Latest news with #Kraft-aligned
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Make that another $1 million: Dueling Super PACs in Boston mayor's race rake in more cash
A separate super PAC backing Kraft remained busy, too. 'Your City, Your Future,' which has already dropped Taken together, the outside groups reported pulling in $973,101 between their newly filed reports. The contributions pushed the total raised by the two super PACs to more than $3.9 million through mid-June, with 'Your City, Your Future' — and its $3.16 million in contributions — accounting for the vast majority of that. Advertisement The 'Bold Boston' super PAC first formed in 2023, when it spent nearly $100,000 supporting a trio of Wu allies in their successful bids for city council. Advertisement It effectively re-emerged in mid-March, roughly a month after Kraft Mike Firestone has worked under Wu since she took the mayor's office in 2021. Karen Firestone has been a longtime contributor to Wu, whom she first donated to in 2013, and other state Democrats, including Governor Maura Healey, campaign finance records show. Efforts to reach Karen Firestone were not immediately successful Thursday. Spokespeople for 'Bold Boston' and Wu's campaign also didn't immediately comment. 'Bold Boston' also received $175,000 in early June from the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund Independent Expenditure PAC, whose only donation so far this year was $150,000 in March from billionaire A slate of labor-aligned groups also donated heavily to the Wu-aligned group, including the 1199 SEIU MA PAC, which gave $100,000, and the Unite Here Tip State and Local Fund, which gave $150,000. The Green Advocacy Project, a Bay Area-based 501c(4) organization that gives heavily to The group took a variety of smaller donations, too, including $10,000 from Barbara Lee, a Cambridge philanthropist who's worked for decades helping get women elected office, and $25,000 from William Lee, a partner at WilmerHale, which Super PACs are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, and, unlike candidates themselves, they can take donations directly from businesses. They are barred, however, from coordinating with any candidates or their campaigns. Advertisement The attacks 'Bold Boston' has launched against Kraft echo the arguments Wu and her allies have made on the campaign trail: that Kraft, the son of Kraft, a longtime nonprofit leader, is loaning his campaign $2 million from his own wallet. The Kraft-aligned 'Your City, Your Future' super PAC has taken $1 million from New Balance chair and billionaire Jim Davis, as well as billionaire businessman Paulson, who gave $100,000 Matt Stout can be reached at
Boston Globe
04-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
As activists accuse Kraft campaign of breaking election law, Kraft campaign alleges violations by Wu
The flurry of allegations comes amid an increasingly expensive and Advertisement The allegations related to the Kraft campaign center on Jonathan Karush, a political operative with a leadership role in organizations that are working for both the Kraft campaign and the super PAC. Super PACs are independent spending groups that can raise and spend unlimited money, but may not coordinate directly or indirectly with the campaigns or candidates themselves. In the wake of Advertisement Karush is the president of Additionally, Karush is a principal owner of CP Campaigns LLC, which performs digital ad buying work for the Kraft-aligned super PAC. The PAC has reported paying CP Campaigns $425,000 so far. The company has existed only since March of this year, state business records show. Karush said in an email to the Globe that he 'has no personal involvement with the operations of the super PAC.' 'There is a firewall put in place to any engagement to ensure compliance with Massachusetts election law,' he said in the email. He did not respond to Globe questions about who at CP Campaigns is performing work on behalf of the super PAC, nor a request for a copy of any written 'firewall' policy. O'Connor, a spokesperson for the Kraft campaign, said in a statement that Karush is a 'subcontractor' 'not an employee,' at Keyser Public Strategies, and said his work on the Kraft campaign is 'limited to website and digital/graphic work — non-strategic activities which will be reflected in public filings.' State Advertisement Geoff Foster, executive director of the good government group Common Cause Massachusetts, said the close ties between the organizations working for the Kraft campaign and the Kraft-aligned PAC raise 'important questions about what firewalls are actually in place.' State officials should quickly, thoroughly investigate any credible claims of wrongdoing, Foster said. Asked about the Kraft campaign allegations that public employees are improperly working on the Wu campaign, Foster noted that there are important conflict of interest laws in place regulating what public employees may do on political campaigns. 'There's a need for OCPF to be the referee in the ring right now,' Foster added. The Kraft campaign on Wednesday asked OCPF to launch an investigation into Wu for a litany of alleged violations, including what it said was 'impermissible coordination' between Wu's campaign and a super PAC in 2021, when she first ran for mayor. The Kraft campaign also alleged that Wu is improperly relying on City Hall staff to perform the work of her political campaign. In Massachusetts, public employees are permitted to make political contributions and work on campaigns, but Advertisement The Kraft campaign claimed that members of the mayor's staff engaged in political activity during office hours and using public resources. Julia Leja, a spokesperson for Wu's campaign said the campaign is following the law and called the letter 'a transparent attempt to distract from illegal campaign spending by Josh Kraft and his Trump megadonors.' 'Boston voters will not be fooled,' she added. Emma Platoff can be reached at
