Joe Heisler, Mary Tamer, & David Halbert give primary election coverage along with guests Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, City Counselor Annissa Essaibi-George. Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley, Said Abdikarim, Jon Spillane, Anthony Davis, Darnell Williams, & more!
WBCA Podcasts
Talk Of The Neighborhoods: Primary Election Coverage 2024
Joe Heisler, Mary Tamer, & David Halbert give primary election coverage along with guests Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, City Counselor Annissa Essaibi-George. Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley, Said Abdikarim, Jon Spillane, Anthony Davis, Darnell Williams, & more!
- Duration:
- 1h 29m
- Broadcast on:
- 03 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
Good evening and welcome to this special edition of Talk of the Neighborhoods. I'm Joe Heisler, your host, coming to you from the BNN Live Studios in Edgerton Square, where tonight we continue our coverage of election 2024, 90 minutes of live coverage from today's state primary election, including the results of some hotly contested races. We'll have some analysis, commentary. And hopefully, hopefully, all the results from today's ballots, especially on races here in the city of Boston. Tonight, I'm very pleased to be sharing with you that we're being streamed for the first time live on YouTube at BNN Media, and also, of course, we're live streamed on our website, BNNMedia.org, and finally, last but not least, we're being simulcast on our sister radio station, WBCA 102.9 FM, all places you continue to follow us throughout the night. When we come back with more of Talk of the Neighborhoods, a very special guest joining us, and we'll talk about the various races and wait for some of the results to come in, Paul, just closing. Thanks for watching. [Music] [Music] It's primary day here in Boston, and BNN headed out to the polls. We went over to Rosalindale, where we caught up with Mayor Michelle Wu and her family as she showed her children the importance of using their civic duty. This primary is shedding light on some of the lesser known, but equally important, state offices. Many Bostonians took to the polls early by voting via mail. However, we were still able to catch up with some of the in-person voters as they expressed their feelings about voting rights and policy issues in 2024. Voting is critical, absolutely essential, more important than ever. The stakes are really high in terms of the future of our country, the future of democracy, the future of freedom in this country for women and for everyone else, and voting is our number one tool to exercise what we believe. I'm concerned that there's been the same people in certain positions for like 20 years and nobody else has a chance, and I feel like there are some issues that I'm fairly progressive, and I feel like there's some issues that are very, very important to me. Things like who are the justices, what happens in the courtroom, the fairness of what happens in the courtroom, who's watching that. I think it's important to vote more so now than before, it's because democracy and people's rights are at stake. Nobody should determine what's good for you and your body but you, and I think the world needs more empathy. People need to understand that everybody's life is different, and we need to work together. This is America, and America is about differences in working together. The way that voting has been under attack in this country over the last eight years is really scary to me. We have the opportunity to, you know, the only opportunity that we have to control our fate and make our lives better is at the ballot box, and there are people who want to take that away and want to limit that franchise. I think it's critically important that we do everything we can to push back against that. In this election, a lot of attention is going to be on the presidential race, but in this primary, it's so important that everyone gets out there, makes their voices heard, because these are the offices that really shape our day-to-day lives, from how our court system runs to the work and the legislature. These are the places that really are tangible and matter in people's lives. All right, we're back with this special edition of Talk to the Neighbors. Tonight, 90 minutes of live coverage from today's state primary election, and I'm pleased to have joining me on this first segment of the end. It just came off a hard bargaining session to produce a new state budget. We're talking about the chair of the House Ways and Means. He's the state rep from the Third Suffolk District, and the north end of Boston rep, Aaron Michael. It's nice to have you here. Thank you for having us. Always for coming in and joining us. Well, congrats. I mean, you were on the ballot today. Yes. I know opponent and no apparent opponent. Best way to run. In the election in November, so all but certainly election, of course. Thank you. There's a distant chance of a right-end, but not likely. You've been chair of Ways and Means. He just came up with a $56 billion budget. Incredible. You know, the number just keeps growing every year, and no, I don't think anybody should be surprised by that. And you've been chair, this is your sixth. This was my sixth budget that we just passed as chair of Ways and Means. And when you were first elected in 2009, did you ever think you'd be in this spot? No, you know what I-- I know you were a state house aide at one point. I had worked in the building before. I'd worked for former speaker, Demacie, and then when he resigned, I ran for a seat. But you know, to be honest, I said to myself, when I first got elected, you know, I'd do this for a couple terms, see where I am. You know, I didn't think it was something that I would do forever. But as I grew in the house, obviously, things felt like they were working. So I stuck around a little bit. And then, yeah. And then in 2019, I was appointed Ways and Means, and you know, it's been the honor of a lifetime to serve under First Speaker DeLeo and now Speaker Mariano. You know, couldn't imagine working for two, you know, working under two great guys and two great people. And I've had the honor to get to do the budget every year and work with Senator Mike Rodricks from Westport. Right. And get to work with all my colleagues. You know, the challenge of putting a budget together every year, trying to make sure you take care of all 160 members, making sure that, you know, the needs of the Commonwealth are balanced, but while also understanding the challenges that you may face from some First School restraints. And we've felt like we've done a good job over the last couple of years, particularly most recently with the Millionaires Tax with the Fair Share Amendment. Turned out, I was brought in, did I read that right? More revenue? Yeah. We tried to be conservative in our first year of approaching it last last year. We've actually over almost a billion dollars additional, I mean, over a billion dollars additional, we're taking in in 2023. And so we will have to delve that money out a certain way. We have a certain process on that that'll have to go to education and transportation on one time expenditures. But this was the second year of implementing that, trying to go up a little bit further on that and making sure that we, you know, invested more money in the MBTA, invested more money in our things like, yes, yeah, we did a record number of the MBTA over 450 million. I'd like to get that number higher, if I could, you know, I think we say it was long overdue. Yeah. You know, of course, you know, your constituents, obviously, very pleased with you. Nobody wanted to get you. Not everybody's happy with you. There's been some griping, well, I don't know what you call it, some criticism, certainly in the Boston Globe, amongst others, suggesting that as much as you did, and I think you had some landmark pieces of legislation, including the Housing Bond Bill and some others, but that there were some important pieces left on the table. Yeah, we're still working through a number of those right now. You know, the economic development bill was not completed at the end of the formal session. But we've been negotiating that through August and into September. I feel pretty confident we're going to get something to the governor's desk in short time. We may have to call everyone back in to do that because there is a, there is a, there is a, a procedural bonding, because, because there's bonding money in there, there'll be a procedural vote that will have to take a full roll call. So it's not just the case of no one objecting. No, and on that one in and in, yeah, on some of the other pieces that we've been, we passed maternal, the maternal health bill recently, we just announced an agreement on the Boston liquor licenses, a piece that we're going to be voting on, I think, this week. But those don't have to require a roll call, so you don't have to do formal votes on a, on the economic development bill, because it, there's a huge money amount of money that for bonding that were, that were, that were doing the life science piece and a number of other initiatives, we will have to probably come back in and take a formal vote. That is a requirement. Did, did the governor give you an indication that she was willing to support coming calling you? She originally, yeah, she originally asked, asked if we would come back and the speaker and the Senate president both said, immediately following, are, are not getting it done on July 31st, immediately within days, I think they said they would, they would bring everyone back. Once we have an agreement, we still have to have an agreement, we're not there yet between the House and the Senate, uh, confries, uh, but we're getting there and I feel pretty confident that we will get there, uh, in due time. It's, it's, it's been now, I don't know how many years, exactly, but several years where the, uh, the legislature hasn't met its deadline of July 1 and it's been a one-twelfth budget passed and then negotiate negotiations taking place. Is there, uh, something in that process that's gumming that up, that's causing a particular problem? Is it, uh, just personalities between the speaker and the Senate president, is it something more than that? No, I think, I mean, I, you know, you're, you're talking about $56 billion, so it's a lot to kind of chew over, don't get it on. There's, there's a lot of issues there, there's a lot of initiatives that people are, are, uh, take ownership of and, uh, both sides, both the House and the Senate, uh, leaders. Yeah, I mean, I'd love