Gov. Maura Healey, who is not on the ballot this year, recently received a flurry of campaign contributions. As State House News Service reporter Chris Lisinksi explains, a sitting politician is always raising money, so the contributions were not unusual.
Chris Lisinksi, State House News Service: We don't know if she solicited these contributions, but you are correct in your question. It is not at all unusual for sitting politicians to amass so much money. In fact, I believe I was just looking at this last week and the lawmaker with the most cash on hand is Aaron Michlewitz, the House budget chief, who doesn't even have an opponent this cycle. And yet he's got more money than anyone else in the House or Senate, some of whom do face opponents.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: So, what do we know about these contributions?
Some of the donations that caught our eye came from employees of Dominion Energy, which is the owner operator of a nuclear power plant in Connecticut, that Healey, coincidentally or not coincidentally, also recently identified as something that Massachusetts might try and tap into.
The governor has been in talks with Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont about Massachusetts buying power from Millstone Nuclear Power Station in exchange for Connecticut buying some offshore wind power that we're going to have coming online in Massachusetts. And right around when all of this came out, some of the employees at that nuclear power plant's parent company steered money to Healey's campaign account.
And that's connected, perhaps, or not, to a compromise struck in Massachusetts Legislature last week on that climate and energy bill. So, what are the details on that bill?
You're right. Relevant to our conversation right now, one provision in this compromise bill would clear the way for Massachusetts to purchase nuclear power from that Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Connecticut, but it goes far beyond that. There's the long-sought siting and permitting reform language in this bill. And there's other measures kind of striking a middle ground between the House and Senate approaches on shielding ratepayers from big hikes. So, this really reaches across the spectrum.
So, what about the optics of the governor getting this campaign money from nuclear power executives, sort of at the same time negotiating that state policy around nuclear power?
It's eyebrow raising, especially to those of us who watch these things. It's very interesting timing. Will voters, and ethics watchdogs make much of a fuss of this? I'd say probably not.
You know, it's not at all uncommon for industry leaders, lobbyists from groups that have business before the government to make political donations to lawmakers and governors that just that just happens all the time. That is simply a fact of life in Massachusetts state government.
We’ve got two weeks to go, Chris, before the election. So, let's talk about endorsements. They are flying all over, especially around those ballot questions. We know that Governor Healey opposes the tipped wage increase and the MCAS ballot questions. And we know that Senator Elizabeth Warren is in favor of both. And various city councils are making their opinions known. But how effective is a seal of approval in swaying voters? And can that backfire?
I think history shows us there's mixed effectiveness at best from these kinds of endorsements. You know, there's certainly merit to an endorsement from a popular political figure, especially on a ballot question where voters might not fully understand all the policy intricacies, and who might find it a little complicated and overwhelming, but, say, to themselves, ‘Well, you know, I trust Elizabeth Warren, and if she's for this, then I'll be for this too.’ But I don't think that it's the kind of thing that truly can swing a campaign one way or another. They're not necessarily difference makers.
And as you mentioned about possible backfiring, it just creates ammunition for someone like Elizabeth Warren or Maura Healey to suddenly have voters rejecting a policy position they outlined. Give them a little bit of a, an electoral demerit, which is something that no politician really wants on their record.
