{"id":2991,"date":"2024-11-27T16:05:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T16:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/moulton-could-draw-challengers\/"},"modified":"2024-11-27T16:05:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T16:05:28","slug":"moulton-could-draw-challengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/moulton-could-draw-challengers\/","title":{"rendered":"Moulton could draw challengers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BOSTON \u2014 Rep. Seth Moulton drew swift condemnation from local Democratic leaders and LGBTQ+ advocates for comments he made about transgender youth in sports in the wake of Democrats\u2019 defeats earlier this month.<\/p>\n

But will the discontent translate to real competition next cycle? It\u2019s early, but some potential challengers are already beginning to stir.<\/p>\n

Dan Koh, a former Andover selectman who narrowly lost the race for the open seat in the neighboring 3rd District in 2018, has been making \u2014 and fielding \u2014 calls about a possible campaign against Moulton, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the conversations.<\/p>\n

Koh served as chief of staff to former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. He followed his then-boss to Washington when President Joe Biden plucked Walsh from City Hall to lead his Labor department, and he stuck around when Walsh gave up his Cabinet slot to head the NHL Players\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

He currently works as deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs \u2014 a position with an expiration date as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next year. And despite working in Washington, he still owns a home in Andover, which was swept into Moulton\u2019s district as a result of redistricting in 2021. But Koh, who didn\u2019t respond to calls yesterday, isn\u2019t the only name kicking around.<\/p>\n

Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo raised some eyebrows with a Boston fundraiser<\/a> earlier this week headlined by his former boss, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll \u2014 an out-of-town event for the North Shore Democrat that sent political watchers chattering about whether the first-term mayor might be angling to challenge Moulton in 2026.<\/p>\n

Pangallo isn\u2019t interested in a congressional bid this cycle, saying, \u201cI really enjoy the job I have now, and I think local government is the best way to make a positive difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moulton’s office declined to comment.<\/p>\n

But the buzz shows that the backlash that bubbled up<\/a> over Moulton\u2019s comments isn\u2019t dying \u2014 at least not yet \u2014 as Democrats remain divided over the future of their party and what\u2019s to blame for their across-the-board defeats. And it\u2019s the latest against-the-grain move by Moulton that a potential challenger could seize on to try and build a case against the fifth-term incumbent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that he is vulnerable, and it\u2019s not just because of the recent comments,\u201d Democratic political consultant Doug Rubin told Playbook. \u201cChallenging [former Speaker Nancy] Pelosi a while ago, the run for president \u2014 I think all of those things have the potential to rub voters the wrong way in his district and provide an opening for a candidate to make a credible campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like this content? Consider signing up for Blue Light News\u2019s Massachusetts Playbook newsletter.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 Rep. Seth Moulton drew swift condemnation from local Democratic leaders and LGBTQ+ advocates for comments he made about transgender youth in sports in the wake of Democrats\u2019 defeats earlier this month. But will the discontent translate to real competition next cycle? It\u2019s early, but some potential challengers are already beginning to stir. Dan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}