Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR’s daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
It’s Monday. We’re staring down the final stretch of the Massachusetts State House’s two-year legislative session. The list of 2026 ballot questions is getting finalized. And the Sept. 1 state primary is already less than two months away. (For that matter, the Nov. 3 midterm elections are just 120 days away. But who’s counting?)
To help you navigate what will inevitably be a noisy political news cycle (and keep you up to speed through the dog days of summer), we’re bringing back our weekly Mass. Politics newsletter next week! And we’re excited to announce that our new senior state politics reporter Gintautas Dumcius will spearhead it, along with the rest of our politics team.
Gin (pronounced like “be-GIN,” not like the alcohol) joined WBUR last month after covering Boston and Massachusetts politics for more than two decades. He knows the historic halls of the State House and the concrete cantilevers of City Hall well. You have may have caught him on WBUR’s airwaves before. And he’s no stranger to newsletters, either.
Ahead of Mass. Politics’ relaunch, I talked to Gin about how he got into covering local politics and what he likes about it.
What originally drew you to political journalism?
Gin: “My dad was a copy editor, and our apartment had three newspapers, the radio tuned to WBUR, and the TV playing CNN or Fox News. He’d bring me along if someone like Christopher Hitchens was in Boston.
“I interned early on for a Quincy mayor’s reelection campaign, but I remember sitting in a strategy session and realizing I wanted to write about it, like Newsweek’s Evan Thomas and his behind-the-scenes campaign books.”
What was your formative moment as a reporter?
Gin: “The night Mayor Tom Menino started making calls to say he wasn’t running again, and the rough-and-tumble open race that followed. I holed up at the bar inside the Omni Parker House Hotel — it had free Wi-Fi — and reworked a story I had pre-written months earlier. I was lucky enough to be at the Dorchester Reporter at the time. We ended up launching a blog to chronicle the race and I wrote an ebook.
“I was surprised to later learn the ebook became required reading for staffers on Michelle Wu’s 2021 mayoral campaign.”
What makes Massachusetts politics most interesting to you?
Gin: “The people, and the proximity between the State House and Boston City Hall. [Editor’s note: Literally — it’s less than a half-mile walk between the two.] I’ve covered both power centers for most of my career, and that proximity adds a layer of complexity and fun to the dynamics, competing interests that shape our state.”
What book about Massachusetts politics would you recommend to readers?
Gin: “John Farrell’s ‘Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century’ is at the top of the list. It’s chock full of fun stories and details, including how O’Neill flipped the Massachusetts House away from Republican rule, partly due to running on an anti-birth control platform. Another era of politics.”
What is the coolest thing about the State House that most people don’t know about?
Gin: “I sometimes forget the State House is a living museum. I’m reminded on the summer days that the tourists outnumber the lawmakers, and when they pose for photos outside the ‘General Hooker Entrance.’ (It’s named after a Civil war general, whose statue is outside.)”
P.S.— You can subscribe to Mass Politics here. Our first 2026 edition will be in your inbox mid-day next Monday, July 13. In the meantime, if you have a tip, a question or something you think we should cover, don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing Gin directly or simply replying to this email.
