Massachusetts
With few competitive races on the ballot, Massachusetts donors turn outward in 2024 – The Boston Globe
“The key for me was to focus on the tight races outside of Massachusetts,” he said. “That was a strategic decision.”
Guernsey’s calculation is one shared by other deep-pocketed donors in wealthy Massachusetts, which this year, as in most past cycles, has few competitive races of its own. A Globe analysis of the top 500 contributions from Massachusetts residents in 2024 showed a steady stream of money toward mostly Democratic and nonpartisan super PACs across the country, but also a number of such Republican political groups benefiting from the largesse of Massachusetts donors.
The trend is one analysts say springs both from the deep political division in the US and the lingering effects of a 2010 Supreme Court decision that allows for unlimited donations to super PACs, which are also allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money on political activity but cannot, for the most part, coordinate with candidates.
“You have two parties that are polarized and they are on the knife’s edge of who is going to control government,” said Ray La Raja, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “That is a recipe for pouring money into contests.”
The dynamic is especially true in Massachusetts, La Raja said, where politicians from all over the country swing through to raise money from the state’s well-heeled donor class. High-dollar fund-raisers attract Democrat and Republican candidates from elsewhere up and down the ticket, and serial donors work closely with the parties to direct their donations, La Raja said.
This cycle, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance attended a luncheon in Gloucester, Vice President Kamala Harris raised money in Pittsfield and Provincetown. In tony Martha’s Vineyard, buzzy names in Democratic politics, from Maryland Governor Wes Moore to New York Attorney General Letitia James, have spent the summer taking turns tapping into the donor base.
Massachusetts has among the highest median household incomes in the US and is home to some of the wealthiest people in the country. And according to campaign finance data compiled by watchdog group Open Secrets, it ranked ninth in political giving this cycle despite being the sixteenth-most populous state.
“Major donors who give repeatedly are partisans. They are true believers. They want the policies of their parties implemented,” La Raja said. “So they are willing to send money to Wisconsin so their party controls Congress.”
Because there are few competitive states, donors in the wealthiest pockets of the country tend to funnel large amounts of money to the few dozen tight congressional races or to the presidential election.
While Democrats dominate Massachusetts politics, political giving by wealthy Massachusetts benefactors spans the political spectrum.
Republican donors, including New Balance chief Jim Davis, have poured money into causes working to support Republican women, elect Donald Trump to a second term or, alternately, back a conservative-run group opposed to Trump’s reelection. Many in Massachusetts funded a committee backing former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley to be the Republican party’s presidential nominee.
The Republican donors whom the Globe contacted for comment declined to do so or did not respond.
Democratic donors such as Cambridge music scholar and donor Jay Scheide and Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish have funneled millions into committees working to elevate Vice President Kamala Harris to the White House, elect pro-choice Democrats into office, and support Democrats in swing states.
Members of both parties have poured tens of millions into a super PAC promoting pro-Israel candidates, while others sent large donations to a cause working to get voters to blank their ballots in protest of the Israel–Hamas war as part of the national “uncommitted movement.”
“Money has just become more and more important. I think it’s a phenomenon across the donor universe,” said Maurice Cunningham, a University of Massachusetts Boston professor who regularly writes about state campaign finance law. “I see a lot of billionaire donors casting their influence in different states.”
In Western Massachusetts, Guernsey’s team sent 600,000 postcards supporting Democrats in states such as Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, and put up billboards and digital ads supporting President Biden before he ended his campaign.
As an individual, Guernsey has given nearly $1 million of his own money to similar Democratic causes this year.
“The most important need this year is to protect our country. The only way we can do that is protecting outside, where there is much more risk of losing to a demagogue,” Guernsey said of Trump. “There is a total understanding of the donors here in Massachusetts that unless you have a local race that demands your attention … most people are making large donations outside the state.”
The flow of money out of state is a relatively new phenomenon, said Ian Vandewalker, senior counsel and manager for the Brennan Center’s Elections and Government Program.
In 1998, candidates for the US House overall raised more than 80 percent of their campaign money from their home states; in 2022, that percentage was down to just over 60 percent, according to research conducted by the Brennan Center.
The concept of sending money out of state goes beyond mega-donors, too. According to a recent UMass Amherst/WCVB poll, 49 percent of 700 likely voters in the state have either attended a rally, sent money to out-of-state candidates or groups, or posted to social media about an election in a more electorally competitive state.
Vandewalker said that the polarization of today’s Congress has led to a scenario where control can change nearly every election cycle, meaning a person’s vote is no longer enough to help one party gain control in Washington. Sending money to districts with competitive races, however, can.
“It used to be the case that candidates for Congress raised most of their money from residents of their district,” Vandewalker said. “Now that has flipped.”
Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.
Massachusetts
New Bedford MS-13 Member, Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Role in Brutal Murders In Massachusetts, Virginia
Frankli
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Massachusetts
‘An impossible choice’: With little federal help to combat rising costs, Head Start looks to Massachusetts for more help – The Boston Globe
In Massachusetts, roughly 1,300 slots for children across Head Start’s 28 agencies have been eliminated in the last three years because federal funding has plateaued over that time, while the cost of running the program continues to rise, according to the Massachusetts Head Start Association. Nationally, Head Start enrollment dropped from 1.1 million kids in 2013 to around 785,000 in 2022, according to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
“If they didn’t get into a Head Start program, they would be sitting at home,” said Brittany Acosta, a Head Start parent in Dorchester.
It’s teachers are drastically underpaid, and there’s a serious need for a rainy day-type fund should the federal government shut down again, the association says. As they’ve done in years past, state lawmakers have offered to provide financial relief, but the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s request for 3 percent above the amount it received last year, an additional $4.6 million to help its staff keep up with the state’s rising cost of living, so far has not been allocated.
Last year, President Trump’s leaked budget proposal revealed he considered eliminating Head Start entirely. Then, in the summer, he cut off Head Start enrollment for immigrants without legal status. And during the fall’s government shutdown, four Head Start centers in Massachusetts closed because they couldn’t access their funding.
Trump’s latest budget proposal shows a fourth year without increasing funding for the program, which was established in the mid-1960s.
Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, said the program doesn’t want to eliminate more child slots than it already has, but paying teachers a competitive salary is equally important in order to keep them from leaving for higher paying jobs. Head Start teachers make under $50,000 annually compared to over $85,000 for the average Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
“It’s an impossible choice,” Haimowitz said. “When we reduce the size of our programs, we’re not reducing the size of the need.”
Massachusetts is one of few states that supplements federal funding for Head Start, and last year it increased the program’s state grant from $5 million to $20 million, adding to the $189 million in federal aid it receives in this state.
“We can’t run a program without giving staff a raise for three years,” Haimowitz said. “Our next fight now is not just for survival, but it’s for thriving and growth.”
The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday released its budget, which doesn’t grant Head Start’s request of a 3 percent boost. But state Representative Christopher Worrell filed an amendment for additional funding. Worrell, whose district covers parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, said he loves Head Start’s embrace of culture, recalling one visit to a center where he could smell staff cooking stew chicken, a traditional Caribbean dish.
“I’ve been to dozens of schools throughout the district, and you don’t get that home-cooked meal,” Worrell said. “[The state is] stepping up and doing the best we can with what we have.”
At the Action for Boston Community Development’s Head Start and Early Head Start center in Dorchester, the children of Classroom 7 arrived one Monday morning and dove into bins of magnetic tiles before their teachers, Paola Polanco and Leolina Rasundar Chinnappa, served breakfast. Acosta dropped off her 4-year-old daughter, Violeta, before reporting to her teaching position at the center, where several other Head Start parents also work.
“It’s important for all Head Start parents to have the opportunity to give their child an experience in a learning environment before they actually start kindergarten,” Acosta said.
Beyond providing early education and care to children of low-income families, from birth to age 5, the program helps them access other resources, including mental health services, SNAP benefits, homelessness assistance, and employment opportunities.
It also serves as daycare for parents who might not be able to afford it, while they’re at work.
Research has shown the importance of preschool in a child’s development with one 2023 study, focused on Boston public preschools, finding that it improves student behavior and increases the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment.
For Rickencia Clerveaux and Christopher Mclean, the Dorchester Head Start center is the only place they feel comfortable sending their 3-year-old son, Shontz, who is on the autism spectrum. Shontz’s stimming — repetitive movements that stimulate the senses — has reduced, and his speech has improved since he joined the center in 2024, Clerveaux said.
His parents say he’s also come out of his shell. Mclean now drops his son off and gets a simple “bye” as Shontz joins his classmates, he said.
He and Clerveaux said they appreciate the specialized attention Shontz can receive from teachers, such as when staff identified that Shontz might have hearing issues. His parents were able to follow up with their doctor and get Shontz to have surgery to improve his hearing.
“It’s a safe net for parents,” Clerveaux said. “There’s so many ways that him being here helps him grow better.”
Without Head Start, Clerveaux said a lot of pressure would be put on parents to find care for their children, “knowing that they’re already struggling or not getting the ends to meet.”
“That’s a burden for everybody in the community,” she said. “If there’s no funding, there’s no daycare and parents cannot work.”
Lauren Albano can be reached at lauren.albano@globe.com. Follow her on X @LaurenAlbano_.
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