With Election Day on Nov. 3, 2026, less than two weeks away, the Massachusetts governor’s race absorbed three jolts in one week: the Republican ticket lost its lieutenant governor candidate to a drunken-driving arrest, the House killed a gas tax holiday that both major candidates had endorsed, and a new poll put Gov. Maura Healey ahead by 22 points.

A running mate exits after a New Bedford crash

Shawn Oliver, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, suspended his campaign on Sunday, Oct. 18, a day after a late-night crash in New Bedford. Police said Oliver’s vehicle struck multiple parked vehicles before overturning on Dartmouth Street, and he was taken to a hospital with injuries, according to the Associated Press. Boston 25 News reported that officers arrived around 11:40 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, and found five vehicles involved.

Oliver, 42, a New Bedford city councilor first elected in 2023 and a state corrections officer, was charged with operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a marked lanes violation and speeding. The New Bedford Light first reported the arrest. He pleaded not guilty on Monday, Oct. 19, was released on personal recognizance and was barred from driving, with a next court date in November, Boston 25 reported.

In a post on X announcing his exit, Oliver wrote that “the election is too important to be overshadowed by personal matters,” the AP reported. The state Department of Correction placed him on restricted duty at the Massachusetts Treatment Center while it reviews the case, spokesperson Lindsay Corcoran told the AP. New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, a Democrat, called the allegations deeply concerning and said the public deserved to hear from Oliver directly.

Minogue’s ballot problem

Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Minogue, a businessman and military veteran, said he had asked Oliver to step aside and would formally request his resignation if elected. Because ballots were already printed, Oliver’s name remains on them. At a Monday press conference, Minogue asked supporters to vote the ticket as printed, warning that crossing out Oliver’s name or writing in another candidate could void the vote, according to Boston 25 News.

Minogue said he would leave the lieutenant governor’s post vacant if he wins, relying on the state’s existing succession order, and his campaign estimated that would save more than $300,000 in salary and security costs. Healey, speaking the same day, described the Minogue campaign as showing “chaos,” noting that Oliver was the second running mate the campaign has lost, Boston 25 reported. The lieutenant governor’s duties are largely ceremonial, but the officeholder is first in line if a governor resigns or dies. Healey’s running mate is incumbent Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.

Where the polls stand

A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll released Tuesday, Oct. 20, found Healey with more than 58 percent support to Minogue’s 36 percent among 500 registered voters surveyed Oct. 14-17, with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points, according to State House News Service reporting carried by WGBH. A UMass Amherst/WCVB poll released a day earlier put the race at 56-31.

The same Suffolk survey found a more complicated mood beneath the horse race. More than 42 percent of respondents said Massachusetts has gotten worse over the past four years, roughly 40 percent said it has stayed the same, and just over 52 percent said the state is headed in the right direction. About 21 percent said they had never heard of Minogue. Asked what strains their finances most, respondents most often named utility and heating bills (almost 23 percent) and gas prices (11 percent).

Down the ballot, the poll showed U.S. Sen. Ed Markey leading Republican John Deaton 60 percent to about 31 percent, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell leading Michael Walsh 54 percent to roughly 28 percent. Among the nine statewide ballot questions, Question 1, which would extend the public records law to the governor’s office and Legislature, drew the strongest support at more than 62 percent, while Question 8, which would repeal the recreational marijuana laws, drew about 21 percent.

The gas tax holiday dies in the House

The one policy both candidates agreed on did not survive the week. Healey had proposed a two-month suspension of the state’s 24-cent-per-gallon gas tax, a measure estimated to cost about $120 million, as part of a supplemental budget to close the books on fiscal 2026. The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, left the holiday out of its $2.35 billion redraft, WBUR reported, with Michlewitz citing the loss of transportation revenue and doubts that savings would reach drivers.

On the House floor on Wednesday, Oct. 21, Rep. Todd Smola of Warren offered an amendment to restore the suspension with the backing of the full Republican caucus. It failed 30-121, and the underlying bill passed 152-0, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. House Speaker Ron Mariano dismissed the idea as gimmickry, and Rep. James Arciero, co-chair of the Transportation Committee, estimated the average driver would save about $25.

Healey’s office pushed back. “There is nothing gimmicky about a proposal to give gas tax relief to people,” a spokesperson said, according to the Gazette. Minogue, who has pledged to suspend the tax whenever prices reach $4 a gallon, called the House vote “a political stunt, pure and simple,” NBC Boston reported. The statewide average stood at about $4.28 a gallon, according to AAA figures cited by NBC Boston.

