Exactly one year since the election of Donald Trump, Democrats had a good night, winning big races — like the New Jersey and Virginia governorships — and small, with many state house, senate, mayoral and city council elections across the country swinging to Democrats. The party has been celebrating ever since, but should they be? A recent CNN poll found that Democrats have a 37 percent approval rating. Former Massachusetts Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral, who served as a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention, and Jennifer Braceras, an attorney, conservative commentator and former editor of New Boston Post, joined Jim Braude to discuss.
The national spotlight on sexual assault shined on Massachusetts today when two horrific stories came to light. The Boston Globe published an investigation that found, in the past nine years, Berklee College of Music let at least three professors quietly leave after students reported they had sexually assaulted, groped, or pressured them into sex. Then came former WCVB News Anchor Heather Unruh, who, last month, accused Kevin Spacey of assaulting a loved one. In a press conference today, she revealed it was her now 19-year-old son, laying out the assault in graphic details. Directly to Spacey, Unruh said, “shame on you for what you did to my son and shame on you for using your apology to Anthony Rapp to come out as a gay man. That was an appalling attempt to deflect attention from what you really are: a sexual predator. Your actions are criminal.” Unruh says her son did not report the crime at the time because he was afraid to accuse someone so well-known. But last week, the family filed a report with the Nantucket police and Unruh says a criminal investigation has begun.
Women of color made history in last night’s local and state elections. In Framingham, Yvonne Spicer became the newly designated city’s first ever mayor-elect and the first black woman to be popularly elected mayor in the state of Massachusetts. In Boston, City Councilor-Elect Lydia Edwards helped tip the scales so, come January, the City Council will be made up of more female members of color than ever before. Spicer and Edwards joined Jim Braude to discuss the effect of theirs and other local races.
The loss of a parent isn't easy for anyone. Imagine that loss coming at the young age of 8 or 9. One Massachusetts nonprofit has set out to specifically support girls who have lost their moms through social gatherings and mentorship. The woman behind EmpowerHer is Cara Belvin, our latest Greater Bostonian.
Jim Braude weighs in on Election Day 2017, and the most popular vote in his estimation – Maine’s ballot question to expand Medicaid over their governor’s head.