to have the budget done July 1st, I would make my, uh, my, my July 4th a lot easier as opposed to being in the middle and negotiating, uh, the budget while I'm trying to celebrate, uh, the 4th of July, but the, the fact is is that, uh, you know, we have initiatives that, that members, you know, fight for and, uh, and they fight to get those in the budget and we need to, we need to try to hold the line as, as best as we possibly can to make sure we see it over the goal line. The truth is, is by doing the 1/12th budget, nothing, uh, gets stopped, no, nothing doesn't get paid out, uh, the, you know, the trains keep running or hopefully on time, uh, but the trains keep running, the system keeps moving, uh, you know, but we would like to see it, you know, I, I certainly would like to have it done by July 1st, but certainly not, not, um, would, um, are happy with the product that we put out every year, the product that we get to the governor's desk, I think is more important than necessarily just having it done on, on the arbitrary date of July 1st. No, you're, and you're, of course, uh, you know, responsible to your constituents, uh, but indeed as, as the chair weighs them into the entire state, uh, but in many ways also, uh, you get, uh, kind of, tagged with, uh, uh, for, uh, projects that are put forth by the city of Boston, how did the city of Boston do this year? I think the city of Boston has done very, uh, pretty well, uh, in, in the budgets that I've, uh, that I've helped orchestrate, I think being a, uh, city of Boston, uh, rep, uh, a lifelong resident of the city and also someone who, uh, who, my entire district is the city of Boston, including downtown, uh, those are, uh, you know, those get taken into account and I think we've done pretty well in terms of making sure that the city's priorities are, are put forward, uh, in any discussion that's happened in, uh, uh, you know, particularly over the last couple years, I think we've worked very well with the, with, with Mayor Wu, uh, in making sure that, uh, we're, we're strategic in how we're gonna be helpful, we were putting a lot of money towards, uh, some of the housing needs, uh, particularly on, uh, some of the folks that are massing cast and the transitional housing components there, uh, but we also, you know, are able to put things into, you know, into the school budgets to try to be, you know, to be helpful, and also working with many of my colleagues in the Boston delegation who, though, their district says, uh, better than anybody and know how to, uh, make sure that we get things done, uh, across the city, not just in my district. Yes, of course. I, I, uh, you, of course, one of the, uh, the issues are, are proposals that she had put forth, uh, uh, uh, certainly, uh, have an effect, uh, in, you know, since you represent the downtown area, was her, uh, tax proposal to shift some of the birth, some of the burden from residential to commercial, and, uh, I know you came up with kind of a compromise proposal, but that didn't seem to go anywhere either, what happened. It passed the house, uh, just, so the, the language as is because it was sent up on amenable by the city of Boston, uh, it passed the house as is, the mayor agreed in, in, in negotiations that we had to limit the scope, uh, uh, somewhat, uh, to, instead of the going to 200% go to 190%, uh, in terms of the ability to raise, uh, the, the tax, uh, initiative, and, uh, and also limit the years from five years to three years. We also, uh, and she was going to do that through executive order. She also agreed to take 15 million dollars a year and put that towards small businesses and making sure that any of the small businesses that might see those tax increases based off of that, that there'd be a fund that they could access, uh, in this way, that would limit their, uh, their exposure in relation to the tax initiative. So that, that was something that I think once we had that, uh, in place, we felt comfortable moving it forward in the house, uh, it has not passed the Senate yet, it is still sitting in the Senate. I think, I think the mayor is having, uh, conversations with the Senate president, uh, and some of the Boston delegation members of the Senate now, uh, and I think she's hopeful. I mean, our, our, our reason for wanting to move this forward, our main reason for wanting to move this forward was to avoid what could be some substantial residential, uh, the property and tax credit, um, you know, by the initiative that, that, uh, she may, if it doesn't pass, she may have to move in that direction. I think we want to avoid that. Uh, this happened about 20 years ago, uh, with, with Tom and it was, uh, was in the same kind of predicament, uh, in a very similar, not exactly the same. I think, uh, some folks have been critical to, to, in, in the idea that they're calling it the same. It's, it's not necessarily the same, but it certainly is, uh, a similar predicament. And, uh, Tom and, you know, was able to get that bill passed, uh, 20 years ago to avoid that. I think Mayor Wu was going to eventually have success in doing that before, before we get to the, uh, the third quarter of the tax season, which I'm seeing you still think you're so hopeful. I'm still hopeful with it. I think, uh, she's working on it. Now, there was some thought that she might have, uh, alienated the Senate president a little bit with some of her comments, uh, and you have to settle her on, uh, not that she needs schooling, uh, no, she, she, she does not, she knows exactly what she's doing when she does it. Uh, I would say, you know, there, uh, there was a little back and forth, uh, in the press. Um, listen, uh, uh, temperatures got hot, you know, at the end of July and just, just like outside. It was really hot inside too. And, uh, I think that there was a lot of angst, uh, you know, from, from the city about that discussion. Uh, the Senate, uh, didn't move on it. I know that they, they felt they didn't have enough time to move on it. Uh, I think they still have time. I think they still are working through it. Uh, I'm hopeful that the, the Senate will see its way through to, to get this done. Uh, it'll, uh, you know, it'll certainly be something that's, uh, positive for the residents of the city of Boston. Now, we've got very quickly, just a few minutes up, I got to ask you. So you think the, uh, uh, increase in the number of liquor licenses, there could be an agreement on that? Yeah, we, we, we, we have an agreement to go to 225, uh, to, for a specific neighborhood. A small number blanketed across the entire Commonwealth, I mean, I'm sorry, across the entire city. Uh, and in particular, one thing that we were very interested in is making sure that nonprofits in the city of Boston have access to them. Things like, uh, some of the smaller theaters that we have here in the city. Some of the, like, things like Franklin Park or George Wright that obviously do one-day liquor licenses, allow them to have a full liquor license. How about the average stadium, many, uh, we're working through that. That's part of the economic development bill, uh, um, we may still see something. We may still see something. I think from our end, it was always about that the city of Boston should have a seat at the table of conversation, and we're going to continue to fight that argument. Yeah. And, uh, we've got just a minute or so left, uh, you know, I got to ask you, you know, you're frequently mentioned these days as a possible future speaker of the house. Uh, does that give you, uh, uh, any, uh, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, sir, and is it bad luck? Is it, uh, but is there any indication that the speaker's thinking about leaving? I think the, uh, Speaker Mariano's very happy with his position. Mm-hmm. Um, he's done a great job. Um, very, like I said before, very honored to serve under him, um, and to serve with him. He's been a great partner for me, uh, a mentor for me, and so I, I'm very happy to, uh, continue to work in my role. You know, whatever happens in the future happens in the, uh, you know, if opportunities come, I've always been a big believer to do your job in front of you, whatever happens. Just like when I was, just like when I was an A for a speaker, the Macy, I did my job, I did try to do it the right way, opportunities came about, and, and if I do my job the right way, opportunities may work out if they don't, then other things will pop up on the shore. Well, thank you so much for coming in and joining us again. Yeah, Representative Aaron Michael, what's, uh, from the third Suffolk District, the North end of Boston, uh, just wrapping up a $56 billion, uh, new state budget, and, uh, here tonight on this special edition, I'm talking, I'm just, talk about it, we'll be, uh, uh, coming back with, uh, a very special host, one of my, uh, co-hosts for the summer, Mary Tamer will be joining us with her own special guest, as we await some of the results from today's state primary election. Stay tuned, we'll be right back with more of talk of the neighborhoods. It's primary day here in Boston, and BNN headed out to the polls. We went over to Rosalindale, where we caught up with Mayor Michelle Wu and her family as she showed her children the importance of using their civic duty. This primary is shedding light on some of the lesser known but equally important state offices. Many Bostonians took to the polls early by voting via mail. However, we were still able to catch up with some of the in-person voters as they expressed their feelings about voting rights and policy issues in 2024. Voting is critical, absolutely essential, more important than ever. The stakes are really high in terms of the future of our country, the future of democracy, the future of freedom in this country for women and for everyone else, and voting is our number one tool to exercise what we believe. I'm concerned that there's been the same people in certain positions for like 20 years and nobody else has a chance, and, um, I feel like there are some issues that I'm fairly progressive, and I feel like there's some issues that are very, very important to me. There's like, who are the justices, what happens in the courtroom, the fairness of what happens in the courtroom, who's watching that. I think it's important to vote more so now than before, it's because democracy and people's rights are at stake, nobody should determine what's good for you and your body but you, and I think the world needs more empathy. People need to understand that everybody's life is different, and we need to work together. This is America, and America is about differences in working together. I