What else is in the $2.35 billion bill

The House package directs roughly $1.8 billion in gross spending to MassHealth, about $160 million to snow and ice removal paid from surtax revenue, $79 million toward unemployment insurance interest repayments, and $10 million to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, according to NBC Boston. It also adds disclosure requirements for AI-generated political ads and bars constitutional officers from using public money for ads featuring their own name, voice or likeness. The Senate, which did not hold a formal session this week, will write its own version; Michlewitz told WBUR he hopes to send a compromise to the governor by Nov. 15.

The Newsroom Take

Each of this week’s developments cuts against the Republican ticket, but the poll numbers suggest the race was not close before Oliver’s arrest and the gas tax fight. What the week did change is the shape of the closing argument. Minogue’s message of affordability now has to compete with questions about his own vetting, and his gas tax pledge collides with a Democratic House that just voted it down 121-30. Healey, meanwhile, finds herself on the same side of the gas tax question as her opponent and opposed by her party’s legislative leadership, a split that will matter more for the Senate negotiation in November than for the election itself. The number worth watching is not the 22-point margin but the 42 percent who say the state has gotten worse: that is the electorate the next governor, almost certainly Healey, will have to answer to on heating bills and housing in January.

What it means for you

• Early voting and mail ballots are already in circulation; a vote for the Minogue ticket counts as printed, and voters should not alter the lieutenant governor line.
• Do not expect pump prices to drop from a state tax holiday before Election Day. The House has rejected it, and the Senate is not in formal session this week.
• Nine ballot questions appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, including measures on public records, same-day registration, an all-party primary and the 2024 gun law. Read them before you vote.
• Business owners should watch the Senate’s version of the supplemental budget, which could still change the unemployment insurance and political advertising provisions.

Anyone who lives in New England has heard the complaints, and probably made a few. The winters are long. The traffic is legendary. Housing costs strain families and young workers. Every so often, someone announces they have finally had enough and are moving somewhere warmer and cheaper. Then October comes, and the case for staying makes itself.

The Light Changes First

It starts with the light. Sometime in early autumn, the sun settles lower in the sky and everything takes on a warmer, clearer cast. Brick sidewalks in Beacon Hill glow at four in the afternoon. The Charles turns deep blue. Even an ordinary commute down a tree-lined street can become, briefly, the best part of the day.

Then the leaves turn. Maples, oaks, birches and sumac each take their turn, and a drive through almost any town between here and the Berkshires becomes a lesson in how many shades of orange exist.

A Season Built for Gathering

October in New England is not just beautiful. It is busy in the best way. Think of what fills a typical month:

• Weekends at orchards and farm stands, with cider and doughnuts in hand.
• Rowing on the Charles, high school football on Friday nights and the occasional October baseball.
• Town fairs, harvest suppers and church bazaars.
• Students returning to campuses and filling the coffee shops of Cambridge, Allston and Worcester.
• Neighborhoods decorating porches and stoops for Halloween.

Much of it happens close to home, in places that feel distinctly local. The season draws people out of their houses and into shared spaces before winter pulls everyone back indoors.

History Close at Hand

Autumn also has a way of reminding us how much history surrounds us here. Stone walls wind through second-growth forests that were once farm fields. Old burying grounds sit in the middle of busy downtowns. Meetinghouses, mills and harbors tell stories that stretch back centuries. In October, with the crowds of summer gone and the leaves framing every white steeple, those stories feel especially present.

Worth the Trade

None of this erases the real challenges of living in the region. Affordability, transportation and the cost of energy deserve serious attention, and pretending otherwise does no one any favors. But places are more than their problems. They are also the sum of the moments that make people want to stay and work on those problems.

October is full of those moments. It is the season that reminds longtime residents why they put up with February, and that persuades newcomers to give the place one more year. If you are lucky enough to be here this month, get outside, look up and take it in. This is New England making its best argument, and it is a convincing one.

Background

New England’s fall color is the product of its trees, its climate and a bit of plant chemistry. During the growing season, leaves are green because of chlorophyll, the pigment that captures sunlight. As days shorten and nights cool, trees stop producing chlorophyll and it breaks down. That reveals yellow and orange pigments, called carotenoids, which were present in the leaf all along.

