New Mass Super PAC Won Big On Election Day

WORCESTER, MA — The biggest winner to emerge from Tuesday's election in Massachusetts might be the new Republican-leaning super PAC that spent thousands backing candidates in municipal races.

Of the 15 candidates that the Massachusetts Majority Independent Expenditure PAC supported this year, 11 were elected on Tuesday. That includes Worcester City Councilor-elect Donna Colorio, incumbent Marlborough Mayor Arthur Vigeant, and Framingham At-Large Councilor-elect Janet Leombruno.

Colorio, who chaired the Worcester Republican City Committee, received the most support from the PAC of any candidate in the state at more than $38,000. PACs aren't allowed to coordinate with campaigns, so Colorio and others didn't have a choice in getting support — but it certainly seems to have helped.

Colorio earned over 6,500 votes in a race with five incumbents and seven other candidates. In Framingham, first-time candidate Leombruno — who the PAC supported with $24,501 — beat Gloria Pascual, a sitting School Committee member, by just a few dozen votes. Vigeant, who has been mayor since 2011, beat challenger David Garceau, a longtime city police officer, by close to 1,500 votes.

The MMIE PAC was founded in May and spent about $267,000 on direct mail ads created by the Pennsylvania firm Red Maverick Media, which has focused on electing Republicans in that state. The biggest donors to the PAC were business leaders, like Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah and dealership owner Daniel J. Quirk.

The PAC also had ties to Gov. Charlie Baker. His campaign finance director, Tim O’Leary, consulted for the PAC. Leombruno got the extra boost of a Baker endorsement. She and Baker worked together in the William Weld administration, and he visited Framingham in October to support her campaign.

Although aligned with many Republican candidates and backed by Republican donors, the PAC did support a few Democrats, like Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

Here's how the PAC's candidates fared on Election Day and how much support they received:

• WON Donna Colorio, Worcester mayor/at-large candidate — $38,130
• WON Robert Hedlund Jr., Weymouth mayor — $27,285
• WON Janet Leombruno, Framingham city council candidate — $24,501
• WON Shaunna O'Connell, Republican state representative, Taunton mayor candidate — $22,950
• WON Brian Michael Arrigo, Revere mayor— $21,312
• LOST Heather Porreca, Attleboro mayor candidate — $20,430
• WON Donald Humason Jr., Republican state senator — $19,893
• LOST Monica Medeiros, Melrose city councilor, mayoral candidate — $15,696
• WON Arthur Vigeant, Marlborough mayor — $14,601
• LOST Jennifer Nassour, Boston City Council candidate — $13,917
• WON Domenic Sarno, Springfield mayor — $13,835
• LOST Ken Gray, Amesbury mayor — $12,336
• WON Mark Hawke, Gardner mayor — $11,070
• WON Scott Galvin, Woburn mayor — $6,137
• WON Stephen Louis DiNatale, Fitchburg mayor — $5,336