Blue Mass Group

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Any info on the Patriot Majority Fund?

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Saw an ad last night slamming Healy by this 527 called the Patriot Majority Fund.  Checked out the website which states that the The Patriot Majority Fund was created in 2005 to promote, as permissible and allowed by law, common-sense values and public policies that benefit citizens throughout the United States. The Patriot Majority Fund works on a broad range of issues including — but not limited to — jobs, economic development, fiscal responsibility, public safety, transportation, education, health care, environment and honesty and integrity in government and public life.  They don’t seem to be backing any particular candidate (nor does it specifically mention the Democratic party).  The website (where you can see the ad as well) is www.patriotmajority.com.

Just wondering if anyone knew anything about this 527, like who’s behind it, what’s their plan etc.  Might be a nice indepenent group that can expend some cash to fight Healy and her husband’s millions.

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  1. Was that they were a registered 527 in 2004 with ~$50K in the bank and had spent about $8500 that season. No other info was available.

    • Apparently the website was registered by a campaign consulting group with ties to Harry Reid and Wesley Clark among others.

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      Anyone else have anything?  A democratic 527 in this race would be nice.

      • I may have answered my own question.  From Boston.com:

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        http://www.boston.co…

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        Anti-Healey ad opens unregulated territory
        By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff  |  September 13, 2006

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        An out-of-state group calling itself the Patriot Majority Fund unleashed a harsh television attack ad on Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey yesterday, opening what could be a season of unregulated and unlimited campaign spending without precedent in Massachusetts politics.

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        p>  Bankrolled by labor and Democratic organizations, Patriot Majority is exploiting a loophole in state law that allows independent issue advocacy groups to operate with little oversight.

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        “It’s an exploding area of campaign spending, because it’s completely unregulated at the state level,” said Pamela Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause, which pushed a bill, now stalled in the Legislature, to close the loophole by requiring issue advocates to file campaign spending disclosures with the state.

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        Similar groups have been a factor in elections at the federal level. But such a large-scale television ad campaign has never happened in a Massachusetts governor’s race, said Denis Kennedy, spokesman for the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

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        “It’s a shell group for the special interests to launch baseless claims and smear the lieutenant governor,” said Tim O’Brien, campaign manager for Healey, the Republican nominee for governor.

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        In yesterday’s 30-second ad, a narrator opens by saying, We're facing tough challenges in Massachusetts," and closes with,Kerry Healey just doesn’t get it.”

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        In between, she is criticized, based on news reports, for an episode in which her State Police driver flashed the emergency lights of her official car to ease through a traffic jam. The ad also revisits her remark last year about tax breaks that might encourage elderly residents to remain “overhoused and isolated.”

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        The ad does not specifically urge viewers to vote against her, however, thereby exempting it from state reporting requirements. “The law has no provision for regulation of ads that do not expressly advocate for or against a candidate,” Kennedy said.

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        Under the law, however, advocacy groups may not coordinate with campaigns or candidates.

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        Patriot Majority is one of a proliferating number of 527 organizations, named for the section of the Internal Revenue Service code under which they operate. In IRS filings earlier this year, Project Majority established under another name last year, listed contributions of $50,000 from Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union; $15,000 from the Democratic Governors’ Association; and $5,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers national committee on political education.

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        The New York-based Local 1199 has 300,000 members, about 12,000 of them in Massachusetts. Other unions in Massachusetts are also contributing to the ad campaign, which could spend up to $2 million before the Nov. 7 election, according to one person who works for the group and requested anonymity.

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        The next Project Majority quarterly filing is due in October.

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        In Patriot Majority’s IRS filings, Craig Varoga, a Houston-based political consultant, is listed as the “custodian of records” and a director of the group.

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        Project Majority listed its address as that of its Washington, D.C., law firm.

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        Varoga’s office referred calls to Massachusetts public relations consultants representing the group, and they in turn steered a reporter to SEIU Local 1199.

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        “What we’re trying to do is tell a story about what’s happening with working families in Massachusetts,” said Mike Fadel, executive vice president of the Massachusetts division of Local 1199

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