In the days and weeks since agents of the federal government shot Renee Good in the face and Alex Pretti in the back, support for turfing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has spread across the Democratic caucus. Both of the 413’s Congressmen, Richard Neal of Springfield and James McGovern of Worcester, whose Central Massachusetts district reaches into the upper Pioneer Valley, have cosponsored an impeachment resolution against Noem.
Just under a week after 1st Franklin State Rep Natalie Blais resigned to take a job at UMass-Amherst, the first candidate in the race has emerged. Corinne Coryat, an aide to Blais, has organized a committee with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance
The first regular Springfield City Council meeting of 2026 after last week’s inauguration largely featured consensus. The highlight of the evening was a new contract with the firefighters. There were also new economic development grants and a conspicuous cut to a grant the Police Department has received for years.
Western Mass appears to have its first open legislative contest of the 2026 cycle. Deerfield Rep Natalie Blais announced last week that she would be resigning on January 19 to take a job with UMass-Amherst. It is unclear whether there will actually be a special election for the seat. Either way, a large field could easily bubble up from the 18 communities the sprawling 1st Franklin District.
SPRINGFIELD—Tracye Whitfield started her fifth term as an at-large City Council by taking a second office: City Council President. In doing so Monday, she became the first woman of color to lead the municipal legislature here. Although historic, a fact that inarguably filled the city’s biennial inaugural exercises, it was hardly the only takeaway Whitfield intended people to have.