Multiple outside groups busy raising funds to make an impact on race for governor

Congratulations to more than one thousand physicians across Mass General Brigham, representing diverse specialties and entities, recognized as 2026 Top Doctors.

With Gov. Maura Healey in reelection campaign mode and her three GOP opponents jockeying to win a primary and face her in November, outside groups have flown under the radar.

But the groups better known as super PACs are poised to have a big impact this election cycle, depending on how much money they raise and what they do with it. Unlike regular political action committees, super PACs do not have fundraising or spending limits, but they are prohibited from coordinating with the candidates they support.

While a Healey super PAC hasn’t yet publicly surfaced, the Democratic Governors Association is expected to pitch in for her reelection. Healey chaired the DGA’s Women Governors Fund, and the DGA came to Boston’s Seaport neighborhood last fall, and Healey moderated a panel on data centers. Jim Davis, the chair of shoemaker New Balance, is said to have donated to the group.

It’s a tried-and-true playbook: Gov. Charlie Baker benefited from super PAC support via the Republican Governors Association in his 2018 reelection. Healey had support from two super PACs in 2022, one funded by the DGA and another backed by construction and electrical unions.

In this year’s race, Commonwealth Unity, the super PAC supporting GOP candidate Brian Shortsleeve, has been the most aggressive so far. It’s drawn attention through paid social media posts showing Healey wearing a sombrero, as well as posting digitally altered images that depict her as Godzilla spitting blue fire.

Commonwealth Unity also raised the most money out of the GOP gubernatorial super PACs, bringing in $1.1 million last year, according to publicly available reports filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF). Much of it came from companies tied to Carruth Capital.

The super PAC spent nearly $500,000 of its take since forming in May, most recently on radio ads, text messages and direct mail. The biggest single expenditure was for polling by Fabrizio Lee & Associates, a firm that touts itself as the chief pollsters for Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns. The super PAC is chaired by Lydia Goldblatt, whose resume includes stints working for Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Scott Brown.

The super PAC backing Mike Kennealy, another former Baker administration official, raised just $86,000 from 14 donors last year. The group, calling itself “A Better Massachusetts,” first opened its account in November, received its donations from the private equity and real estate sector. It’s chaired by an employee of Bulldog Compliance, a company that has previously worked for a Trump super PAC.

The third super PAC, which is supporting medical device executive Michael Minogue, has fallen in the middle when it comes to fundraising. “Massachusetts First” pulled $350,000 last year. “We’ve got more coming in,” said Robert Neuner, who is the super PAC’s chair, one of its biggest donors with $100,000 contributed, and Minogue’s best friend.

The super PAC’s goal is to pull in at least $1 million before the GOP convention in April at the DCU Center in Worcester, according to Neuner.

Neuner and Minogue are investors together in two businesses, including PROcan (Pulmonary Resuscitation Oxygen Canister), based in the Boston area. They’ve known each other since they were kids, and attended the same high school, playing on the same football team. “He’s like my brother,” said Neuner, who is the CEO of the company Boost Oxygen and calls Connecticut home.

Regulatory restrictions on super PACs mean their talks are limited. “We’ve been on a hiatus from speaking to each other,” Neuner said. “I follow him on social media.”

Back in 2025, I figured that super PACs could have an outsized impact on the Boston mayoral race. Turns out I was right about that, but the spending, most of it on Josh Kraft’s side, wasn’t effective in preventing a landslide victory for Michelle Wu. What’s your take on super PACs in this year’s race for governor? Drop me a line: [email protected].

Join us for Keller @ Large LIVE in conversation with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday, February 25, at the MCLE. Register!

11:00 | New England Donor Services, Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell, Sen. Kelly Dooner, a local heart donation recipient and the donor family hold an event to honor National Donor Day, which is on Valentine’s Day. Dooner is set to give remarks along with Irene Frechette, grandmother of an organ donor, and Kenny Laferriere, a heart recipient and NEDS Hospital Donation strategist. NEDS says it set a new record for organ donations and transplant in New England. | Taunton City Hall, 15 Summer St., Taunton

The New England Patriots didn’t just lose the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks, they also helped deliver some World Cup tickets for kids, clam chowder, oysters and Dunkin’ coffee rom Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to their West Coast counterparts. “I had the most pricey bet with my counterpart in Seattle. I’m shipping lobster rolls to Seattle tomorrow,” said Martha Sheridan, head of the tourism organization known as Meet Boston, during a separate sports-related announcement about the World Cup earlier this week. “I wish it was Dunkin’. It would be a little better on the budget.” But not everybody lost. A top budget-writer here came out a winner by not engaging in any bets. “I was smart enough, maybe lucky enough, not to make any bets, so I don’t owe anybody anything after Sunday,” House Ways and Means chairman Aaron Michlewitz quipped….

