The Boston Globe - 08.08.2019

A10 Nation/Region The Boston Globe THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019

Committee, one of the mostin-
fluential posts in Washington.
Regardless of whether
Morse prevails, he is part of a
larger generation of politicians
emboldened to take on their el-
ders, and tear away at the com-
forts of incumbency in the
Commonwealth.But it remains
to be seen if even the strongest
entrants in the state’s 2020 con-
gressional primaries will grow
into serious contenders.
“The era of waiting your
turn is beingdismantled, and
people are increasingly going to
agitate for positions,” said Peter
Ubertaccio,a politicalscience
professor at StonehillCollege.
“We live in a state that is used
to, in its history, people serving
forever, and I’m not sure that’s
what the future is going to look
like.”
Variouselected officialsmay
still end up serving for very long
periods, but they can expect
“many morebumps to theirre-
nominationthanthere had
been in the past,” he predicted.
In 2016,not a single mem-
ber of the Massachusetts dele-
gationfaceda primary chal-
lenger. But withmorethana
year to go, half of the 10 delega-
tion members up for reelection
in the fall 2020primary have
drawn challengers — and more
may be coming.
Senator EdwardJ. Markey,
the delegation’s longest-serving
member (he has been in Con-
gress since 1976), so far has two
primary opponents,both new-
comers:ShannonLiss-Riordan,
a high-profile laborattorney,
and Steve Pemberton, a former
foster child who becamean ex-
ecutive and author.
And Massachusetts political
circles are rife with speculation
a bigger name could jumpin.
Politico recentlyreported that a
telephone poll was testing a
one-on-onerace between Mar-
key and Representative Joseph
P. Kennedy III. It’s not clear
whopaidfor the survey, and
Kennedy has said he doesn’t
plan to challenge Markey.
Meanwhile, on the North
Shore, two fellow Democrats
are trying to oust Representa-
tive Seth Moulton,who says he

uCHALLENGERS
Continued fromPageA

will run for reelection if he loses

his long-shotbid for president.

And thereare at least a half-

dozen otherpeople who are re-

portedly weighing the prospect

of takinghim on in the Sixth

Congressional District.

Moulton rocketed into poli-

tics by defeating a long-serving

Democrat, John F. Tierney, in

2014 — whenit was basically

unheardof to challenge an in-

cumbent in a primary. And

now, ironically, Tierney, who

served in the House from 1997

to 2015,is amongthoseconsid-

ering challenging Moulton.

“He’s not afraid of democra-

cy,” said Moulton spokesman

Matt Corridoni.“His record

speaks for itself, [and] he’ll be

running for Congress again on

that record” if he doesn’t win

the presidential primary.

In the Eighth Congressional

District, BriannaWu, a video

gamedeveloper, is taking a sec-

ond run at unseating Represen-

tative StephenF. Lynch after he

handily beat back her first chal-

lenge last fall.

While drawing less notice,

otherchallengers have cropped

up:

Ihssane Leckey of Brookline

has declareda run against Ken-

nedy from the left, saying that

she wantsto alignherself with

progressive stars such as Press-

ley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cor-

tez of New York.

Whilea rematch is far from

set, Lori Trahanis girding for a

challenge fromone her former

rivals in the Lowell-based Third

District — Dan Koh, whomTra-

han beat in a recountby 145

votes. Without naming him,

Trahan,who hasn’t been in the

House a full yearyet, blasted

out a fund-raising e-mail earlier

this week warning that “one

former primary opponent

made it pretty clear last week

that he is running against me.”

Last month, Koh called on

Trahan to support impeach-

mentproceedings,and soonaf-

ter she decidedto backa con-

gressional inquiry. Koh has yet

to make an official move to seek

the seat again. And local news

reports indicate at least one fel-

low Democrat is eyeing a chal-

lenge of Representative Bill

Keating in the Ninth District.

The challenges are happen-

ing amid a nationwide surge in

Democratic voters who are

clamoring — and voting— for

more women, people of color,

and political outsidersto fight

Trump in Washington.

Morse, who made history as

Holyoke’s first gay mayor and

its youngest, said his strategy is

to expand the universe of voters

• mobilizingfolkswho don’t
  usuallyparticipate in congres-
  sional primaries. It’s a playbook
  that Pressley usedto win last
  fall, and Morse has two top
  Pressley aides workingfor him:
  Wilnelia Rivera, who served as
  Pressley’s political strategist,
  and GinaChristo, Pressley’s fi-
  nance director during the 2018
  primary.
  “There’s an urgency in this

momentthat isn’t matchedby

our current representative in

Congress,” Morse said.

The current occupant of the

Oval Office providesinspiration

of anothersort. “There’s this

hair-on-firementality about

politics right now,” said Boston

Democratic strategist Mary

Anne Marsh. Democrats feel

like the country is burning,

“andno one can do enough to

try to put the fire out.”

