Calling Out Charlie Baker's State Committee Slush Fund

My name is Joshua Norman and I am a candidate to serve as Republican State Committee Man for the First Middlesex & Norfolk District - Newton, Brookline and Wellesley (Pcts. A, C-E, H).

I will always be proud that I served as a delegate and volunteer for conservative Republican Mark Fisher’s gubernatorial campaign in 2014. Mark Fisher put ordinary people and conservative principles before party politics and patronage. During that campaign, a number of conservative political operatives tried to sell me on voting for Baker because “Charlie has been helping our candidates much more since he lost in 2010”. In my opinion, Charlie Baker’s left-wing views on important issues of governance such as Common Core, Gun Rights and Immigration Enforcement more than offset any improvements in candidate support. I would not and will not compromise my principles because some candidate got 30 pieces of silver from Baker. After that election, I focused my attention to helping a good conservative Republican David DeCoste of Norwell upset his Democrat incumbent opponent Rhonda Nyman to become the first Republican State Representative in the 5th Plymouth District in the last 36 years.

Now that Baker has been elected as Governor, he and his wife have actually given more money to Democrat candidates like Springfield City Councilor Tim Rooke ($500) than Republican candidates ($350) in 2015. Yes, you read that right; a Republican Governor actually donated more money to Democrat candidates than he did to Republicans. Given such behavior, it is no wonder why Republicans have less than 20% of the seats in the legislature and why registered Republicans represent 11% of the voters.

Although Baker’s financial support for Republican candidates declined significantly once he got elected, he and his supported managed to raise over $300,000 through a Virginia-based limited liability corporation called Fund for a New Majority LLC. This organization collects significant sums of money from unidentified donors to fund a campaign on behalf of a slate of 52 candidates to defeat reform-oriented conservative State Committee members on the State Committee. Yes, Team Baker has accumulated a slush fund to replace reform-oriented conservatives with his hand-picked slate, many of them who owe their state jobs to Baker and who are legally prohibited from raising funds for candidates and causes. Why didn’t Team Baker use such a vehicle to help good conservative Republican candidates and office holders like Newton City Councilor Jim Cote or Newton School Committee candidate Susan Huffman? No wonder why the party is bitterly divided the way it is between conservatives and moderates.

I ask you to please elect me to serve as your next Republican State Committee Man in the First Middlesex & Norfolk District - Newton, Brookline and Wellesley (Pcts. A, C-E, H) on Tuesday March 1, same day as the presidential primary. I am the only candidate who is 100% beholden and accountable to you, and not Charlie Baker’s political establishment. I want to clean up the commonwealth of Massachusetts and I will start doing so by my efforts to clean up the dirty politics polluting my party.