think that voting has been under attack in this country over the last, you know, eight years. It's really scary to me. We have the opportunity to, you know, the only opportunity that we have to control our faith and make our lives better is at the ballot box, and there are people who want to take that away and want to limit that franchise. I think it's critically important that we do everything we can to push back against that. In this election, a lot of attention is going to be on the presidential race, but in this primary, it's so important that everyone gets out there, makes their voices heard, because these are the offices that really shape our day-to-day lives, from how our court system runs to the work and the legislature. These are the places that really are tangible and matter in people's lives. Hi, everyone, I'm Mary Tamer. Thanks for sticking with us tonight for our special politics episode. I am so happy to be joined tonight by state representative Brandy Fluker Oakley. Thank you for being here. And former Boston City Councilor and Dorchester resident, actually you are a Dorchester resident. Oh, sorry, okay, okay, thank you. Anissa Asabi-George, who is now the president and CEO of the big sisters of Greater Boston. Thank you very much, thanks for both being here. So it's primary night, as we know, Brandy, you're a voted sticker on, mine is in my car right now. My dad, I thought it was going to be upset. But what, you know, the polls just closed a few, about 20 minutes ago, and we're seeing maybe 12% turnout, 13% turnout, I know Secretary of State Galvin predicted a 15% turnout. Why are the turnout so low in these primaries? Do you want to tackle this one first? I'll do my best, Mary. And I think there's a combination of reasons. So for one is we are just coming off of the Labor Day holiday, and this is a very tricky time of year. Folks are still kind of transitioning their brain from summer and to back to school. Yeah. Many of us growing up remember the primary happened after BPS started, BPS at the start and so later this week. And I think quite honestly a lot of people didn't know there was an election. I had some colleagues who contested races, I made calls for them. People were like, oh, there's an election tomorrow, it's Tuesday, so I think this one kind of fell off people's radar, and I don't think that the timing helped encourage any voter turnout. Yeah. And I would just add to it, Labor Day being so early this year, where today, September 3rd, and you know, not that everyone goes away in the summertime, but we're just sort of re-tapping into work, life, society, education, all those sorts of things. It's a slow start to the year, to the fall season, and so I think it keeps a lot of people home. Plus, it is, with the exception of a few races, a quiet ballot. It won't be that case, come November. That's right. You know, I will, just to play devil's advocate for a minute, one of the things I think as a result of the pandemic, we now can vote by mail, right? We can send in, get our ballots, send them back early. We also had early voting, not only in the city of Boston, but around the state. We have municipalities that are opening up schools and municipal buildings, so people can come in, you know, for several days, the week before the primary. It's August, so I think the summer argument still holds, but if anything we've made voting earlier, now you both know how to get the vote out. You've both been successful in your races. What did you do to get the turnout out, and representative, what did you do to get your turnout out, like what -- what are some of the tricks? I mean, some of the tricks, too, though, there's a small technicality in a city council race or a mayor's race. It's a preliminary, as opposed to a primary, and so this Democrat versus Republican, partisan politics are so important in the races that we're looking at today, so getting the vote out is a little bit different, and in many ways, much more consequential, especially here in Massachusetts and in Boston. But it's about that voter contact, it's about IDing your supporters, it's about being on the doors, and although so many people don't -- everyone's knocked down the Cape all summer, but we are engaged in a very different way. If we still had early voting, going back to the calendar question, say this week, I think we would have seen a little bit more of a jump in that turnout number. Yeah. What do you think? I would agree with everything that Anisa shared, and I also think, as it relates to turning out the vote, folks also have to be inspired or have a reason, and so when you have, like, I do our races as Anisa stated, our primaries is very much partisan, when there's no one contested on the other side, then it's kind of like -- or if there is, they already make it through to the general. So, for example, Milton, a part of the greater Boston area I represent, the other Milton's state rep race is highly contested, so we have two Democratic candidates and one independent. The independent, well, I'm sure and hope he's doing his job, he's in for the general because of the fact that he's running as an independent, so then you have the two Dems kind of trying to figure out who's going to be the one for the general, and it's just a different beast, if you will, and certainly we know that presidential elections help. So, when I first ran in 2020, it was a big presidential race. We will have that coming again this November, so I'm assuming we'll see higher turnout for the presidential race, which is par for the course historically. >> Yeah, and one of the things the three of us were talking about before we came in here was the fact that at the state house, there really aren't a lot of contested races. I think there were maybe, and correct me if I'm wrong, please represent it, what, 15 in the house, retirements or people moving on to different positions, and I think maybe three in the Senate, so that those were completely open fields. But in general, incumbents often aren't challenged here in Massachusetts. Why do you think that is? >> It's interesting to receive that question, cuz I hope none of my colleagues take this job for granted. I know I certainly don't, and I also think that it is a hard job to lose if you're actually doing your job. So, when I look at my role as a state representative, I have to deliver for constituent services. I have to respond to their inquiries, emails, phone calls when they show up in the office. Part of my role as a legislator is to create the state's budget, so I have to make sure that I'm bringing home resources to organizations. I've been able to actually get money in the budget to share. For big sister Boston, but just by way of example. And then whatever policy or legislative advocacy is happening. So I feel like if you're doing those three things, unless someone has a very brand new idea or maybe is out of touch with their community as time has gone on, it's kind of hard to see a lot of challenges come through, and to be perfectly honest, there is a barrier to running for office as well, whether that's finances to raise money, I've been checking some people's OCF and seeing personal loans that candidates have had to make in order to sustain and continue. And so that also influences whether or not there's going to be a contested race and a challenger. What about what the city council, Anita, did you find, you know, for your several years that you served as an at-large counselor in terms of contested races, was it surprising to you that more people didn't come out and run? It's always surprising to me whether we've got a high race at 30%, which is sort of sad still. I know we're talking about 12% today, but 30% of registered voters coming out to engage an election is still such a terribly low number. And then in my races, especially at large, sort of the difference in running in a district seat, especially one that's contested, voter turnout we see is higher in certain neighborhoods in certain districts across the city. So again, there are never enough people engaged in our elections, and unfortunately, from the city's perspective or in a municipal race, that turnout is generally even lower. We see that these presidential races drive voter turnout. So I look forward to that in November, and we've got both the presidential race on the ballot, we've got some ballot initiatives on the ballot, and just, you know, excited again to see that turnout, happy for that turnout, that I think is predicted for November, but always disappointed that it's not much higher than it is. It's astonishing to me, too, that there is this small chunk of the electorate that basically decides who's going to be mayor, who's going to serve on the city council, and that folks seem to be okay with that, and it is surprising to me, but you are pretty good at that. Well, and I think though, if I could just also add, you know, we need our city's residence or district residence, Commonwealth's residence, to be so much more engaged in the work that's happening. And it helps elected officials, like Representative Fluke or Oakley and others, be more successful in their job when our residents are engaged. It adds to the list of things to do, but it helps everybody, and so that engagement's really important, and engagement during election, obviously, is what we're looking for here and reflecting on our election day, but throughout the entire calendar year, we need our residents engaged. And you know, as a Boston girl, I always look for all that's happening here in the city, and it's the center of the universe and the world, but the races that are happening in Milton right now, you know, Milton Cable Access TV must be in fire tonight, because there's so much happening in Milton. Yeah. I wanted to ask you if there are any particular races that you're both watching tonight and sort of, you know, wondering what's going to happen, what's going to be the outcome? Well, as Anissa mentioned, certainly Milton for me, and if I can just go back to Mary to the last question, then I'll finish the other races that I have my eye on. We also have to recognize the voter disenfranchisement, so I represent the blackest community in the entire Commonwealth, based on census data. And given the history of black folks in this country, there are many people who don't think this system works for them, and they truly don't believe their voice or their vote matters, and so therefore they stay away from the system. So I also feel like my role as an elected official is to show, no, like your voice does matter, you actually put me in office, I work for you, let's try to figure this