…The race for treasurer is well underway: Elizabeth Dionne, a Belmont select board member running as a Republican and taking on incumbent Democrat Deb Goldberg, looked this week to build name recognition by publicizing a public records request sent to Belmont City Hall from Texas, where opposition research firm Stanford Campaigns is based. The firm has done work for for Goldberg, Rep. Stephen Lynch and Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, among others. The standard-looking request asked for personal financial disclosures, gift disclosures, office budget and travel records.”I do not accept gifts for favors — I never have, and I never will,” Dionne, who has worked as an attorney at Goodwin Procter, said in a statement. “And even if Belmont offered reimbursement for travel, I wouldn’t take it. I ran for public office to serve the public, not vice versa”....

….Senate President Karen Spilka held her “Galentine’s Day” reception in the Senate Reading Room this year, with all the women senators in attendance Thursday night. Gov. Maura Healey and Treasurer Deb Goldberg were among the speakers. Rep. Vanna Howard, who just won the special election to fill the late Sen. Ed Kennedy’s seat, was in attendance, as were Healey’s climate chief Melissa Hoffer and energy and environmental chief Rebecca Tepper….

…Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, the Democratic ticket running for reelection, plan to hit the campaign trail this weekend with a “town hall” in Boston. The event is set for Sunday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. “The town hall will feature a moderated discussion focused on the issues facing communities across Greater Boston,” campaign manager Katie Prisco-Buxbaum wrote in an email to supporters…

….The state’s Democratic Party has brought on Gus Robinson for some short-term work as the political organization staffs up for a busy election year and a statewide convention in May. Robinson recently worked on Josh Kraft’s Boston mayoral campaign. His father is developer Mark Robinson, who served as an aide to Boston Mayor Kevin White. (Not to be mixed up with Mark Robinson, the former aide to Republican Gov. William Weld, as happened in an earlier version of this item.)

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AI CONTRACT: Gov. Maura Healey plans to make an AI assistant available to all 40,000 executive branch workers. The governor made the announcement of the state contract with OpenAI at an event inside wearable tech company Whoop’s headquarters, and featured a remote appearance by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. The contract comes as a researcher wrote a New York Times opinion piece headlined “OpenAI Is Making the Mistakes Facebook Made. I Quit.” – Boston Globe

NO FREEZE-OUT: For all the GOP claims about Massachusetts being a “sanctuary state,” there are local police who do cooperate with federal immigration officials on a routine basis, though it varies town by town. – WBUR

SINGLE-STAIR PROPOSAL: Gov. Maura Healey’s move to update the state building code by allowing single-stair housing construction, in a bid to ease the housing crisis, is a proposal that has drawn criticism from fire officials. – Boston Herald

HOMELAND SECURITY BLANKET: Lowell native Corey Lewandowski’s rocky tenure as a top aide to Department of Homeland Security secretary Krisi Noem includes pressing President Trump’s pollster for help with an ad to buff her image as well as firing a U.S. Coast Guard pilot “after Noem’s blanket was left behind on a plane.” The report adds that while Noem and Lewandowski, who are both married, “have publicly denied the reports of the affair, but people said they do little to hide their relationship inside the department.” – Wall Street Journal

WU TO MUNICH: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu left for Germany, where she is attending the Munich Security Conference. Other American pols at the event include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. – POLITICO

MASSPORT CAPITAL: The Massachusetts Port Authority plans to spend $4.1 billion over five years, with 40% going towards ground transportation improvements. The quasi-public agency is focusing on remote terminals as part of its capital plan. – Boston Business Journal

GIC CHANGES:  Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno asked the Group Insurance Commission to pause changes that could double deductibles for individuals and families. The city has 8,000 people participating in the GIC. The commission pushed off any changes until the next meeting on Feb. 26. – MassLive

QUINCY PAY RAISE: A Norfolk Superior Court judge is set to hear closing arguments in a case involving rejected petition signatures and a massive pay raise for Quincy Mayor Tom Koch. – Patriot Ledger

PARTY SWITCH: A Democrat who left the party and registered as a Republican has given the GOP a majority of seats on the four-person New Bedford Election Commission. – New Bedford Light

EPA’s pullback on scientific finding draws fire from state officials, environmentalists

Slot attendants fear job losses from jackpot threshold change

Nantucket erosion control measure clears state hurdle

Hiring for Boston’s accounting firms stays flat

Greenfield college offers early retirement incentives amid expected budget shortfall

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: NBC 10. The show is on a one-month hiatus due to NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Gov. Maura Healey.

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