The New “Gang of Three”

How a  Pro-Discrimination Organization is Funding  Republicans in the Middlesex-Worcester Area

Q: Who are The New Gang of Three?

A: The New Gang of Three are three Republican  candidates for the Massachusetts  state Legislature who are receiving a significant portion of their campaign  funding from a pro-discrimination organization and its funders.  The New Gang of Three are:

• Steven Levy of Marlborough, Republican  candidate for the Middlesex & Worcester state Senate district
• Kurt Hayes of Boxborough, Republican  candidate for the 37th Middlesex state House district
• Arthur Vigeant of Marlborough, Republican  candidate for the 4th Middlesex state House district

Q: What is this “pro-discrimination organization” that is  funding The New Gang of Three?

A: “MIPAC” (a.k.a. the Massachusetts Independent Political Action  Committee for Working Families) is a political “PAC” whose singular goal is to  see discriminatory language written into the Massachusetts state Constitution.  MIPAC works to achieve this goal by funding  candidates for the Massachusetts  state Legislature who support writing discriminatory language into the  Constitution.

Q: Has MIPAC contributed to The New Gang of Three?

A: Yes, MIPAC has directly contributed $500, the  maximum amount allowable under campaign finance law per year from a “PAC,” to  each member of The New Gang of Three, according to MIPAC’s 2008 pre-primary  report, filed on September 8, 2008, with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign  and Political Finance (OCPF).

Q: A single $500 contribution from a single PAC can’t fund  an entire state legislative campaign.   How can it be argued that the pro-discrimination organization MIPAC is  funding The New Gang of Three?

A: This is where a group like MIPAC can have its  biggest impact.  MIPAC doesn’t just send  a $500 check to legislative candidates willing to write discrimination into the  Massachusetts  state Constitution.  MIPAC organizes  members who share its discriminatory goal and gathers contributions from its  membership, urging members to direct funding to these pro-discrimination  candidates.

Note the overlap between contributors to MIPAC and  contributors to the Republicans of The New Gang of Three.  Based on MIPAC’s and each Republican  candidate’s 2008 pre-primary report filed with OCPF, below is a chart of  contributors to MIPAC between 1/1/08 and 8/29/08, and the amounts that these  MIPAC contributors also sent directly to these pro-discrimination Republican  candidates during this time period, increasing the impact of their pro-discrimination  contributions.  Also note that nearly  100% of these contributors live outside of the respective districts of these  pro-discrimination Republican legislative candidates.

Contributor	$    to MIPAC	$    to Levy	$    to Hayes	$    to Vigeant
Robert    Aquadro, Florence/Northampton, MA	$50	–	$35	–
Robert    & Nancy Bradley, Wellesley,     MA	$1,000	$500	–	$500
Tom    & Carol Breuer, Winchester,     MA	$500	$500	$1,000	$1,000
John    & Kristine DeMatteo, Wellesley,     MA	$1,000	$500	–	$500
Vincent    Errichetti, North Reading,     MA	$50	$50	–	–
S.    Warren Farrell, Belmont, MA	$250	$100	–	–
Scott    Fitzgibbon, Belmont, MA	$500	$500	–	–
Daniel    Geer, Cambridge, MA	$299	–	$100	–
Linda    Hemphill, Lexington, MA	$100	$100	–	–
John    Joyce, Dover, MA	*	$500	$250	–
Susan    Leeming, Harvard, MA	$100	$100	–	–
Merit    McIntyre, Haverhill, MA	$500	$100	–	$100
Kristian   &n bsp;“Kris” Mineau, North Reading,     MA	**	$100	$100	$200
James    Morgan, Marblehead, MA	$500	$100	–	–
Edward    & Phyllis Noonan, Hingham,     MA	***	–	$200	–
Vincent    Pattavina, Braintree, MA	$100	–	$135	–
Len    Picard, Newton, MA	$500	$500	$300	$500
Chanel    Prunier, Shrewsbury, MA	****	$350	$100	$250
Joseph    & Evelyn Reilly, Waltham,     MA	$25	$50	–	–
Raymond    Ruddy, Dover, MA	$500	$500	–	–
Thomas    & Madelyn Shields, Beverly,     MA	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
David    & Alana Stubblebine, Lincoln,     MA	$100	$100	–	–
Walter    & Kathleen Weld, Beverly,     MA	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
Total from pro-discrimination donors		$6,650	$4,220	$5,050
Plus $500 contribution from MIPAC		$7,150	$4,720	$5,550
% of total itemized contributions		35.4%	38.2%	20.1%

*John  Joyce contributed $500 to MIPAC in 2007.

**Kristian  “Kris” Mineau is the President of the so-called “Massachusetts Family  Institute,” another pro-discrimination outfit that shares MIPAC’s goal of  writing discriminatory language into the Massachusetts  state Constitution.  Robert Bradley of Wellesley, MA,  is not just a funder of MIPAC, but a founder of MIPAC, as well, and sits on the  Board of Trustees of Mineau’s “Massachusetts Family Institute.”

***Edward  Noonan contributed $200 to MIPAC in 2007, and Edward & Phyllis combined for  $1,000 in 2006.

****Chanel  Prunier served as Campaign Director for the pro-discrimination  VoteOnMarriage.org effort.

Based on each candidate’s 2008 pre-primary report filed with  OCPF, we see that a significant portion of funding for these Republicans comes  specifically from supporters of this pro-discrimination organization:

• Nearly 40% of Republican Kurt Hayes’  itemized contributions come from pro-discrimination donors who live outside of  the 37th Middlesex state House district,
• Over one-third of Republican Steven  Levy’s itemized contributions come from pro-discrimination donors who live  outside of the Middlesex & Worcester state Senate district,
• Over one-fifth of Republican Arthur  Vigeant’s itemized contributions come from pro-discrimination donors who live  outside of the 4th Middlesex state House district.

That such significant portions of entire legislative  campaigns are funded by supporters of a single pro-discrimination organization does  not happen by accident.  There is clearly  a concerted effort on the part of these pro-discrimination funders to reach out  to The New Gang of Three, ostensibly in direct response to their  pro-discrimination positions, and buoy their campaigns with funds.

It is important to inform the voters of each  Republican’s respective district that these Republicans’ campaigns are  significantly funded by a single pro-discrimination organization.

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