Pro-Minogue Super PAC Spends $1.3 Million and Turns Its Mailers on Andrea James, as a DGA-Linked Group Spends $585,000 Against Minogue

Outside money in the Massachusetts governor's race is shifting in the final days before Tuesday's election, with a super PAC backing Republican Mike Minogue now aiming mailers and digital ads at independent candidate Andrea James, the State House News Service reported in a story published by WBUR on Friday.

The Minogue-aligned Massachusetts First Independent Expenditure PAC has spent $1.3 million since late June, ramping up after September's primary, according to the report. Its recent ads label James a socialist and compare her to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. "Governor Healey is a do-nothing liberal. Her opponent, Andrea James, is a do-everything socialist. James is the Massachusetts Mamdani," says one video paid for by the PAC.

On the other side, a Democratic Governors Association-affiliated super PAC, the Commonwealth for Tomorrow Independent Expenditure PAC, has spent $585,000 opposing Minogue since late June, the News Service reported. That included polling, "research services" and a $250,000 digital ad buy in mid-October for videos referring to "MAGA mega-donor Mike Minogue." Google ad data show Healey-aligned spending increasing in the final weeks.

State law limits individual contributions to a candidate's campaign committee to $1,000 a year, but super PACs can accept unlimited individual contributions. They are not allowed to coordinate with campaigns, and the candidates are not behind the ads.

Minogue has pointed to the Democratic spending on the campaign trail. "We know it's a tight race, so does the opposition. They know," he told reporters in Boston on Wednesday, according to the report. "The national Democrat Governors Association is now spending thirty to sixty thousand dollars a day on social media to prop her up and attack me."

Independent polling does not show a tight race. The latest UMass Lowell poll, released Wednesday night, had Healey at 57%, Minogue at 29% and James at 4%.

The first James-focused mailer went to households with registered Democrats and listed positions including "End all state cooperation with ICE," "Implement rent control and tax the rich," and "Provide free childcare and healthcare," according to the News Service, which reviewed copies. A later flyer compares the three candidates, calling James a "Socialist-endorsed candidate," describing Healey as "Beacon Hill's endorsed candidate," and describing Minogue as a "Combat veteran and businessman."

The PAC's chairman and largest donor, Robert Neuner, grew up with Minogue in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, founded Boost Oxygen and now lives in Darien, Connecticut, he told the News Service. He has given $500,000 to the PAC since September and $1 million overall since last year. Other large donors since the primary include former Market Basket president Arthur S. Demoulas, now of Ten Mountain Capital ($100,000); former Reebok CEO Paul Fireman ($50,000); and JLL real estate executive Matthew Daniels and his wife, Jennifer, of South Hamilton ($100,000 together).

Asked whether the James ads were meant to pull progressive voters away from Healey, Neuner said, "Well, you know, we're giving people information that they should have." He added: "It's not splitting the vote. It's just that people need to make informed decisions at the ballot, and I think this makes a better distinction that Mike's the best candidate. It's not — there's no hidden agenda here."

John Cluverius, a political science professor at UMass Lowell, said the university's poll "absolutely" backs up speculation that the focus on James is meant to split Democratic voters. He noted that the Mamdani comparison may not land as intended: "Our poll, in particular, shows that he is viewed quite favorably by people in Massachusetts." He said that "if you take the word socialism out of it," the mailers highlight James positions that are popular among Democrats, while leaving out her stances on prison abolition and crime, "which are a lot less popular even among progressives."

The poll showed Healey's job approval at 60%, but about 13% of voters who backed Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024 disapprove of her performance, according to Cluverius. "That's not a small group, that sort of Healey-frustrated Democrats," he said. "But at the same time, it's unlikely to be enough to move someone into the column for a Republican or into the column of James." Among Harris voters, 87% backed Healey, 5% Minogue and 3% James.

James, running to Healey's left, has run a far more limited campaign with a much smaller war chest and was not included in the two televised debates between Healey and Minogue. Neuner said he had expected her to be on stage. "There's three choices for governor, and people would know about how she feels," he said.

Still unknown: how much more each PAC will spend before polls close Tuesday, and what final reports to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance will show.