out, try to find a way that we can be in partnerships together, but that type of systemic challenges and oppression doesn't just happen overnight, where now all of a sudden folks are engaged and invested in willing to participate, so I think we have to be honest about that. In media matters too, certainly being, and it's great, I'm so fortunate that in my district I have the Milton Times, I have the Dorchester Reporter in addition to some of the more citywide papers, but the reason I think presidential races get such a great turnout is because that's what's in people's faces when they turn on the news. They hear about what's happening in DC or what's happening with the president of Republicans who are moving or not moving, whereas I think it takes a more savvy, plugged in, committed resident to really tune in to any sense that I look up everything that's happening in Boston. Sadly, I don't think the average resident does that, and so folks are missing what's actually going on, now to answer your second question. The other races that I'm looking at too is certainly the clerks race, there were a couple of contested ones that I think are going to be really, really interesting as the numbers come through later this evening. What about you? That adds on the clerks race in particular, which I think a lot of us are watching this evening is Suffolk County, and sometimes that confusion adds to added excuse for the voter not to be able to get out, and when at the city level or the state level we're shifting where someone votes. We need to make it easier, we need to make opportunities to vote early, to mail in, we need to make all of that easier, we have to pay attention to the calendar if we're looking for greater engagement. But I am curious about Milton, because there's lots of excitement around those races, multiple races, and Milton happening, and then of course here in Suffolk County, the clerk race. So the clerks race, so this is the Supreme Jischl Court clerk for Suffolk County, so Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, the greatest vote tally of course coming out of Boston, and this race involves current Boston City Councilor at large, Erin Murphy, and Alison Cartwright, who I believe oversees the public defender's office. Yes, she's one of the regional directors for the public defender's office. Okay, so, and this has become a little bit seemingly based on the press reports that I've been reading, a mandate between a more moderate Democrat and someone who has perceived to be a more progressive Democrat. So what do you both think about when you're labeled as a candidate, and when we are actually within the same party, how does that sit with you both? Well, one, when we get to those discussions, it at least demonstrates some engagement conversation around the race, which is really important. But if I could back you up just a step before that, that seat, that role, at the county level, the job title, is a mouthful. And we're asking voters to engage thoughtfully in who they believe the best person should be for that role, when sometimes it's really hard to understand, what is that job? Who should be in that role? Who should be doing that work? So I think that speaks to the representatives' point around disenfranchisement. If you don't understand, can't wrap your head around it, or realize the role that that job plays in your day-to-day life, you throw your hands up and say, "Why am I getting involved?" Yeah. Yeah. In terms of labels, I think I reflect back on something my mom told me that it doesn't really matter. As long as you know who you are, that's what's important. And I think there is some sense, I can't even say it tonight, and I'm going to try. There is some excitement around being able to put people on the labels, because the truth of the matter is, forward to Nisa's point, the average person, when you get to into the weeds, it's harder to really, oh, our brains see comfort. I'm just not even going to bother or engage, so when you have those easy labels like moderate Democrat or progressive Democrat, then at least folks can try to figure out the conversation, but it is extremely limiting to who the candidates are and what they bring to the table or what they don't bring to the table. I think for me, as an attorney, when I think about the role of the clerk, for me, and I love Erin, I have a very good working relationship with her, it was a no-brainer that this person should have a law degree. And I felt very confidently about that, and so for me, it was an easy checkbox decision for other folks who may not know the courts as intimately or the role, it's a harder decision, and we'll see what happens later this evening. We will. I think also, if I could add one more thing to that, because it's fascinated by the process and engagement when we go back to the calendar conversation and what today's date is, and that it's a primary. So the top two vote getters don't move on, it's a Democratic nominee and/or Republican nominee. Where was the time for debate and discussion? Where was the time for all of the candidates to put themselves before the voters to describe and share their values, their sentiments around the job and the role and the responsibilities ahead of them? It's too late today to engage, today's election day. So that presents some other serious challenges when we talk about voter engagement. Well, facing five ballot questions as well, now those are going to be, I had a few people calling me today to say, so how do I vote on the, I'm like, no, no, November. It's not until November, so you have more time to learn about the ballot questions. But I think there's a lot of confusion about that too, and I believe there were more than a dozen that were filed. This goes through Andrea Campbell as Attorney General goes through her office, and five of them have made it onto the ballot. What are you both thinking in terms of, is a ballot question a good idea in terms of writing or making legislation happen when it's not happening in other ways, and as someone who is serving at the State House, how do you feel about that? Yeah, I love this question, Mary, and I hope I don't get myself into any hot water as I respond. But I can think about before I ran for office, I've only been in for four years, I'm up for my third term, and I remember thinking, oh my gosh, things move so slowly at the State House, like as an outsider looking in, like, had that frustration, full stop. Get into it and realize that when they say it's the deliberative process, that's on purpose, you literally, very rarely, is it like, oh, you filed this bill, great, we're going to go ahead and make this happen. Now, as someone who files bills and works very hard to get my bills passed, six of which got done in this legislative session for a very long time, thank you. But having said that, it's like you have to talk to the other side, right, so folks might be opposed to your idea. You have to figure out if it's going to involve a state agency, what regulations of support or finances do they need. It's not just as easy as, oh, we should do this thing, and I think when you're not in it, or you're not realizing that that's the level of thoughtfulness and care that goes into what type of policies get advanced, it's easy to get very frustrated and say, oh, they're not doing anything, or they're not moving fast enough when, in fact, there is a process, and the reason why it takes so long is because they want to try to make sure that they're accounting for all the other variables, and that doesn't get highlighted or talked about enough. Having said that as someone who worked at advocacy organizations prior to being in elected office where sometimes ballot questions were the mechanism by which folks tried to leverage their, their area of change, it's not my favorite way for some of the things that Anissa has already shared in terms of how are we breaking this down for the voter to understand. So what ends up happening, and I said this in the same way we label candidates, oh, moderate Democrat, progressive Democrat, these ballot questions are so highly nuanced, but we break them down into black and white when, in fact, they are not black and white issues whatsoever and force voters to make a decision. And then what folks don't necessarily realize is, okay, I'm elected by the people. So are all my other 159 colleagues in the House and my 40 colleagues in the Senate. So when there is a ballot question that comes through and the people speak out against it, the likelihood that I would want to touch a piece of legislation that does the opposite of what the Commonwealth people said to do is very, very slim. So when we do ballot initiatives, it also has the unintended consequence of hamstringing the legislature down the line for maybe going in a different way or being able to exercise that deliberative process. Yeah. What if the, just a quick follow up to that, but what if it, maybe it was a poorly worded ballot question, but the issue itself is valid? Might the legislature then find a way to rephrase, rework the wording to make it more feasible in terms of putting forward? I actually just don't know the ins and outs to say how much latitude do we have as a body once the ballot initiative has gone through since that's already been vetted by the AG's office. I just don't know how much wiggle room there is for us to say, oh, let's try to tweak it or make it better. And if that actually goes against the intent of the ballot initiative, so I'm just not sure. But it sounds very murky. Yeah. But if it goes down, but it was a good idea to begin with, but maybe not well conceived. Do you think then the, but the legislature would be wary of touching it? I mean, I can't speak for all my colleagues. I'd probably be wary of touching it because the people said that they didn't want this and no matter how improperly morded it was, that's the headline and who, who is the right PR firm and what does yes mean versus what does no mean? I mean, there's who had the bigger ad budget. Yeah. But also when we think about that ballot, when you show up on election day, the placement of your, the question and whether or not you've got to flip the page or get to the question. I mean, yeah. There are so many other components that can impact unbalanced questions in particular, whether or not they're successful or whether it's a yes or a no success. Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately, we're almost out of time. Were you going to be watching election returns tonight? My living room? You know, I had a mouse on birthday last year. I'm realizing I cannot hang like I used to. So I will likely be in my living room this this evening and we'll see if I make it out to any of the parties. Okay. But I'm not holding my breath. Yeah. And he's a winner on the couch, but maybe already in bed with the phone, we'll see. But there is, you know, luckily we have access to that information and we'll be pretty quick on the results this evening. All right. Well, thank you again for making the time to be here. This was really fun. And please stay with us. David Halbert will be back in just a few minutes with two special guests. So please stay tuned. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. It's primary day here in Boston and BNN headed out to the polls. We went over to Rosalindale where we caught up with Mayor Michelle Wu and her family as she showed her children the importance of using their civic duty. This primary is shedding light on some of the lesser known but equally important state offices. Many Bostonians took to the polls early by voting via mail. However, we were still able to catch up with some of the in-person voters as they expressed their feelings about voting rights and policy issues in 2024. Voting is critical, absolutely essential, more important than ever. The stakes are really high in terms of the future of our country, the future of democracy, the future of freedom in this country for women and for everyone else and voting is our number one tool to exercise what we believe. I'm concerned that there's been the same people in certain positions for like 20 years and nobody else has a chance and I feel like there are some issues that I'm fairly progressive and I feel like there's some issues that are very, very important to me. It was like, who are the justices, what happens in the courtroom, the fairness of what happens in the courtroom, who's watching that. I think it's important to vote more so now than before, it's because democracy and people's rights are at stake, nobody should determine what's good for you and your body but you and I think the world needs more empathy. People need to understand that everybody's life is different and we need to work together. This is America and America is about differences in working together. I think that voting has been under attack in this country over the last eight years is really scary to me. We have the opportunity to, you know, the only opportunity that we have to control our fate and make our lives better is at the ballot box and there are people who want to take that away and want to limit that franchise. I think it's critically important that we do everything we can to push back against that. In this election, a lot of attention is going to be on the presidential race but in this primary it's so important that everyone gets out there, makes their voices heard because these are the offices that really shape our day-to-day lives from how our court system runs to the work and the legislature. These are the places that really are tangible and matter in people's lives. And we're back, I'm David Halbert here talking on Talk of the Neighborhood's Primary Night Special and I am joined by two wonderful Boston residents who have a lot to say about what is happening here on election night. First to my immediate left, my good friend Sayid Abdi Karim, southern resident and a longtime leader in the city's Muslim, Somali and African communities. And next to him, Beacon Hill resident, but as he's very fond of saying, Hyde Park native, John's Blaine, an attorney and former aide to District 8 City Councilor Kenzie Bach. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here on Talk of the Neighborhoods. So we're in election night, it's getting closer to nine o'clock, we're seeing slow results trickle in, so we don't have anything definitive right now, but I'm just curious, in your respective neighborhoods and the way that you guys were out and about, what were you hearing about the races? Was there anything that people were particularly keyed in on or were looking for by John? I'll start with you. Sure, thanks David. First off, thank you and B&N for having me. This is actually my first time at studio last time I was during COVID, so it didn't get the full experience. You know, I think first off, I want to congratulate all the candidates for running hard campaigns, putting your name on the ballot is one of the hardest things you can do. All those hours, volunteering, knocking doors, making cold calls, it's a hard thing to do. Really appreciate everyone putting all their efforts into a campaign cycle. It's tough, especially in an off-season election. I think when you have a situation where we're kind of off-cycle right now, there's no real high visibility top of the ticket item, you know, the murmurs around town are going to be a lot more quiet. We're going to see a lower turnout election, interested to see how that plays out. There were a few contested elections, you know, living in Beacon Hill now, Jay Livingstone had a couple of oppositions for the first time in a few years. Obviously, we had the court reports released that was contested, a few other high-profile races in terms of, I'm trying to think the... There was the governor's council race. The governor's council race. That was the one. Yeah. And coming to Maryland to Vaney, being opposed by returning challenger Mar Dolan, so interested to see those results as they come in, you know, those are the real ones that really, you know, burnt the ears of people that pay attention to local politics. Yeah, absolutely. Say it. Because John was saying, so a lot of the action was kind of below the fold, as it were, you know, thinking of newspaper terms, some of these down ballot races that maybe in a year where there might have been something a little more high-profile, as John was saying on the top there, may not have gotten the attention, but because of the absence of that, people were talking about a clerk of court's race, probably the first one in memory that we can really think of, people, you know, having a lot of action and activity about these governor's council races. Do you think that there was a benefit to the community for learning more about some of these offices, maybe ones they didn't even know were elected in the first place? Absolutely. First of all, I want to say thank you for having me on B&N. It's an honor to be here, good evening to the B&N viewers. It's an honor to be sitting here with Dave and John to wonderful people that I've built friendship with the past few years. You know, I guess we can call this segment, you know, the news evening with the Three Amigos. So absolutely, I mean, Dave, I agree with you, you know, a lot of people don't know in the community, you know, being out there today, being out there the past few weeks, they don't know anything about the governor council's race, you know, the clerk's race, you know, they don't even know what these positions entail, but what they can tell you to some of the folks that I spoke about, I'm going to take a quote out of, you know, a wonderful congresswoman's, you know, one of our speeches, you know, some of the folks that I spoke to that actually know about these two races, they say the people closer to their pain should be the closest to the power, driving and informing policy, that's what I hear from people. And a lot of folks that said they were going to vote, you know, for Alison Cartwright or Stacey Borden, obviously they're voting because they sort of feel like a personal attachment, you know, they feel like they have been there, they have this experience, you know, not to knock off any of the candidates because obviously we all know we ran a race, you know, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of effort. So definitely I think, you know, moving forward, you know, going out into the communities and letting them know about, you know, the different positions, you know, right before when the races start. Absolutely. Well, you know, going back to the races that you were talking about, particularly the clerk of courts race and the governor's council race, once again, you had an incumbent for the governor's council race and Chris INL being challenged by Stacey Borden. You have an open seat race where more Doyle has left the clerk of courts race and so you have incumbent city councilor Aaron Murphy and as you mentioned, Alison Cartwright running for that. There's been a lot of narrative forming of old Boston and new Boston and we've seen that, you know, we were all on the ballot in 2021 in the city council race where that kind of picked up steam, particularly in the mayor's race. I'm wondering for the two of you, do you feel that that tension is really there and it's still being played out by proxy or is this something that's being maybe overblown by political folks or the media? John, we'll start with you. Sure. You know, I think there was special attention that was paid, or there was special attention to this race. I think if you look on the federal level, selection of judges in particular has been a storyline that's played out nationally, especially with former president Trump on the ballot, you know, seeing the impact that he had on such court cases as Roe v. Wade. I think it's a little overblown. I think everyone's kind of has their, you know, their boss, Polly, hashtag out. It's an apples and oranges race in terms of old Boston, new Boston. It's such a low turnout race versus mayoral. I think the biggest thing that you're going to see here, you're running in a county-wide election. It's very different than a district race. I was like to say district races are organizational based, it's doorknocks identifying your ones, things of that nature. If you have a county-wide race, it's going to come down to a few different things. I think the biggest things are endorsements, money raised and money spent, getting your name out, name ID out. Looking at the OPCF reports prior today, it looks like both candidates spent around $130,000 to date. David Uverend, at large, you know, you can't doorknock an entire city, let alone an entire county. It's going to be interesting to see whether Councillor Murphy's name ID, you know, helps her out, where traditionally you have more reliable neighborhood voters come out in these off-cycle elections. On the other hand, you had a lot of endorsement power behind the other candidate. And between Miss Cartwright? I'm sorry, Alison Cartwright. In particular, you know, you look at Senator Edwards, who's been on a streak of winning endorsements recently. You know, she had the auditor's race, the governor's race, Lieutenant Governor District Attorney. She came out early for Alison Cartwright, you