The reds and purples come from a different group of pigments, anthocyanins, which some trees produce in autumn. Sunny days and cool, but not freezing, nights tend to encourage them, which is why the region’s mix of maples and other hardwoods can put on such a vivid show. Weather during the season affects how bright and how long-lasting the color is, so no two autumns look quite the same.

What it means for Boston-area readers

For people who live here, October is a chance to enjoy the region close to home. Many of the season’s pleasures do not require a long drive. A walk along a river path, a city park, a town common or a conservation area can offer a full display. Local farms, historical societies and libraries often host seasonal events, and many communities hold fairs and suppers that depend on volunteers and neighbors turning out.

Fall is also a busy time for the local businesses that rely on visitors: farm stands, bakeries, inns, restaurants and small shops. Choosing them for a day trip or a weekend outing keeps money circulating in the region and helps those businesses carry through the quieter months that follow.

• Go early or go midweek to avoid the busiest roads and parking lots.
• Look close to home before planning a long drive; local parks and trails often peak at different times than the hills.
• Dress for change. October days can start cold and end warm, or the reverse.
• Respect private land and posted rules, especially at farms and around stone walls and old cemeteries.

Key terms

• Peak foliage: the period when the most trees in an area show full color, which shifts by location and elevation.
• Leaf peeping: the popular term for traveling to see fall color.
• Second-growth forest: woodland that has grown back after earlier clearing, common across New England’s former farmland.
• Harvest supper: a community meal, often held by a church or civic group, built around seasonal food.

What to watch

October also starts the transition toward winter, and several practical questions come with it. Households may be thinking about heating bills, storm preparation and home maintenance before the cold sets in. Communities are setting budgets and planning for winter operations. The broader questions raised in the original piece, including affordability, transportation and energy costs, tend to come into sharper focus as the season turns.

For anyone simply hoping to enjoy the color, local foliage reports and conversations with neighbors are often the best guide to when the trees nearby are at their best. The window can be short, and it rarely waits for a convenient weekend.

BOSTON — Forty minutes and 28 seconds. That is the entire running time of the standard edition of Taylor Swift, 11 songs that introduced one of the defining songwriters of her generation. Every song carries her name in the credits. Here is the whole album, one track at a time.

1. “Tim McGraw”

Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose · 3:54

Nostalgia for a relationship with an older boyfriend, built around the songs that remind you of someone. It became the first single.

2. “Picture to Burn”

Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose · 2:55

A sharp, funny kiss-off to an ex who did her wrong. It reached the country Top 10.

3. “Teardrops on My Guitar”

Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose · 3:35

Unrequited love for a boy who likes someone else. Her first big crossover hit, reaching No. 13 on the Hot 100.

4. “A Place in This World”

Written by Taylor Swift, Robert Ellis Orrall, Angelo Petraglia · 3:22

A teenager’s uncertainty about where she belongs and what comes next.

5. “Cold as You”

Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose · 4:01

A relationship with someone who never appreciated her.

6. “The Outside”

Written by Taylor Swift · 3:29

Loneliness after her love of country music set her apart at school. One of three songs she wrote alone.

7. “Tied Together with a Smile”

Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose · 4:11

Written about a friend struggling with an eating disorder, and about how people hide pain behind a smile.

8. “Stay Beautiful”

Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose · 3:58

Admiring someone from afar, without him ever knowing.

9. “Should’ve Said No”

Written by Taylor Swift · 4:04

Confronting a cheating ex. Written alone, it became her second country No. 1.

10. “Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)”

Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose, Brian Maher · 3:35

A love story that lasts from childhood to marriage.

11. “Our Song”

Written by Taylor Swift · 3:24

A couple who make a song out of their everyday moments. Written alone, it went to No. 1 on Hot Country Songs.

The writers’ room

Seven of the 11 songs were co-written with Liz Rose, who met Taylor through her publishing deal and became her most important early collaborator. Robert Ellis Orrall and Angelo Petraglia co-wrote “A Place in This World,” and Brian Maher joined Taylor and Rose on “Mary’s Song.” Three songs, “The Outside,” “Should’ve Said No” and “Our Song,” are Taylor’s alone.

A note on “Tied Together with a Smile”

One of the album’s quietest songs carries one of its heaviest subjects. If you or someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, support is available from the National Alliance for Eating Disorders.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Taylor Swift (album), track listing and songs)

Boston Made is not affiliated with or endorsed by Taylor Swift or her record labels. Photos are freely licensed from Wikimedia Commons and credited under each image.