The party cited a Boston Herald editorial that said lopsided one-party rule “aided and abetted” just-convicted former Speaker Salvatore DiMasi who was convicted last week in a kickback scheme.
BOSTON - Without specifying a figure, the Massachusetts Republican Party has come out in support of raising campaign contribution limits in Massachusetts.
Last Friday, the party issued a statement praising a Boston Herald editorial that called for, among other things, raising the $500 limit on individual campaign contributions and tying the cap to inflation.
The newspaper’s editorial board said lopsided one-party rule “aided and abetted” just-convicted former Speaker Salvatore DiMasi as he executed his software contract-kickback conspiracy, argued that move to higher limits would “open the door for stronger legislative challenges,” and said the current cap “forces office-seekers to work twice as hard at raising money, and stacks the deck in favor of well-financed incumbents over inexperienced challengers.”
Asked if the party’s applause of the editorial reflected its support for higher contribution limits, party spokesman Tim Buckley said it did. Buckley did not specify a more desirable cap but said a higher limit should be coupled with efforts to make contributions more transparent.
In its prepared statement, the party said the Herald editorial offered a “better way forward from the business as usual we get from the DiMasi-era Democrats on Beacon Hill.”
Buckley directed the State House News Service to a National Conference of State Legislatures spreadsheet showing many states across the country have significantly higher donation limits than Massachusetts, especially for statewide office seekers, with several states allowing unlimited contributions.