GBH Daily: Debating for the second-highest office

🌤️Mostly sunny and warmer, with highs in the 70s. Sunset is at 6:03 p.m.

The Nov. 3 election is less than three weeks away. Yesterday two candidates for lieutenant governor, the second-highest office in the state, debated on GBH’s Boston Public Radio. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Shawn Oliver, a New Bedford city councilor, talked about their stances on immigration, spending and more.

On immigration, Oliver argued that law enforcement in the state should cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. “They’re still going to have these operations,” Oliver said. “So if there was some continuity across federal, state and local law enforcements, I assure you, you wouldn’t see some of the incidents that you’re seeing out there right now.”

Driscoll said she disagreed: “Instead of standing up for the people that are here, Mike Minogue [the Republican candidate for governor and Oliver’s running mate] says he wants to work with federal agents? And would repeal the PROTECT Act? That’s bad policy; that’s not standing up for Massachusetts families and it’s an example of the difference of having a governor,” Driscoll said. GBH’s Hannah Reale has a full recap of the debate here, and you can also watch the full debate here.

Four Things to Know

1. Former Stoughton police officer’s trial begins: People who knew Sandra Birchmore, the 23-year-old pregnant woman found dead in her Canton apartment in 2021, testified yesterday in the trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell. Farwell is accused of killing Birchmore.

Jean Falletti, Birchmore’s friend, told reporters outside the courthouse that Birchmore was excited about her pregnancy when they saw one another two days before her death. “She was in my store showing me car seats and onesies and everything, and asking me which ones she should think about getting,” Falletti told reporters outside the courthouse. “She was just — she was excited. Like I said, this was going to be her one true love.” The trial is expected to last about five weeks.

2. Another Mass. college in financial trouble: American International College in Springfield is looking at a $17 million budget deficit in 2028. Its accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education, said it’s at risk of probation.

The school has about 2,000 total students. AIC President Nicolle Cestero said administrators are reviewing their operations and looking to reach out to donors, and that she’s hopeful enrollment and retention will increase.

3. Flocking Western Mass.: Residents in Springfield and Holyoke are asking lawmakers to remove automated license plate readers. These are cameras managed by companies like Flock that record license plate numbers and other identifying information from passing cars and add them to a massive database that law enforcement agents can search.

“It feels invasive, you know? It feels really invasive,” said Kenneth Averett, who said he has one of these cameras on the street outside his home. “Living in Springfield should not mean being subjected to warrantless tracking and surveillance. … Safety and freedom are not interchangeable.”

4. TSA in Braintree: Massport broke ground yesterday on a facility in Braintree where passengers flying through Logan Airport will be able to check in, go through security and get on a secure bus that will drop them off at their terminals, bypassing the lines at Logan. This will be at 262 Forbes Rd., the site of the current park-and-ride facility in Braintree.

There’s already a place like this in Framingham — it opened in June and you can see it at work here. The Braintree project is part of a $500 million renovation of the Logan Express facility. Expect two new eight-level parking garages and the remote terminal building.

By Ian Coss, host of The Big Dig

I knew pretty early on that to tell the story of Romneycare, I really needed to get inside the world of The Heritage Foundation. And at first I was feeling a bit intimidated. Not because Heritage is evil or anything. It just seemed imposing.

I mean, this is the place that gave the world Project 2025; a place that can set the agenda of an administration or determine the fate of a candidate. A place with real power, going back more than fifty years. Could I get inside the door?

I filled out this “Heritage Expert Interview Request Submission” and waited.

The thing I completely failed to appreciate about Heritage is that think tanks become relevant by being good communicators; by getting their ideas and white papers out in front of the public. They want their experts to be interviewed. So in less than 24 hours I got a response and we were in business.

Once upon a time, Heritage fellows labored away in a hodgepodge collection of old buildings, apparently including one that was a repurposed porn theater. But in 2025, when I visited, the Heritage office very much lived up to the foundation’s imposing reputation. It was all stone and glass, with their Liberty Bell symbol on the entrance steps.

I was greeted by a friendly receptionist and offered a hot beverage. Then I was led upstairs to the Rush Limbaugh Radio Studios, a whole suite of well-outfitted spaces, staffed by audio engineers in suits. In fact, I think this was the only time in my life when I met a studio engineer dressed in a suit and tie. He looked like a Congressional page, just starting out in Washington.

And it was here that I sat down with Ed Haislmaier, who has, I think it’s safe to say, a complicated relationship with the origins of Romneycare.

Hear that conversation in Episode 4 of “Mitt & Ted, a healthcare story.” It’s out in The Big Dig feed today.

More from Mitt & Ted: a healthcare story:

-Episode 1: My Greatest Regret

-Episode 2: Mitt Romney’s political origin story

-Episode 3: Save the money