Gubernatorial candidate Bob Massie got skunked at the state Democratic Convention last weekend, his campaign account is down to a piddling $23,000, and in recent days he has had to explain why his wife sought a restraining order for him to vacate their home amid a divorce in 1995.
Even worse, party insiders are openly speculating about whether the longtime social and environmental activist can keep his candidacy afloat — speculation Massie thoroughly rejects.
Massie’s selling point has been that he wears his passion for progressive issues on his sleeve — and has the stage presence that can create a groundswell of political support.
His problem is that he fell flat at the convention when he most needed to use his talents to rally Democrats, getting less that 30 percent of the delegate vote, and ceded significant ground to his rival, Patrick administration budget chief Jay Gonzalez.
“This is a crushing blow because it exposes his lack of grass-roots support, which is his big selling point,’’ said veteran Democratic political strategist Doug Rubin. “I like Bob Massie and I think he brings a lot of energy to the Democratic Party, but a candidate like him can’t build a movement without grass-roots support.’’
One bit of hope for the financially strapped Massie lies with the potential for his campaign committee to get an infusion of cash, thanks to Massachusetts taxpayers.
He has already pumped $90,000 of his own money into the campaign to keep his candidacy afloat and raised $286,000 in donations.
Massie, like all candidates, will likely be able to qualify for public financing, which means he can use his donations to obtain matching funds. His campaign thinks it could be $100,000 or more. But even that won’t come until July 10, when everything, by law, must be certified and sorted out by state officials before the money can be released.
Gonzalez is also putting in for public funding. Because he raised considerably more than Massie, Gonzalez will collect substantially more. He has raised $689,703 and had a balance of $171,642 as of May 31. His campaign aides feel they may get $200,000 or more in matching public funds.
That, of course, is chump change compared to the $8.2 million that Governor Charlie Baker holds in his campaign account — not to mention the $3.65 million that his running mate, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, has in hers.
Lou DiNatale, a veteran of decades of Massachusetts Democratic political campaigns, said Gonzalez, with his strong appeal to a convention hall full of progressive activists, has essentially boxed Massie in — to the point that he is in a very precarious position just when he needs to launch into a full-throttled primary campaign.
“The problem for Bob Massie is that Jay Gonzalez has effectively co-opted his issues, moving to left and leaving him little or no room to maneuver,’’ DiNatale said.
Massie, needless to say, has a different interpretation. His spokesman Arjun Singh claims Massie is “delighted’’ with the convention outcome because it “proved his statewide grass-roots support by decisively winning a place on the primary ballot for governor.’’
“At the convention, his delegates gave him twice the necessary votes to clear the party threshold,’’ he said. “Building on this momentum, he now has the chance to present himself to the majority of voters who want to move beyond insider party politics to achieve bold and genuine progressive change.’’
Frank Phillips
Governor’s primary spending limit: $9m
Compelled by state law, Governor Charlie Baker this week declared he would limit spending to a whopping $9 million in his Republican primary election against longshot Springfield pastor Scott Lively.
The declaration to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance was required because Lively, best known for his antigay views, elected to participate in the state’s public financing system. Even though Baker is not taking part in that system, he’s still mandated to choose and declare the maximum amount he’ll spend in his primary campaign.
Massachusetts’ public financing system offers some public funds to statewide candidates in return for them agreeing to limits on spending. Those funds come from taxpayers who decided to direct $1 from their tax liability on their annual income tax returns to the system.
Lively, who had only $13,000 in his campaign account at the end of last month, will be limited to spending $9 million as well.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates Jay Gonzalez and Bob Massie have elected to participate in the system and will each have a $1.5 million limit for the primary election.
The amount of money in the fund for the public financing of campaigns will be determined in July. But based on current estimates, it could infuse hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaigns of the gubernatorial primary candidates who have chosen to take part in the system, according to the state campaign finance office.
Joshua Miller
Trahan says she founded a firm — it’s complicated
In seeking to separate herself from a bulging field of Democrats, Lori Trahanhas touted herself as the “founder of a women-owned company’’ and a small-business owner who can relate to those working for a foothold in the Third Congressional District.
