Episode 89: What About Babka?

7/10/19--This week's episode of The Horse Race takes a Seinfeldian twist in celebration of the sitcom's 30th birthday. Jenn presents two babkas --one cinnamon, one chocolate, in reference to that infamous bakery scene-- for our judges to taste and rate. The fine culinary judges joining Steve and Jenn in the bunker also happen to be reporters well-versed in Massachusetts politics, policy and elections-- topics that conveniently happen to have their place in this podcast as well. State House News Service reporter and longtime friend of the pod Katie Lannan stops by to lament the state legislature's painstaking progress on producing a budget. 10 days late and a dollar short, Massachusetts is still without a finalized budget for the fiscal year, making this the TENTH consecutive year of the state missing the deadline. Steve and Jenn want to know, what are the consequences of legislators taking their sweet-as-babka time in producing a final product? Politico reporter and prime minister of primaries Stephanie Murray chats with Steve and Jenn about the newly announced challengers making a run at Congressman Seth Moulton's seat. In addition to these official challengers, Jamie Zahlaway Belsito and Salem City Councilor Lisa Peterson, there are several Massachusetts figures who have stated publicly that they'd consider running for that seat, begging the question: if Moulton's run for president is unsuccessful, should he be worried about his place in Congress?