know, it's going to be interesting to see whether, you know, kind of the establishment endorsement going against name ID is going to, you know, how that's going to roll out as we see the election results come in. Yeah. And so say to that point, you know, the traditional voter in a low turnout race like this is kind of the gold standard that we typically go by, right? We know those folks are going to come out and vote in a matter of rain, snow, sleet, whatever. But for communities, to your point about Congresswoman Presley's commentary and looking back at her race, she won because she was able to expand an electorate, to bring in new people into the process and to get beyond kind of the traditional status quo modalities of an election, coming from community and being so deeply connected to communities that often are, have been historically overlooked, from the voting, you know, populist and from elected officials. I'm wondering, are you hearing anything from the Cartwright campaign, from the Board campaign, from the Murphy campaign, from the A&L campaign about them making particular effort to engage voters that may have otherwise gone under the radar? Absolutely. And just to, you know, piggyback on what John said, I would disagree. I think it is not being blown out of proportion. And the reason why I say this is because if you look at these two races, and particularly prior races, folks are talking about that some of the people are not from here. For example, Mrs. Cartwright, they're saying that, you know, she came to school in the city of Boston. And obviously, if you look at the endorsements, you know, the old guard versus the new guard, you know, obviously, you know, folks are talking about in the neighborhood saying, you know, why should we vote for this particular person? Because obviously, you know, they have the experience, they've been closer to the pain. And obviously, you know, there's some sort of a, I would say, personal connection, because, you know, for example, if you look at the Stacey Burden race, you know, I think the current incumbent has been there since 1993, I believe. It has not been, you have not had a black person in that seat. You can say similar for the Allison Cartwright race, you have not had a person of color in that seat. So there's a lot of, you know, stake here, you know, for these two different races today. So we'll move away from those specific races, I'm wondering, one of the reasons they're getting so much attention is because there's just not a lot else going on right now. And I'm wondering, you know, you've both been on the campaign trail. You know how hard it is, as you said, to run to be a candidate. Do you think that the reason we're not seeing more candidates, more campaigns in a year like this, is because people, a, just don't want to do it, or do you think it says something about people being satisfied with the representation they're getting, particularly at the State House? Obviously, there was a lot of conversation about the budget being a little bit late this year about, you know, not a lot of bills being passed, a lot of commentary, a lot of ink in, you know, pages like the Globe and the Herald about that. Do you think that folks are just kind of fed up with the process? And that's why folks aren't doing it, or is there something else, something deeper? I think it's something deeper, you know, because I think folks are, you know, they have a personal connection to the races that are going on throughout the city of Boston, state of Massachusetts. And from the past experiences, the past, you know, voting track record, obviously, if they feel that this candidate does not represent them, or this candidate is not producing, you know, what they elected them for, you know, they sort of get discouraged, you know. One thing I would like to mention is, and not to knock anything off from all the other candidates, Mrs. Murphy, you know, have a great relationship with her, you know, obviously, the clerk of court's race, right? You know, one of the most important jobs that they handle is actually admission of a lawyer to the bar, and oversees the matters of attorney discipline, right? We're always talking about, you know, diversity, inclusion, and we need more, you know, black lawyers, you know, we need more lawyers of color. And obviously, if you don't have someone at that seat that can actually understand what is to be, you know, an attorney for 30-plus years, then obviously, that's going to either encourage a voter, or they're going to discourage a voter if you don't have that candidate in that seat. Yeah. Cool. And thank you for that. John, I'm curious. You were saying early on, right? Representative Livingston, getting a challenge for the first time in quite some time. But it seems like it hasn't kind of peaked in terms of it being considered a real threat, a real credible challenge. And I think we're seeing that across the board, you know, no disrespect to any of the folks who are out there running. We know how hard that is. But why haven't we seen more energy, in your opinion, on some of these challenges? You know, in my district in the sex suffix, for example, Harry's Hardaway, I ran into him today at the polls, he was out, you know, trying to connect with voters the last minute. But once again, it didn't seem like there was the full court press from Russell Holmes or for so many others who were out there with folks opposite to them on the ballot for the first time in a while. Sure. You know, I think at the very extent, I'll do a couple of things, David. I think, you know, as long as we have election day after Labor Day, it's going to be difficult. You know, everyone's coming back from the beach, trying to get them excited about, you know, a local municipal election stuff, as much as I would love everyone to come out and care about every local election, you know, sadly the sediment isn't always there. I think, you know, we don't have that driving top of the ticket race that we may have in other cycles. There's not a contested Senate seat, you know, Governor's seat, presidential, et cetera. So you're left with a lot of races, you know, specifically looking at the legislature. I think it's difficult when you look at a few factors. One, there's kind of like an opaqueness in terms of people understanding what exactly the role of the state representative is, you know, those people are at the state house that are doing a thing legislating, you know, for an average person that may be frustrating with the system, you know, maybe because there's that little opaqueness in terms of like what's happening there, it may make them hesitate on entering the realm. I mean, the second thing too is, you know, I think in terms of running for office, the literal that people face when they put their name on the ballot is increased substantially. Since I'd say 2016, you know, you look at, you know, Twitter and Facebook of local neighborhood groups. It's a lot more personal attacks. You know, I've been really saddened to see people listing names of, you know, local neighborhood liaisons that are doing their job work for the city Boston, which I don't think should ever be the case at any level. You have city employees that, you know, work every day for the city. So you have people that, you know, they don't exactly know what they're walking into. You don't have that driving power, you know, there's the literal and then at the end of the day, the salary of a state representative, you know, is that going to compensate for all that hassle? It's what it is and there's a lot to unpack there. Unfortunately, we don't have quite as much time. So in the last few months that we have quick predictions, what do we think is going to happen in the clerk's race and in the governor's council race? Said, I'll start with you. You know, being out there talking to folks, I think the clerk's race, you know, Allison Kent Wright. It's going to come up. And the governor's council? A Stacy Borden. Stacy Borden. Yes. All right, Sean. Do you know what to keep things interesting? I'll go opposite society. I'll go with Inala and Aaron Murphy. All right, and well, we will see hopefully in just a few hours what that result is going to be. Thank you once again to our guests, John Spillane, and Said, I'm D Karim. When we come back, Joe Heiser, we'll be back with more, but in a few minutes. 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But when you meet others that are also living in that space, you'll learn to know that that is its own unique space too. Alright, we're back with this special edition of Talk to the Neighbors, I'm Joe Hyser-Oates. We're coming to you from the B.I.N. Live Studios in Edgerton Square and tonight we're being streamed live for the first time ever on YouTube at B.N.N. Media. And of course as always we're being simulcast on our sister radio station WBCA 102.9 FM. You will care to join us there. I'm very pleased to have joining us in this segment of very special guests. Both of them just back from the Democratic National Convention. They say they're not the parties over at least for this week, but I'm pleased to have joining me on my immediate left. He on the right of your screen is Anthony Davis. He's the founder and CEO of the Davis System. I'm an up and coming political strategist. I think that's fair to say. And on the far left, an old friend and a guy who's seen a few campaigns himself over the years, former president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Mass, Darnell Williams. I say I'd be both here. Thank you, Joe, for that much. Well, tell me about this convention. And I should tell our viewers, we're still waiting for results from the primary election results from the city of Boston. They have not been posted yet, so we're holding on to hope that they will before we end tonight's coverage. But until then, who better to talk about politics and at least on the national scale? And what did you guys see? What were you impressed by the convention? Was the spirit of, what was it, joy? Could you feel it? Well, I thought that I would bring you a listening audience a little number. I have my four passes in this, this lanyard that says D and C. But I'm going to let Anthony tell you what his experiences were and then I will amplify what I experience. Absolutely. Well, this was my first time getting to experience a Democratic National Convention, first time being a delegate. And it was, I mean, as just as you said, the spirit of joy of unity was in the, was throughout the four days of the convention. I felt as though the, the party was ultimately trying to deliver a message, a unifying message. That's why