A SUPER PAC for which Gov. Charlie Baker raises money made its third series of investments on behalf of a total of 19 municipal candidates over the weekend, bringing its total expenditures over the last 10 days to $258,936.
The candidates who received the most support from the Massachusetts Majority PAC included Donna Colorio ($34,646 spent on her behalf), who is running for reelection to the Worcester City Council; Robert Sullivan ($27,762), who is running for reelection as mayor of Brockton; Paul Coogan ($25,338), who is running for reelection as mayor of Fall River; Charles Sisitsky ($19,419), who is challenging incumbent Mayor Yvonne Spicer in Framingham; incumbent Mayor Donald Humason of Westfield ($17,537), who is seeking to defeat Michael McCabe, the same challenger he edged out by 90 votes in 2019; and Todd McGhee ($16,563), who is challenging incumbent Mayor Paul Heroux in Attleboro.
Super PACs can raise unlimited amounts of money from individuals and corporations and can spend the funds supporting or opposing candidates as long as there is no coordination between the PAC and the campaigns.
Massachusetts Majority PAC raised $911,005 this year from 42 donors. The PAC’s two biggest donors this year were Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish and Robert Hale, CEO of Granite Telecommunications, both of whom donated $100,000. Fish has been the PAC’s largest donor, contributing $300,000 of the $3.3 million raised since May 2019.
In municipal races, the support of Massachusetts Majority PAC can play a significant role. Colorio reported spending $18,719 of her own campaign funds through the end of October, which was roughly half of what the super PAC spent on her behalf.
Sisitsky’s campaign reported spending $61,172 through the end of September on his campaign for mayor of Framingham; the super PAC’s spending on his behalf represented a third of that amount. Sisitsky came in first in the preliminary election, topping Spicer by a 2-1 margin.
Sullivan reported spending $50,531 on his mayoral campaign in Brockton through the end of October; the super PAC spent half that amount.
At a State House press conference Monday, Baker said he raises money for the Massachusetts Majority PAC but doesn’t have any involvement with the process it uses to decide whom to support.
“I don’t make any decisions at all with respect to who that organization chooses to support,” Baker said. “I have supported them in the past because I believe in their mission, which is to seek to elect moderate and fiscally responsible Republicans and Democrats in Massachusetts. But I have no role to play and no idea who they are supporting.”
In addition to Sullivan, Coogan, and Humason, the Massachusetts Majority PAC provided support for nine other mayoral incumbents: Sefatia Romeo Theken of Gloucester ($9,044), Carlo DeMaria of Everett ($11,116), William Sapielli of Agawam ($13,989), Michael Nicholson of Gardner ($7,957), Dean Mazzarella of Leominster ($16,281), Arthur Vigeant of Marlborough ($12,910), Stephen DiNatale of Fitchburg ($11,579), Nicole LaChapelle of Easthampton ($8,340), and Scott Galvin of Woburn ($3,072).
In addition to Sisitsky and McGhee, the super PAC is supporting one other candidate taking on an incumbent — Republican Rep. James Kelcourse ($7,400), who is challenging Mayor Kassandra Gove of Amesbury.
In addition to Colorio, the Massachusetts Majority PAC is supporting Richard Cipro for Worcester City Council ($4,445), James Cote for Newton City Council ($4,227), and Maura Ryan-Ciardiello for Haverhill School Committee ($7,400).