That sentimentfactors into

Neal’s race against Morse. The

15-term congressmanhas

drawn the ire of some liberals

for not moving quickly enough

to seek Trump’s tax returns,

which his leadership post en-

ables him to do. And sinceNeal

suedearlier this year to get the

tax returns, the congressman

has beentakingheat fromthe

left for not beingmoreaggres-

sive in using every legal tool at

his disposal to challenge the

Trumpadministration’s recalci-

trance.

Neal is also part of a rapidly

shrinkingminority in the Mas-

sachusetts delegation who has

not said that he believes the

House shouldbegin impeach-

ment proceedings.

A spokesman for Neal’s cam-

paign referred the Globe to a

statementNeal put out when

Morse announced his bid for of-

fice: “We are fortunate to live in

a country whereeveryonecan

have his or her voiceheard by

running for office, and that’s

why Congressman Neal will

welcome anyoneinto this race.”

Still, political experts cau-

tion that the lessonprovided by

Pressley’s win — and others

around the country, such as Oc-

asio-Cortez’s — can’t be applied

too broadly. As earthshaking as

Pressley’s win was, she brought

to the contest strongties in

state political circles, in part

due to her yearsas an aideto

John F. Kerry whenhe was a

senator and later her nine years

as a Boston city councilor.

Pressley’s Seventh District —

the only majority-nonwhite dis-

trict in Massachusetts — is far

more liberal thanNeal’s in

Western Massachusetts. Some

townsin the suburbsof Spring-

field backed Trump in 2016.

Neal trounced his 2018pri-

mary opponentwith morethan

70 percent of the vote, and has

nearly$4 million to defend his

seat. A formerSpringfieldmay-

or, Neal also can cite his role in

securing federal support for nu-

merous projects in the district.

The editorial board of the

largest newspaperin the dis-

trict, The Republican, greeted

Morse’s announcementby de-

claring that it “comesat the

worst possibletime.” To vote

out Neal, it said, woulddimin-

ish Western Massachusetts’

clout in Washington and re-

move a rare politician who un-

derstandshow to compromise.

“Thereare probably many

districts in the country where a

candidate like Morse would be

an appealingreplacementfor

the incumbent, but this is not

one of them,” the editorial said.

Victoria McGrane

canbe reached at

[email protected].

Fights await Democratic incumbents

‘We livein a state

that is usedto,in

itshistory, people

serving[inoffice]

forever.’

PETER UBERTACCIO

Politicalscienceprofessor

at StonehillCollege

ByLindsey Tanner

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

CHICAGO — Pregnancy

started out rough for Leslie Siu.

Morningsicknessandmi-

graines had her reeling and

barelyable to function at a de-

mandingNew York marketing

job, so, like rising numbers of

US mothers-to-be,she turned

to marijuana.

‘‘l was finally able to get out

from under my work desk,’’ said

Siu, who later started her own

pot company andsays her

daughter, now 4, is thriving.

There’s no proof that canna-

bis can relieve morning sick-

ness, and mainstream medicine

advises against use in pregnan-

cy because of studies suggesting

it might causepremature birth,

low birthweight, and infant

brain deficits. But the National

Institute on DrugAbuse is

pressing for moresolidevi-

dence. Many of those studies

werein animalsor complicated

by marijuana users’ other hab-

its and lifestyles.

‘‘I don’t wantus to cry wolf,’’

said Dr. Nora Volkow, the agen-

cy’s director. ‘‘We have to do

thesestudiesin a way that can

identify risks.’’

With nearly $200,000 from

her agency, University of Wash-

ington scientists in Seattle are

seeking clearer answersin a

new study investigating poten-

tial effects on infants’ brains.

The agency is supporting three

similar studies in other states.

In Seattle, they’re enrolling

pregnant women during their

firsttrimesterwhoarealready

using marijuana for morning

sickness. Researchers don’t pro-

vide the pot, and the use of oth-

er drugs,tobacco, and alcohol

isn’t allowed.Infants will un-

dergo brain scansat 6 months

and will be comparedwithba-

bies whose mothersdidn’t use

marijuanawhile pregnant.

For governmentand univer-

sity authorities, it’s research

that takes advantage of a boom-

ing trend.Data showthe num-

ber of pregnantUS pot users

has doubled since2002,with 7

percentreporting recentuse

and higher rates in somestates.

But someopponentsof rec-

reationalmarijuana who think

the science is settled have com-

plained, calling it bogus re-

searchthat endorses drug use

and endangers fetuses. The crit-

icismunderscoresthe challeng-

es of investigating how drugs of

any kindaffect pregnantwom-

en and their offspring.

‘‘There are so many reasons

NOTto study drugs— particu-

larlyfear of causingbirth de-

fects. But the results would be

no studies of the drugs’ efficacy

during pregnancy, or the risks

to the fetus,’’ said Dr. John Lan-

tos, director of pediatric bioeth-

ics at Children’s Mercy hospital

in Kansas City, Mo. ‘‘It’s risky to

do studies of potentially risky

drugs,but it’s risky not to do

studies.’’

Is marijuana harmful

to use when pregnant?

Studyseeksdata,

draws criticism

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