The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • B5

A A 2 0 2 0 1 9 a Metro B5 himself most qualified person in the to hold the Oval Office and that he would decide whether to run early this year. Lynch called con- clave to blast President Trump for blocking a planned trip to Afghanistan for a congressio- nal delegation that was to in- clude Lynch, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other senior lawmakers. But he took ques- tions on an array of topics, in- cluding the 2020 election, and he said he is likely to hold off on aligning himself with a can- didate until Biden announces his decision. He was less effusive when asked about a duo of Massa- chusetts Democrats who have demonstrated interest in the presidency Senator bethWarren, who has formed a presidential exploratory com- mittee, and Representative SethMoulton, who is set to speak next month at a Demo- cratic Party event in New Hampshire, home of the first- in-the-nation primary. I think have probably two dozen candi- dates, the way things look Lynch said when asked about Warren and Moulton.

just keep my powder dry until I have a chance to talk to the candidates. But I think it will be interesting, and I think there are a whole lot of other people waiting in the wings that have hinted around about what they might But, when asked about Biden, the congressman seemed to light up at the men- tion of the former Delaware name. think Lynch said. know more about him than some of the other candi- dates. had an opportuni- ty to see him in the White House and the way he handles himself.

I think he has the unique ability to pull a lot of people Lynch said the former vice president is as the antith- esis of and added that Biden the issues, un- like our current president. So I think be a welcome con- JEREMY FOX In rebuke to Baker, state GOP picks conservative chairman Charlie Baker has to wonder what $1 million buy him particularly when it comes to his ongoing battle with the rowdy conservative factions of the Massachusetts Republican Party. uCAPITAL SOURCE Continued from Page B1 about the amount the governor spent in 2016 with secretly raised political dona- tions to take control of the par- ty. In a political move never seen by a sitting governor of ei- ther party, Baker fielded a slate of candidates for the Republi- can State Committee as part of an effort to block the conserva- tive right from controlling the state GOP. Although slate won a slight majority of the 80 seats, his brazen political move created some hard feelings all of which may have come back to bite him Thursday night when the state commit- tee, by a lopsided 47-30, reject- ed his candidate for state Re- publican Party chairman.

Instead they elected former state representative Jim Lyons, whose legislative career was best known for his pro-Trump, very socially conservative posi- tions all in sharp contrast to reputation as a moder- ate. is a rebuke to the Re- publican establishment of Mas- said state commit- teeman Steve Aylward of Wa- tertown, a conservative and critic of the party under Baker. Republican grass roots has never been more ener- The Baker team tried after the vote to paint a rosy picture, particularly noting that Lyons and the governor have worked together in the past. governor and Jim Ly- ons have worked well together and they are good said Jim Conroy, chief polit- ical strategist. (Indeed, Baker endorsed reelection bid.) Lyons could not be reached for comment.

People familiar with his plans say he is not planning any sweeping chang- es at first, but he will eventual- ly be putting his own staff to run the party headquarters, which has essentially been the political operation. victory came after a lot of behind-the-scenes ma- neuvering and intra-partisan intrigue that got pretty messy. It began when the gover- political operatives lured former state representative Geoff Diehl, an outspoken Trump supporter who was the 2018 GOP Senate nominee, to get out of the contest for chair- man late last year and endorse veteran state committeeman Brent Andersen, the candidate backed by the politi- cal team. In turn, according to people with knowledge of the deal, they held out the promise of giving Diehl a job at the par- ty headquarters. Diehl had originally been the great hope to replace outgoing chair Kirsten Hughes, a Baker insider.

It ap- peared to be a major coup for the Baker operatives who were struggling to prevent the gov- ernor who has refused to back President from having his party controlled by pro-Trump factions. Diehl now is left feeling the wrath of the GOP right-wing who by all accounts will block the former legislator from any job at the party headquarters. The four-term lawmaker, who lost his $75,000 legislative sal- ary and health insurance when he gave up his seat to run for the Senate, is hoping eventual- ly to land a job in the Trump administration. FRANK PHILLIPS Women outnumber men in White House announcements It took 227 years for US vot- ers to pick a woman as a major nominee for president. And following Hillary nod in 2016, the floodgates have opened wide.

As of mid-January, more women than men have either filed paperwork to run or are exploring a bid for president in the Democratic Party. And more women are on the verge of announcing campaigns. So far, three women have of- ficially filed presidential ex- ploratory committees: Senator ElizabethWarren of Massachu- setts, Representative Tulsi bard of Hawaii, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. Compare this with the two Democratic men who have offi- cially filed paperwork for- mer representative John ney of Maryland and former secretary of Housing and Ur- ban Development Julian tro. If you include President Trump, a Republican, who is officially running for reelec- tion, then there are three men running for president so far.

