Stephen Lynch

Latest Articles

By | January 01, 0001

Ten Little Congressmen . . .

The outlook for each of Mass.'s Representatives
Each of Massachusetts's 10 congressmen — soon to be nine, following next year's redistricting — are looking at the House shakeup from their own career perspectives.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 17, 2010

Minority Blues

Massachusetts's Democratic Congressmen won their elections, but lost their power. What will they do in John Boehner's House?
The historic national Republican wave, which saw the GOP gain at least 64 seats in the US House of Representatives, seemed to skip Massachusetts, which elected Democrats in all 10 congressional districts.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 17, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Tea Party Progressives?

Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 03, 2010

Lynch’s left flank

The Southie Congressman may have pushed progressives too far this time.
US Representative Stephen Lynch has held Massachusetts’s ninth congressional district since 2001 — a fact that has irritated the state’s liberals ever since.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 02, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Murph’s Last Grasp?

Can Stephen Murphy rally his troops one last time, or is this stab at higher office his last?
The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 24, 2010

Taking sides

The US Senate election is forcing Massachusetts pols to choose their team. Plus, Pagliuca’s plan, and the state GOP tries to get serious.
The stakes are high in the battle for Massachusetts’s first new US senatorship in a quarter-century.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 04, 2009

How gay is Southie?

Once unthinkable, Boston’s most notorious neighborhood now sports a welcoming face. How the hell did that happen?
Welcome to the gayborhood.
By ERICA CORSANO | October 19, 2009

Six for the seat

After a tumultuous week, these half dozen are still in the mix for Kennedy's seat.
Over the next few months, as candidates for the US Senate travel the state, you're likely to hear them say again and again that nobody can ever truly replace Ted Kennedy. That's the truth. But what does the state want next, after such a legendary, larger-than-life figure?
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 16, 2009

Lunch-bucket elite

Letters to the Boston editor, September 4, 2009
Your description of senatorial hopeful Stephen Lynch as a “lunch-bucket pol” is certainly a departure from the accuracy in political portrayal and substance I have grown accustomed to in the Phoenix.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | September 02, 2009

After a half-century, a theatre crumbles

Looking Glass Theatre closes
The spotlight has dimmed, sadly, on Providence's Looking Glass Theatre. The company, a small crew of three to four actors and a musician, entertained elementary school students across the state for nearly 50 years, at one time performing hundreds of in-school shows per year.
By CHRISTOPHER COLLINS | June 24, 2009

Is John McCain crazy?

Or is he merely disturbed? Plus, local congressmen who screwed up the bailout.
There is something not quite right about John McCain.
By EDITORIAL | October 03, 2008

Muzzle mania

Letters to the Boston editor, July 11, 2008
Giving a Muzzle Award to the Boston Police Department for its handling of Veterans Day protesters is in keeping with widespread media complicity that allows lower ranks to be court-martialed while war criminals in the White House escape accountability for Abu Ghraib.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | July 09, 2008

Can Obama lasso the Bay State?

Once considered sure Clinton country, the Massachusetts primary is now a shootout
Nobody around here forgets that Deval Patrick swiped the gubernatorial nomination from the establishment-backed Tom Reilly.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 23, 2008

In tragedy’s shadow

Politics encroached on 9/11 this year in Massachusetts, even if nobody wants to admit it
Jim Ogonowski, a 28-year military veteran and small-farm owner in Dracut, brings plenty of life story, personal accomplishments, and policy positions to his campaign for US Congress.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 19, 2007

Massachusetts pols with money in hand but no place to go

Campaign finance
Had John Kerry decided to run for president again, the state’s political floodgates were ready to open.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 31, 2007

The Pah-ty's ovah

Congressional reps from New England are poised to lead the attack on Republican waste and fraud
For the past six years, the Republican-run federal government has been free to waste money, reward friends, and act incompetently, knowing that their misdeeds would go unexposed by the legislative branch. Nailing the GOP: New England Congressmen are sitting on some key committees. By David S. Bernstein
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 24, 2007

Fantasizing Congress

Democracy in action
With football in playoff mode and spring training two months away, participants in any of the Web’s innumerable fantasy sports leagues may see this winter as a fallow period, a time when they could get rusty. Lucky for them, the 110th Congress convenes on January 4.
By MIKE MILIARD | January 03, 2007

The First Annual Spotty Awards

Our prestigious award for standout achievement in political something or other
Say, those Emmy Awards last week were something else, eh?
By JOHN CARROLL | September 06, 2006

Dem-ing down Lynch

Letters to the Boston editor, July 28, 2006
Letters to the Boston editor, July 28, 2006
By EDITORIAL | July 26, 2006

Who’s the real Dem?

Phil Dunkelbarger’s challenge to Steve Lynch could be a referendum on Democratic values — if anyone pays attention
Here in Massachusetts, Congressman Stephen Lynch has a primary challenge from a guy named Phil Dunkelbarger.
By ADAM REILLY | July 06, 2006

Keep the Internet free and open to all

Plus: Bush’s war, Kerry’s call to get out, and Clinton’s silence
The Internet may not be free for much longer. The Broadband, "God Save the Internet" (mp3) "The Death of the Internet." Commentary by COANews.org Support the Internet Freedom Preservation Act? Email your senator.
By EDITORIAL | June 15, 2006

Still crooning

How Chet Curtis became the Larry King of New England Cable
It’s the morning of Ted Kennedy’s 74th birthday, and as the senator enters NECN’s Newton headquarters, he warmly greets Chet Curtis — who is tan and rested after a stint in his Fort Lauderdale condo — as an old friend.
By MARK JURKOWITZ | August 27, 2008

Republicans, large and small

Bush, Alito, Abramoff ... and Healey
Going into the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito Jr., prevailing wisdom held that the acid test would be abortion rights.
By PHOENIX EDITORIAL | October 27, 2008