Massachusetts Republicans emerged from a chaotic Saturday convention in Worcester with their endorsed candidate for governor: Mike Minogue, a former medical device CEO who has never held elected office and has already pumped $12.5 million of his own money into the race. He walked away with roughly 70% of delegate votes — a decisive win that nonetheless came at the end of a day so disorganized that more than 150 frustrated delegates left before the final vote was even tallied.

The convention was also a tale of two losers. Former economic development secretary Mike Kennealy didn’t crack the 15% threshold needed to stay on the September primary ballot, ending his run. Former MBTA General Manager Brian Shortsleeve barely squeaked through at 15.5%, meaning he’ll be on the ballot but starts from a significant deficit. Shortsleeve’s pitch — that he gutted waste at the T and can do the same to state government — will get a road test in the primary, but Minogue’s financial advantage is enormous.

What happens next: Minogue will face Shortsleeve in the September 1st primary before taking on Governor Maura Healey in November. The convention’s chaos — long lines, vote-tallying problems, delegates heading for the exits — didn’t exactly project a party ready to take on an incumbent with strong approval numbers. But Minogue has the money to run a serious campaign, and Healey can’t afford to take that lightly. The “Are you ready to retire Maura Healey?” line got a roaring response. Whether it translates beyond a convention hall is the question that will define Massachusetts politics this fall.

Full story at Boston Globe →

This is the story that will weigh on a lot of people this week. Janette MacAusland, 49, is charged with killing her 6- and 7-year-old children, whose bodies were discovered Friday night after a Vermont police department requested a well-being check at the family’s Edgemoor Avenue home. MacAusland was arrested in Vermont and faces a fugitive from justice hearing there Monday. The children — Ella and Kai — attended Schofield Elementary School, and the district has a crisis team standing by for families and staff.

Richard Kilchevsky, 41, of Hanson — a corrections officer with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department since 2015 — was arrested Friday on seven charges including child rape, human trafficking, and creating child sexual abuse material. The alleged abuse of a 15-year-old boy spanned multiple South Shore towns. The Sheriff’s Department has indefinitely suspended Kilchevsky, who is being held on $250,000 bail.

U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor has extended his earlier ban — which blocked the federal Education Department from demanding racial data from public university systems — to now cover private colleges across the country, including virtually every four-year school in Massachusetts. The administration had been pressing schools to hand over data in what critics say was an attempt to build a case that colleges discriminate against white applicants.

Hampshire College’s board voted earlier this month to shut down the Amherst institution after years of financial and accreditation struggles. The closure means hundreds of layoffs hitting Hampshire County directly — but the broader concern is what it signals for a regional economy that leans heavily on education and healthcare, both of which are under mounting pressure from federal funding cuts and political attacks.

Saturday’s local elections on the South Shore set the stage for some high-stakes budget fights. In Abington, three new Select Board members were just elected — and they’ll immediately have to steer the town through a May 4 Town Meeting featuring a $1.6 million school override question. In Cohasset, schools are staring down a $1 million deficit despite a nearly 5% funding increase from the town, with officials eyeing a fall override vote.

A team from the architectural firm Payette and Greater Grove Hall Main Streets has put forward a plan that would use Boston’s 158-plus “sliver lots” — small city-owned vacant parcels — to build modular triple-deckers priced around $100,000 per unit. It’s an opinion piece, not a policy, but in a city where the cost-structure of housing construction is the real villain, it’s worth reading.

Abington Town Meeting — Monday, May 4: Voters will decide on a $1.6 million school override and six other funding questions that will determine the shape of town services for the coming year. South Shore News →

Cambridge Porchfest — July 11–12: Mark your calendars — Cambridge’s second annual Porchfest is expanding to three neighborhoods plus its two largest business districts. Free outdoor music, no crowds quite as feral as Somerville’s yet. Boston Globe →

Missing in Cambridge: Police are still searching for Toshiaki Takenaka, last seen near his apartment at 151 N. First Street on April 21 and possibly headed toward Lechmere station. His father’s message to anyone who spots him: “Just let him know everything is okay.” If you see him, please contact Cambridge Police. Cambridge Day →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Jennifer Spadafora (Democratic) — Mayoral, Malden — Filed: 4/24/2026
• Ronald Heiseler (Republican) — House, 15th Essex — Filed: 4/23/2026
• Nathan Boudreau (Republican) — House, 2nd Worcester — Filed: 4/22/2026
• Olivia Gilligan Corsetti (Democratic) — House, 27th Middlesex — Filed: 4/21/2026

OCPF →

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