Super PACs line up behind Republican candidates, against Gov. Healey

A super PAC formed to oppose the candidacy of Gov Maura Healey and apparently backing Republican candidate Brian Shortsleeve is turning to AI to take aim at the Bay State s governor and her policies becoming at least the second such outside spending group to weigh into the gubernatorial race Commonwealth Unity the political action committee apparently backing the former Baker Administration MBTA official in his quest for the Republican nomination to the governor s office has pulled in just over million in donations in modern weeks and dropped tens of thousands for online advertising in an apparent attempt to meme their way into office One ad shared by the PAC is of an artificially generated image that appears to show Healey on the front of a Spirit Halloween costume package The governor s AI facsimile is wearing a striped poncho and a sombrero and carrying a bag of money The text on the side of the image says the costume includes free hotels for settlers illegal immigrants and a flaming cop car Apparently not included with the imaginary ensemble are progress a statewide audit housing solutions or tax relief Another AI bit spoofs the award winning sitcom The Office with character lines replaced by digs at the governor We re dead last in job enhancement housing is unaffordable John Krasinski s character Jim seems to say Massachusetts gave away millions for one company meanwhile housing force and healthcare costs are specific of the worst in the country Jenna Fischer s character Pam appears to point out The super PAC seems to have derived the mass of its funding from almost a dozen LLCs sharing an address with Carruth Capital a Westborough-based commercial real estate firm owned by frequent GOP donor Christopher Egan According to campaign filings the PAC is being chaired by Lydia Goldblatt who previously served on the teams of former Gov Mitt Romney and former U S Sen Scott Brown Neither Egan or Goldblatt could be reached for comment A spokesperson for Shortsleeve mentioned that the campaign is very pleased to have outside help and that it shows Brian s strength as a candidate but explained they have had nothing to do with the Healey memes Candidates are prohibited from coordinating with political action committees Shortsleeve may not even really need the encouragement on Thursday his campaign disclosed that they d crossed the million mark for campaign fundraising Whether it is donors or grassroots activists they are investing in our mission for Massachusetts stated Shortsleeve We re grateful for the overwhelming encouragement from every corner of the Commonwealth This early fundraising success shows that we have the message and momentum to defeat Maura Healey According to Steve Kerrigan chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party the message doesn t go over nearly as well as its senders might hope and no amount of MAGA money is going to trick the voters who know Brian Shortsleeve failed at the head of the MBTA and know he s going to be at Donald Trump s beck and call as governor That s why it comes as no surprise that Brian Slow Zone Shortsleeve has created a SuperPAC run by an organization whose mission is to educate the citizens about the benefits of the Make America Great Again agenda A more appropriate name might have been the Slow Zone PAC Kerrigan announced Shortsleeve s outside help isn t the first seen in the race Last week an independent expenditure political action committee led by a Connecticut businessman filed paperwork Friday to back Michael Minogue a South Hamilton Republican and major GOP donor who launched a campaign for governor earlier this month The PAC backing Minogue was the first to publicly declare aid for one of the three conservative candidates running for their party s gubernatorial nomination ahead of the elections according to paperwork filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance This committee was formed to promote conservative leadership for Massachusetts by supporting the gubernatorial candidacy of Mike Minogue the super PAC stated in its filing