Massachusetts Election: Super PACs Escalate Spending in Final Days

With Election Day approaching, outside spending in the Massachusetts governor's race has intensified as super PACs on both sides target voters in the final stretch.

The Massachusetts First Independent Expenditure PAC, which supports Republican candidate Mike Minogue, has spent $1.3 million since late June. A separate group, the Commonwealth for Tomorrow Independent Expenditure PAC, backing Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, has spent $585,000 since the same period.

Minogue has cited this spending to argue the race is tight. Speaking in Boston on Wednesday, he claimed the National Democrat Governors Association was spending between $30,000 and $60,000 daily on social media to support Healey and attack his campaign.

The Healey-aligned PAC directed funds toward polling, research services, and a $250,000 digital media buy in mid-October. These ads featured videos describing Minogue as a MAGA mega-donor. Google ad data indicate that spending aligned with Healey increased during the campaign's final weeks.

The Minogue-aligned PAC recently shifted its targeting toward independent candidate Andrea James. Recent mailers and digital ads label James a socialist and compare her to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. One video ad states, Governor Healey is a do-nothing liberal. Her opponent, Andrea James, is a do-everything socialist. James is the Massachusetts Mamdani.

Robert Neuner, the PAC chairman and a childhood friend of Minogue, said the strategy aims to draw a sharper contrast between Minogue and the left. He denied that the effort is intended to split the Democratic vote, stating that the ads simply provide voters with information they should have. Neuner has contributed $1 million to the PAC since last year, including $500,000 since September.

Other major donors to the Minogue-aligned group include Arthur S. Demoulas, former president of Market Basket, who gave $100,000, and Paul Fireman, former CEO of Reebok, who gave $50,000. Matthew Daniels and his wife Jennifer, both residents of South Hamilton, donated a combined $100,000.

A poll released Wednesday night by UMass Lowell shows Healey leading with 57% support, Minogue at 29%, and James at 4%. John Cluverius, a political science professor at UMass Lowell, noted that the ads focus on popular issues such as rent control and anti-ICE stances while omitting less popular positions on prison abolition and crime.

Cluverius said the sudden focus on James aligns with speculation that the ads aim to peel progressive voters away from Healey. However, he observed that 87% of voters who supported Kamala Harris in the last presidential election plan to vote for Healey. Only 3% of that group said they would vote for James.

Neuner pointed out that James was excluded from both televised debates between Minogue and Healey. He argued that including her would have helped voters understand the differences among the three candidates. State law limits individual contributions to candidate committees to $1,000 per year, but super PACs can accept unlimited individual donations without coordinating directly with the campaigns.