But public records don’t tell the same story.
Trahan has centered her business pitch to voters on her role as chief executive of the consulting firm Concire Leadership Institute, which she said she founded with Frances X. Freiand Anne Morriss.
But Trahan didn’t officially join the company until 2012 — five years after records list Frei and Morriss as launching the company as its sole managers.
A financial disclosure Trahan filed on May 21 with the House of Representatives includes that she made nearly $400,000 last year with the company. But she didn’t list actually owning a stake in the business, despite the requirement that candidates disclose all ownership interests in any private company.
Reached by phone Monday, the Westford Democrat acknowledged she wasn’t listed as a founding member, but said she was helping “informally’’ since the business was being conceived. At the time, she was working at ChoiceStream, an advertising tech firm, after 10 years as an aide to then-US Representative Martin T. Meehan, and she didn’t think she was “going to make Concire my life’s work.’’
“It wasn’t important for me to have a title,’’ she said. “That was just a personal choice.’’
Morriss said in an interview that she and Frei had always thought of Trahan as a cofounder, even if she wasn’t identified in corporation records filed with the secretary of state’s office. The company’s web site as of Monday still lists Frei and Morriss as cofounders — but describes Trahan as “joining’’ the business.
“She was having a great run and was really enjoying what she was doing at ChoiceStream. She wasn’t ready to take the leap,’’ Morriss said.
Frei and Morriss have since given up their interests in the company, making Trahan the sole owner, Morriss said.
So why didn’t she disclose it to the House?
That, Trahansaid, was an oversight.
“I don’t know what the heck happened,’’ she said. “I’m going to take a look, make a couple of phone calls, and I’ll call you back.’’
Trahan said later in an e-mail that her accountant intends to file an amended form, disclosing her ownership stake and listing it as an asset valued up to $15,000.
“I don’t want there to be any appearance of a misrepresentation of my career,’’ Trahan told the Globe. “I feel I have a good story to tell here. I was super excited when it worked out for me to take on a formal role and run the business [at Concire].
“I’d love that to be reported accurately,’’ she said.
Matt Stout
Candidate returns Junot Diaz donation
Lawrence state Representative Juana Matias, who needs every penny she can get to mount a serious campaign for the congressional seat being vacated by retiring US Representative Niki Tsongas, has had to send back $5,700 to a donor — Junot Diaz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has been hit with allegations of sexual harassment.
Matias’s campaign spokesman Mike Murray confirmed she returned the funds following the accusations of sexual misconduct and misogynistic behavior by Diaz.
Diaz won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.’’ But when reports of his behavior emerged in early May, he was forced to withdraw from a writers festival in Sydney.
Frank Phillips
Top official at Mass. DOR departs
A top official at the beleaguered Department of Revenue quietly left state government earlier this year after only six months on the job.
Robert McConnaughey was employed by the agency as the $140,000-a-year deputy commissioner for legislative, external affairs, and policy from Oct. 23, 2017, to April 30, 2018, Baker administration officials confirmed.
McConnaughey gave notice several weeks in advance of his departure, they said, accepting an opportunity to join an early stage startup company.
An online biography of McConnaughey says he has spent “more than twenty years as an analyst, portfolio manager, director of research, and head of equity investments for Fidelity Investments, Prudential, and Columbia Threadneedle Investment.’’
Attempts to reach McConnaughey were not successful.
The departure came amid significant tumult at the revenue department, though it is not clear whether his exit had anything to do with the agency’s troubles.
A data breach at the Department of Revenue made private information from about 39,000 business taxpayers visible to other companies, potentially competitors, and lasted from August through Jan. 23, officials said.
The department said in March that it had failed to deliver timely child support payments to about 1,500 parents since the beginning of the year.
In April, officials said the personal information of thousands who pay child support was inadvertently sent to companies that do not employ them.
In May, the revenue agency said it incorrectly underpaid about 70 custodial parents who are on welfare or who had just gotten off it this year.
Joshua Miller