But even then, it be long: Senator Kamala Harris of California, who is currently on a book tour, has reportedly de- cided to run although she yet filed paperwork. more, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is al- so reportedly preparing to jump into the contest, which would bring the list of women running for president up to five. Still, history has already been made. Never before have two female senators taken offi- cial steps to run for president in the same year, as Warren and Gillibrand have done. On the heels of the 2018 midterm elections in which women made great electoral strides across levels of govern- ment, this may not be that sur- prising.

Indeed, joining Gab- bard in the House are a record number of 102 women out of the 435-member body, accord- ing to the Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics. Also of note: Technically, 465 people have filed to run for president, although many of them have not yet shown the resources or infrastructure to mount a significant campaign. They are not included in the above tally. JAMES PINDELL Some good news forWarren in new poll Sure, polls have shown that a majority of voters in home state want her to run for president. And surveys of the New Hamp- shire primary over the last year have suggested that the Cam- bridge Democrat is slipping.

But in a new and Marist poll of national adults, taken Jan. 10 to 13, a majority of two groups key to clinching the Democrat- ic nomination say they find her appealing. Of particular note, the poll found that 48 percent of Afri- can-Americans who identify as Democrats or Democratic-lean- ing independents view Warren favorably. Just 5 percent said they view her unfavorably, within the 6 percentage point margin error, which sug- gests that know her like her a observed Adam Jentleson, a Democratic strate- gist, via Twitter. The 48 percent favorability figure puts Warren behind only Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders (59 percent) and for- mer vice president Joe Biden, who is seen positively by 70 percent of the group, according to the poll.

While it is still the early, ear- ly days of the 2020 primary race, the poll provides evidence that deliberate out- reach to black voters over the past few years may be paying off. Warren, notably, has con- tinued to talk about economic issues facing communities of color in her stump speech while addressing predominate- ly white audiences in New Hampshire and Iowa. Also in the poll, Warren came out looking strong with white Democrats and Demo- cratic-leaning independents without college degrees, with 51 percent of the group saying they had a favorable view of the former Harvard law profes- sor. Again, only Sanders and Biden did better with this group. Overall, the survey found 76 percent of respondents saw Biden favorably, 57 percent thought the same of Sanders, and 53 percent viewed Warren positively.

The poll also asked about New Jersey Senator Cory Booker (40 percent); Beto of Texas (39 percent); California Senator Kamala ris (36 percent); former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg (27 per- cent); New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (22 percent) who launched her explorato- ry committee this past week; Minnesota Senator Amy char (21 percent); and former Housing and Urban Develop- ment Secretary Julian Castro (20 percent), who also has offi- cially declared he is looking at running for president. To be sure, a lot of these re- sults almost certainly hinge on the relative obscurity of many of the candidates, given most Americans are not following the 2020 horse race just yet. With the exception of Bloomberg, each Democratic relative ranking on the favorability scale shared an inverse correlation to how many people said they really know who that person was. But another interest- ing tidbit for Warren in this poll: 30 percent of respondents said they were unsure of who she was or had never heard of her. despite years of Re- publicans doing their best to paint her as an out-of-control liberal.

While too early to draw any firm conclusions from polls, favorability rat- ings indicate her populist eco- nomic message among different demographic said Peter cio, a Stonehill College politi- cal scientist. It also suggests that the controversy over her Native American ancestry and how she addressed it this past fall more for politi- cal junkies than it does for vot- VICTORIA MCGRANE Sherrod Brown hires key N.H. firm ahead of first visit In a sign Senator Sherrod Brownmight be serious about running for president, the Ohio Democrat announced this week that he plans to tour the early presidential primary states. Now, people familiar with the planning say he has hired a reputable New Hampshire firm to help him organize his trip to the first-in-the-nation primary state next month. Civix Strategy Group, a Con- cord-based firm founded by Karen Hicks, has been brought on board to help Brown.

Hicks served as a senior adviser to Hillary 2008 presi- dential campaign. In the 2004 cycle, she was the New Hamp- shire director for Howard Dean in the primary before becom- ing the national field director for John presidential campaign in the 2004 general election. For now, Civix is only work- ing with Brown on this trip and has not committed to him should he later become a presi- dential candidate. But news of the involvement comes the same day as the Des Moines Register reported PAC had hired a pro- gressive Iowa organizer who worked on the Bernie Sanders campaign. JAMES PINDELL Mass.

GOP choice for chairman sends message to Baker Three women have filed presidential exploratory committees: (from left) Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. 978-462-3106 institutionforsavings.com Member FDICMember DIF earn up to 13x the national TitaniumMoneyMarket Account for Businesses Individuals To open, stop by any of our in Newburyport, Beverly, Boxford, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Middleton, Rockport, Rowley, Salisbury orTopsfield or call us at 978-462-3106 for more information. Balances of $1,000,000 and above our rate NatioNal average vs. average Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is calculated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and is accurate as of denotes Annual Percentage Yield as of Rate is variable and subject to change at any time without notice. This is a tiered rate account.

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