you saw, you know, leaders from the Republican party there, you saw folks that may have not necessarily agreed with Vice President Harris when she was running in 2020 for president. And so you just saw a story and a vision of unity of the country. Also, you saw speakers who had a diverse background and it just, honestly, the story of hope in, in America, I felt was on full display. Were you surprised that it kind of came together so quickly? I mean, it wasn't, they raised $400 million in about three weeks. That's what I'm talking about. You just, I think that Vice President Harris and Coach Wells really have energized the Democratic Party and brought us together all the leaders signed on. It was just, if you didn't want to vote for her, you would have to just vote present. So we're going to take care of this nonsense on the front side. We had a ballot measure that we had to do before August 5th because they, we needed to vote to get a name on the Ohio ballot. So really, it was ceremonial when we got to Chicago. It was a virtual nomination, right? It was a virtual nomination, but it was really, to me, the words that I would use, it was authentic. It was genuine. It was really full of spirit and galvanization. I, my wife was there with me calling and we saw America. I saw white, I saw black, I saw Latinos, I saw Asian, LGBTQ community members. I saw union members, I saw Republicans, Adam Kissinger, I had white dudes for Kamala. Yeah. So what's the world coming to? Okay, wait a minute, I wasn't ready for all of this. And then we had the entertainers who brought us to our feet and you remember the phrase when we fight? We win. That's it. So we know all the phrases now. So you, you just say one and we'll repeat it. But it seemed almost spontaneous. And I've, you know, these events are always heavily choreographed to make the most of them. But there did seem to be something else there. It was something, some mojo, something was in the hair in the United Center. I'll tell you two examples that really touched me. It was when the, such a park five came on the stage. And Donald Trump took out a full-page ass and they should be executed. They weren't in the 70s or early 80s. You know, I was in more than 80s, late 80s. But the fact is they were exonerated. One of the brothers ended up becoming elected to New York City Council. I think I saw them. I was in pieces and tears on that one. The second time is when Coach Son got up and he was so proud of his dad. He, there wasn't a dry eye in the Massachusetts front. So for me, it was one of those kind of situations. And you might agree that it was just, it was not orchestrated at all. It was just spontaneous. And you can feel it. And it will be a, it's in my memory banks for the rest of my life. Well, and, you know, we've all seen presidential campaigns and sometimes say they go bad. Sometimes they just take off. I'm thinking of Obama and the first time he ran. I mean, I don't think anybody knew what was going to happen. But, you know, let's see, what's the history given the, including the racial history and the US? You know, what's, what's realistically possible? Is it realistically possible that, did you get the feeling that Kamala Harris could be elected president? So I'll say when President Biden first stepped down and also to his credit, I think that was another really special moment during the, the convention as well was when President Biden was able to go up and give a resounding speech for almost an hour. And, you know, trying to debunk the sleepy Joe mess. And it was, I mean, there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd that night after that speech as well. But to his credit, when he first stepped down, I was extremely skeptical. I was worried that we just didn't give ourselves enough time, that we didn't, that we just didn't have the requisite amount of time to switch candidates and run an appropriate candidate campaign. But, you know, those three weeks of 400 million dollars later, an extremely well organized convention, I think we need to also give it up for Jamie Harrison, the chair of the party, and all the folks who were behind the scenes organizing the convention, because I don't think, you know, three weeks before, or, you know, a month before when President Biden was still in the race that the, what we saw over those four days was not what would have happened if President Biden was still the nominee. If I've been honest, I don't think we would have seen the energy, the excitement of so many leaders to come and be on the stage. So many diverse folks to be, you know, featured on the stage during it. And so, I think that coming out of it, I mean, maybe I'm drinking the Kool-Aid a little bit, but I really do feel like we have a shot, I mean, just... It's good, man. Yeah! It's not what happens! We can be communion sometimes as well. But I feel like we have a shot. I mean, I also feel a lot of confidence in both the party and the folks who are behind Vice President Harris kind of managing things as well. Well, we shall see, of course, a big moment coming up, the debate between the Vice President Harris and we can... Well, I think that she's on September 10th, that is... Well, let me let you ask the question. (LAUGHTER) Could she handle that? Can she handle him? I think she should. You saw how recent he was before, and, you know... I think that the two debate teams, both campaigns have... Wiring out their differences in terms of what they wanted to see. I think the closed mic, if we go back the three times that we have witnessed President Trump, I think having a shutdown mic when the other person is speaking is really wise, so you have some kind of order and decency. I think the days where we would have ideas and policy differences would really distinguish one candidate versus another, two, we kind of dwelled into personal attacks and name calling, all of those things, I call those wagging the distractions. But I would say Vice President Harris is well-prepared. She's seasoned. I was there in six states in 2019 when I saw her on the trail before Biden got the nomination. So I've seen her up close. She is matured. She is a seasoned prosecutor. She is going up against a felon. And so as a result of that, she is going to be where she's going to treat it like a case. And she will make the case to America that she will be President for everybody, whether you're Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever strike for life. So I think, yeah, she's capable, capable prepared for it to be. I think back to 2016, and of course, some may argue, but others said that Hillary Clinton might have been the most qualified candidate for President ever. At the time, who knows, at the time, right? Yet, she didn't win, and I think a lot of you can attribute to sexism. But no, but there are a lot of men in this country have an issue with a woman being in charge. But Hillary's issue was when the FBI said that she had some issues with the tapes and all of that stuff. And they talk about interference of the election right before the election. And that just tanked her candidacy, but all of those other issues. But the second thing that they did though, they did not spend money properly in those swing states. I think Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio and Pennsylvania back in that time were not in play and they didn't put money on the ground. Not very enough money, we see a difference. And at this time, does aid years make a difference? Can America get over, can get in tune with the first woman president? First woman president of color, you know? First black, first aid by Asian, I think America is going to have to come to terms that at some point in time, and I think the time is now, that a woman will be president. I feel really good about what our chances are, but we cannot take anything for granted. I think there's six swing states that we have to deal with. Matter of fact, some of the mass dams were going down to Philadelphia. Yeah, I'm just going to ask, are you, are you going to have to prepare to go down in September 13th? I think the 13th is the date we're supposed to be going heading down to help them canvas. So you got Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and North Carolina. I think those are the six swing states. And so we have to make sure that we get out the vote. Georgia, those swing states are now in play. Before President Biden stepped down, and I agree with you, I think President Biden deserves the profile and courage because he put country over party. Absolutely. And Anthony, what's your thought is, can she overcome the stigma of being a woman, a woman of color, even on top of it? I totally agree with what was just said. I think that one another moment from the convention that I thought was extremely powerful was when Hillary Clinton took the stage and addressed the crowd. And before she could address, I mean, at least five to ten minutes of just applause before she could say anything. And it was almost, in my opinion, I felt like the theme in the room or the mood in the room was almost apology. Like, we are apologetic to you that we failed you, and we're going to get it right this time. Eight years later, we're going to invest the money in the right places. We're going to be boots on the ground. We're not going to trust polling. We're going to do every single thing until election day to make sure that we deliver this win. And I feel like that's even a different kind of approach than we took in 2016. And does Tim Walsh help her? Oh, yeah. We got caught. Coach Walsh. Yeah. But I want to make one historical footnote. In 1972, Shirley Chisholm, right? In 2016, it was Hillary. In 2024, now it's Vice President Harris. So these women that are trailblazers, she's standing on their shoulders. And we can't forget that because it takes a lot of moxie to run for president. Sure does. And make your family and everything that you do, be exposed. There were 50,000 journalists from all around the world over in Chicago. And so as a result of that, you really have to be-- Always fair-minded as me. Yeah. But you're at the top of the heat. Thank you. Thank you. To your point, I really, I think that Coach Walsh adds a lot to the ticket. I mean, I think that it helps to have a governor from a Midwest seat that has a strong profile of being a progressive governor as well. He has delivered in his state for families, for students, for parents as well. And so I think that, you know, I think it's inevitable that the demographics help a lot, that he's a white man from the Midwest as well. And so it balances out the ticket in a way that I don't think that I was