1. Tuesday was a historic night for women and Massachusetts. The Democrats head into the November election with women as the nominees for four of the six constitutional offices: Martha Coakley, governor; Maura Healey, attorney general; Deb Goldberg, treasurer; and Susanne Bump, auditor. Although the Bay State is one of the nation’s bluest states, it has been a laggard in electing women to top offices. That may be about to change.
2. Primary voters repudiated the choices of the Democratic Convention. Party insiders picked State Treasurer Steve Grossman as their guy for governor and former State Sen. Warren Tolman as their man for attorney general. At the time, it was hard to ignore the implication that men were the favored gender among party regulars. That uncomfortable thought resurfaced when the Democratic establishment sought to rescue Tolman’s flagging campaign via the endorsements of two bigwigs: Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Gov. Deval Patrick. It didn’t work.
3. Going into election day, Healey was favored in the polls. But the size of her victory, over 60 percent of the vote, was stunning — especially for a newcomer. Another political neophyte, Seth Moulton, who knocked off nine-term incumbent Congressman John Tierney of the North Shore, staged a political coup almost as impressive. Healey and Moulton are the new faces of Massachusetts Democrats. On election night, each, in his or her own way, radiated a fresh sense of charisma that will define the next several years of party politics.
4. I’ll stipulate that the race for lieutenant governor did not generate a lot of interest — or a lot of media enthusiasm. Still, embedded in Steve Kerrigan’s solid victory was evidence of the growing clout of the LGBTQ community. Healey’s victory was naturally assumed to be partly due to organized gay and lesbian support. So too was Kerrigan’s. It’s just that not a lot of people have recognized Kerrigan’s support. Ten years ago, I don’t think anyone would have predicted that there would be two gay candidates simultaneously running for statewide office.
