s assault weapon decrees,” by Sarah L. Ryley and Andrew Brinker, Boston Globe: “The former elastic mill in this small town northwest of Boston looks like a relic, a labyrinth of creaking hallways, staircases, and dead-ends, badly in need of a paint job. But to gun enthusiasts, ‘The Mill’ is a Shangri-La; the place where you can find just about anything among the scores of gun vendors inside, from ordinary pistols to flamethrowers and World War I antiques — and, especially, all manner of ways around the state’s strict gun laws. … Attorney General Maura Healey announced plans for stepped-up enforcement of the assault weapons ban in 2016, promising to target some of the very sales tactics the Mill’s dealers are using now. But so far, Healey has yet to charge a dealer anywhere in the state for violating the ban, a spokesperson confirmed. She is finishing her second term as attorney general and is the Democratic nominee in the race for governor.”

— “‘One step at a time,’ Healey says about funding transportation transformations,” by Taylor Dolven, Boston Globe: “Union Station is the gleaming transportation hub of Western Massachusetts, bringing together trains, regional and long distance buses, and a bike share system in the state’s third-largest city at a clean, renovated station. But the only direct, convenient way to get there from Boston on Friday mid-morning was to drive. … Gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey said she’ll change that by providing reliable passenger rail service between the cities: the ever elusive East-West Rail. She also promised on Friday a panoply of other transportation transformations. And yet . . . the Democratic nominee was not specific about how she would fund them.”

— “Advocates make push for Montreal-to-Boston passenger rail,” by David Sharp, The Associated Press: “Rail advocates are dusting off a proposal for passenger train service between Montreal and Boston, riding a renewed interest in train travel to bolster a concept that has been around for more than a decade. ‘It’s not a hard sell at all. A lot of people want this,’ said Francois Rebello, a former national assembly member in Quebec and a consultant on the project.”

— “Sparks, smoke and loud bangs: Green Line shuts down after power line falls on train,” by Walter Wuthmann, WBUR.

— “Inside Warren’s and Pressley’s decade-long push for student debt relief,” by Janelle Nanos, Boston Globe: “At 7 a.m. one Wednesday morning late last month, Representative Ayanna Pressley was at home in Hyde Park when her phone rang: It was the White House. Ron Klain, President Biden’s chief of staff, was on the line. Pressley knew Biden was set to release his long-awaited student debt relief plan a few hours later, and she made one more pitch: ‘Please make this process as efficient and equitable and streamlined as possible.’ The night before, Senator Elizabeth Warren had made much the same case to Biden himself, continuing a conversation they had on board Air Force One during a trip to Massachusetts in July. It was their closing arguments for a case that had been a decade in the making.”

— “‘Democracy is not self-executed’: Obama talks political divides, tech’s impact, and the queen at Boston conference,” by Travis Andersen and Dana Gerber, Boston Globe: “Former President Barack Obama closed out HubSpot’s Inbound conference in the Seaport on Friday afternoon, telling attendees the nation is ‘more divided than we were’ when he made waves in 2004 with his stirring speech at the Democratic National Convention.”

— “City councilor DeSimone announces candidacy for Attleboro mayor,” by George W. Rhodes, The Sun-Chronicle: “At-large city councilor Cathleen DeSimone has declared her candidacy for mayor. DeSimone announced her candidacy Saturday morning on WARA’s Dave Kane Show. With Mayor Paul Heroux winning the Democratic primary for sheriff, she wants to be ready to campaign if Heroux beats current Republican Sheriff Tom Hodgson on Nov. 8, she said in a Sun Chronicle interview following her announcement.”

— IN MEMORIAM: The British Consulate in Boston is opening a condolence book for Queen Elizabeth II at Old North Church in Boston from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.

— “A long-shot GOP candidate for R.I. governor has criminal record under different name,” by Brian Amaral, Boston Globe.

— “CVS ex-CEO Tom Ryan blasts McKee for ‘slandering’ company in new TV ad,” by Ted Nesi, WPRI.

— “Pelosi calls Foulkes ‘the full package’ at Providence campaign rally,” by Ted Nesi, WPRI.

REWIND — I joined state Sen. Lydia Edwards and WBZ’s Jon Keller on “Keller @ Large” to discuss the primaries and their aftermath. Part 1 … Part 2

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — David Slotnick, a senior reporter for The Points Guy and a Business Insider alum, and Reni Ellis, a director of program management for CVS/Aetna’s Medicare and Medicaid plans, on Aug. 17 welcomed Henry Ellis Slotnick. Pic … Another pic

TRANSITIONS — Renee Algarin will now be director of communications for the Office of Grants and Research at EOPSS. Algarin was previously deputy communications director and grant writer for the Suffolk district attorney’s office.

— Marcel Mensah is now digital communications officer for Reproductive Equity Now. Marcel joined from the MIRA Coalition and has degrees in both digital design and information technology from Curry College.

—Shannon Dooling is leaving WBUR to join Boston University’s College of Communication as an associate professor of investigative reporting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to POLITICO’s Ben Schreckinger; former senator and U.S. ambassador Scott Brown, Waterville Consulting Principal Sean Curran and MassGIS’ Paul Nutting. Happy belated to Brian Farnkoff, who celebrated Saturday.

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: [email protected].