actually talking to someone about this earlier. J.D. Vance has essentially, I think, hurt Donald Trump's ticket in a way that I couldn't imagine that, you know, someone could actually-- The cat lady. He's paying for his poor choice. Yeah. I mean, but who would think that, you know, someone could say something and make Donald Trump worse? Does this carry this enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket to carry over? Of course, here, just about every elected office is filled by a Democrat. Although we have a, tonight, a Republican primary to select a candidate to run against Liz Warren, but does that carry over? I mean, you get that-- We're three to one in the state in terms of Democrats versus Republicans and independents. So I think the key is that Senator Warren has shown, I call, bona fides, since she's been in office, and she's been a voice for the average citizen, the middle class. And so I-- We can't take anything for granted. Elections are where you didn't-- We gave you the job, but now you have to prove why you can keep the job. We've got some numbers. Some numbers? Early numbers here. This is-- Okay. These are statewide numbers. Okay. And the three candidates field John Deaton, a cryptocurrency advocate and a attorney seems to be in a comfortable lead. Again, this is very early, 4% of precinct reporting. Ian Kane, who's a city counselor from Quincy, is in at 8%, and Robert Antinos, who is a conservative, very conservative engineer, I think, is his profession. He seems to be doing fairly well, but it looks like John Deaton, and you can see there that they're suggesting that he will win this race. So it's up an interesting dynamic. There's a very few other races, certainly. The only other race, I think, of interest, and we've been waiting for some numbers on this, and still do not have it, is the, believe it or not, a Suffolk County race for the clerk of the-- Suffolk Supreme Judicial Court, and that's an interesting match up there, Allison Cartwright versus City Counselor Erin Murphy. You guys say, "Care they were a bit--" Well, I'm not too keen on that. I'll be happy, too, but what I want to do is want to go back to Elizabeth Warren, just going back to the convention. She got a solid two-minute standing ovation from all of the delegates from across the country. You can't manufacture that kind of recognition. She was in tears upon the stage. I don't know if that. Well, and if you-- is that any indication? If she needs it, John Deaton is, of course, self-financed. He's a millionaire, I believe. So appears to have plenty of money, but that's an indication she can raise plenty of money, and I think she already has. I want to answer your question. You're asked about the race, and I had a chance to talk to Erin Murphy. I talked to them as Cartwright, and they both have-- so we're not in the business to say one versus the other in the sense of making one look small and the other one look big. But I think if you look at the background and experiences of one, then it's almost like head and shoulders that we're not in the same ballpark. And so I think that speaks to-- but we have to wait for the numbers for it to come out. But my honest opinion is that I just think that experience matters. When I was young, like this young guy, we were saying, well, you got to give a young person a chance. Now I've been around a while. There's no substitute for experience. And after you understand this as a field organizer that you worked with, Shawu's campaign, how important targeting and turning out your boat is. In a low turnout primary like this. I think to your point, we've seen, I would say, Alison Cartwright's campaign be-- I would say both candidates, honestly, zero in on their target areas. I saw over the weekend, I mean, Alison Cartwright was kicking off a number of canvases in Rosendale and Jamaica Plain and East Boston, places where she expects to do well that will also have stronger turnouts. And so you see a very concerted effort to your point to actually turn out their votes. And I think also another kind of commentary on the race is going to be-- I think this is going to be another kind of indication of the mayor's strength. I know we had a chance to talk about this after last year after the city council elections last year. But the mayor, Congresswoman Presley, you know, Alison Cartwright has built a nice tent and coalition for herself of endorsements. And so I think that this is going to be another kind of telling example of the mayor's strength, organizing strength, heading into 2025 as well. Ken Chi and Ditchy Helper to turn out the boat. Of course, Erin Murphy, you know, conversely is from Dorchester, the largest, you know, part of the city, really, but-- and extremely hard worker every time I've seen a campaign. She won't be out work. She's a work horse. Yeah. So, you know, it depends on where that boat turns out. I wish we had some numbers for our viewers. If you tuned in to try and find out who is winning that race, well, we can't tell you right now. There's also some other races on the ballot that we were looking for some numbers for. But we don't expect any dramatic upsets, including other statistics for a governor's council race. That includes a big part of Boston, where Christopher Iannella is being challenged by two other candidates, including Stacey Borden, one time-- And Ron Primo, Yakabuchi, yeah. There you go. You know, he could say it. And there's also, believe it or not, a Suffolk County click of courts race. John Powers, incumbent, being challenged by Kathy Gabriel in the first Suffolk Senate, Nick Collins, host of the, you know, St. Patrick's Day breakfast and former state rep, as well, as being challenged by Joanne Skeins. And the Sixth Suffolk House, Russell Holmes, got two challengers. I thought I was three. I got two, I think. Yeah. That's all I thought I was just, I actually made it onto the ballot, which is-- Okay. So, yeah. It was three soon to be two. Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. There's still people in the writing, can't say it made me. Probably. And, you know, in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill area, Jay Livingston, who was the incumbent state rep, was being challenged by two other candidates. And we do not have numbers for them either, I'm sorry to say. Can I make a recommendation to you, sir? Sure. Seeing that we do not have the numbers today, Mr. Davis and I return, and we'll do a post-election analysis, and we'll send the numbers in, and then we can give you our take on it. We love that. We love that. We've got just a few minutes left, and tonight's show. But, you know, very interesting, and again, oh, we do now have some numbers in the District for Governor's Council, as you can see there. Very early, and very small numbers, but it looks like Christopher Inella does have to leave it, and this is with 0.1, Precinct Reporting. And Boston doesn't carry a whole lot of the numbers for that seat, and a lot of votes outside of Boston. Right, it includes a big portion of the South Shore, also parts of heavily voting areas of Norfolk County, down in Westwood, Walpole. So, again, these, I believe, are just bosses. This is awesome. And I don't know if we have any other numbers if we do. So, I think there's the key. I think because it's early, and we're only getting numbers. I think that when I looked at the numbers and we did the breakdown, Boston has a small percentage of that race that you just showed, and both of them is Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, South Shore, and that is going really, and those are what you call legacy voters, doesn't matter. Yes, they are, yes. So, when we think about what they do compared, we're looking at awards, what, 17, 18? Yeah, it kind of does. I mean, you around parts of the city. And, you know, interestingly enough, talking about that, of course, Chris Allen's from Jamaica Plain, and Stacey Borden is from Boston as well, I think. Yes, she is. And Ronald Primo, Iabuchi, Yakabuchi, and I apologize to him as well. I believe it's from Quincy. Yes, yes, yes. And traditionally, Quincy has had a lot of pull in races that are covering the same area. So, we'll see. We shall see. We look forward to coming back. Guys, we've got just a little bit left, time left up. There's talk looking forward, talking that Mayor Wu could see a significant opponent, the name most mentioned. It's, of course, a fan of famous Patriots owner, his son, who's the head of the- You talking about Josh Kraft? Josh Kraft, and do you see that happening? Want to take that one? Sure, I'd be happy to. Well, I'm not happy to. I'll take it. I think the key is that Josh has been making a lot of moves within the Black community, but it's not like it's recent. That's who he is. I think that the mayor has to run on her record and progressive steps and plans that she said she was going to do. And so, I think at the end of the day, it will be an interesting race, but it's very, very difficult in Boston to unseat it and come out. Yeah, I think we've got just a mayor. I mean, polling shows that she's an extremely popular mayor compared to the mayors and other major cities around the country. And I think that this campaign is going to be self-funded, mostly, if Josh Kraft jumps in. And so, I think it'll be interesting optics to be challenging the sitting mayor who's popular in self-funding your own campaign. Well, and we shall see how much of what kind of carry over there is from, you know, the presidential race, whether there's any fallout from that, or what indeed happens if Donald Trump gets elected. You know, you know, I know you don't want to go there, but, you know, you know, can bring us back here. That's a mistake. That's a mistake. That ain't so, Joe. There you go. You've been saving that up. Guys, thanks so much for joining us tonight. Darnell Williams, Anthony Brown, Davis, I'm sorry, Anthony Brown. Thank you both for coming in and joining us. Thank you for watching this special edition, talk to the neighbors. We've had lots of fun and a chance to talk about various races. We do not have final results. I'm sorry to say of today's races in Boston. I would recommend you pick up a newspaper tomorrow morning or tune in or go on to various websites, and I'm sure you'll see the results. But we've had a lot of fun talking about it. Thank you for watching. We will be back with a regular edition of Talk the Neighborhoods next week, next Thursday at 6 p.m., and we hope you'll join us in. Until then, for the entire Stafford crew here at the Boston Neighbor Network, I'm Joe Heisler. Thank you for watching. Have a pleasant evening. Good night.