What number of methods can an elected official in Massachusetts dance round a query throughout a minute-long hallway interview?
For Senate Minority Chief Bruce Tarr, it’s about 5 when requested whether or not he’s contemplating working for governor as a Republican within the 2026 statewide elections.
Are you contemplating working for governor, the Herald requested this previous week as he walked to the Senate Chamber whereas the physique was deliberating its fiscal yr 2026 funds plan.
“I think everyone is at this point,” he mentioned.
He’s not flawed.
Many Republicans have envisioned themselves difficult first-term Democrat Gov. Maura Healey subsequent fall. Two conservatives — Mike Kennealy and Brian Shortsleeve — have formally jumped into the race.
Tarr has additionally been floated as a possible candidate over the previous few months, some extent the Herald made to the Gloucester Republican.
“I’m flattered by the thought,” he responded.
The Herald pressed on. Is he critically contemplating it proper now?
“I’m seriously considering getting through the state budget, which is one of the most important debates that we have. When the state budget is done, I’ll think about things. But you know, I always say you never say never,” Tarr mentioned.
So, the Herald posed to the long-time pol, it appears like a gubernatorial bid is no less than on his thoughts. Is he ruling it out?
“Well, I think there are a lot of folks that are in the Republican Party that are thinking about running for governor,” Tarr countered.
Once more, honest level. However is he considered one of them?
“I’m working on the state budget. I would never say never,” he mentioned.
The Senate handed its $61.4 billion fiscal yr 2026 funds Thursday evening.
Tarr might quickly be due for one more spherical of questions.
John Fetterman takes public stage in Boston after crucial NY Magazine profile…
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat who at one level appeared like a rising star within the get together with potential presidential ambitions down the road, is ready to subject questions in Boston from a Fox Information anchor weeks after an unflattering profile ran in New York Journal.
Fetterman is scheduled to take the stage on the Edward M. Kennedy Institute together with his Senate counterpart, Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, for a morning back-and-forth with Fox Information anchor Shannon Bream.
At some extent when Ben Terris, New York Journal’s Washington correspondent, contends that former and present staffers are portray an image of an “erratic senator who has become almost impossible to work for,” every thing from the Democrat’s composure to his solutions will probably be watched carefully.
“Many of (Fetterman’s) staffers I spoke with are angry. They are troubled. And they are sad. These were some of Fetterman’s truest believers, and they now question his fitness to be a senator. They worry he may present a risk to the Democratic Party and maybe even to himself,” Terris wrote within the piece revealed earlier this month.
Within the article, Fetterman defended himself, telling Terris that he’s the “best version” of himself and even pushing the reporter to elucidate why the story was related.
Fetterman and McCormick are anticipated to face questions on “current political issues,” with the aim of figuring out options and bridging divides, in accordance with the organizers. The format will probably be an “Oxford-style exchange of ideas” in entrance of a reside viewers seated inside a duplicate of the Senate ground and within the galleries above.
The dialogue is scheduled to kick off Monday at 9 a.m.
The occasion is hosted by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate and the Orrin G. Hatch Basis and is the sixth installment of their Senate Venture sequence.
Kennedy Institute Chairman Bruce Percelay mentioned “vigorous and open dialogue is an essential part of our democracy.”
“Having these two senators from opposite sides of the aisle discuss important issues of the day is a valuable contribution to the public discourse,” Percelay mentioned in a press release.
AP Photograph/J. Scott Applewhite, File
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., talks to reporters outdoors the chamber throughout a vote on the Capitol in Washington, March 13, 2025. (AP Photograph/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
