Politics

Marblehead resident Amy Carnevale was elected chair of the state’s Republican party on Jan. 31 and is promising to make the Massachusetts GOP more inclusive. "We need to get the party back on track," Carnevale told the Marblehead Current on Feb. 1, the first day of her two-year term. She spoke about her goals for the Massachusetts GOP. Amy Carnevale of Marblehead is the new chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. "We have some financial and legal challenges. We are in debt. We're trying to determine how much the party owes to vendors." Carnevale said she will also need to deal with accusations that her predecessor, Jim Lyons, violated campaign finance rules by communicating directly with an outside political action committee to do opposition research on Gov. Maura Healey...

Congressman Seth Moulton worries that new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made too many concessions to the GOP members blocking his speakership. COURTESY PHOTO / PHIL ROEDER VIA FLICKR  Congressman Seth Moulton, who represents Marblehead and surrounding communities, was sitting outside the House Chamber on the afternoon of Jan. 5, feeling frustrated and concerned as the battle for a new Republican speaker waged on. “This is getting increasingly dangerous for the country,” Moulton told the Marblehead Current that day. “People around the world are looking at the United States and seeing chaos and dysfunction in the Republican party." California Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy was finally elected the new speaker early Saturday morning, Jan. 7, on the 15th vote. Until then, the Ho...

The full text of the speech that former state rep. Lori Ehrlich presided over on the floor of the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Monday, Dec. 12. Ehrlich was the 8th Essex District representative for 14 years until she joined the Biden Administration as the Federal Emergency Management Administrations Region 1 administrator on Jan. 31. Marblehead resident Jenny Armini will succeed her when state lawmakers are sworn into office on Jan. 4, 2023.  Former state rep. Lori Ehrlich of Marblehead presides over her farewell speech in the chamber of Massachusetts House of Representatives. COURTESY PHOTO / STATE REP. JAMIE BELSITO Thank you Mr. Speaker, and through you to the members. It is a distinct honor and delight to be able to say that one…..last…..time.  Deep appreci...

Congressman Seth Moulton was a prominent face behind two unsuccessful challenges to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership of House Democrats after the 2016 election and the 2018 election. He has never minced words with regard to his past dissatisfaction with the San Francisco Democrat's leadership.  On Thursday, that past history pivoted to “water under the bridge.” Moulton characterized his former political foe as “a historic speaker and legendary Democrat” in a press statement on Thursday afternoon after Pelosi, the first woman to hold the House speakership, announced she would not seek a leadership position when the 118th Congress gavels into session in January. She will, however, remain in Congress to serve her two-year term.  The announcement arrives weeks after the...