High-profile Beacon Hill ousters seen as ‘teachable moment’

A conservative fiscal watchdog said the primary ouster of two top legislative lieutenants can be seen as an indictment on the way pols do business on Beacon Hill, a notion dismissed outright by House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo.

“It’s a teachable moment for lawmakers and leadership,” said Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “It should be put on notice that for anyone in leadership, even if you’re progressive and check all the boxes, you better not leave your morals at the door. People are fed up.”

In Jamaica Plain, state Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez lost to Nika Elugardo, who lambasted the current Ways and Means chairman for failing to attach a sanctuary state measure to the chronically delayed state budget this year. In the South End, Assistant Majority Leader Byron Rushing lost to Jon Santiago, a doctor in Boston Medical Center’s emergency department.

DeLeo, at a Democratic unity breakfast yesterday, brushed off the losses as only two out of the House’s about 130 Democratic members.

“It was a good night for the Democratic House, and I’m proud of the results and, again, I’m going to make sure I do whatever I can to make sure we bring back as many Democratic members as we can,” DeLeo said.

Elugardo told the Herald her win encapsulates a message from voters who want representatives to follow through on progressive action and shake up how business is done in the House.

“There is a message there that we need to have more democratic processes structurally within the legislature,” Elugardo said, adding for example that committee members should vote for which member leads the committee rather than committee chairs being appointed.

She said her beef is more with the rules and procedures of the House than its current boss.

“It’s not a problem caused by Speaker DeLeo. This not about a mustache-twiddling villain around the State House,” she said. “This is about a structural problem in our rules.”

DeLeo defended his way of doing business in the House as centered on consensus.

“I can tell you for those folks who do know me, they know that I am a consensus builder,” DeLeo said. “I work on compromise. It’s not very uncommon that I could have anywhere from two people to 20 people to try to work consensus out.”

The defeats are part of a wave of Democratic incumbent losses this cycle, including U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano’s loss to Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley.

DeLeo said there’s been no decision about replacing Sanchez on the budget committee or Rushing as assistant majority leader. With Sanchez’ budget counterpart in the Senate, Karen Spilka, taking over as Senate president, both budget committees will have new leaders next year.