Coakley Disavows SuperPAC Ads
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Thursday, May 01, 2014
GoLocalWorcester Political Team
Martha Coakley says she has nothing to do with the new SuperPAC attack ads.
SuperPAC-funded ad in the race for governor, Coakley reiterated this week her position that outside, special interest money has no place in Massachusetts elections.
“As someone who has fought against Citizens United and was the first Attorney General to support a constitutional amendment to overturn it, I would hope that no SuperPAC spends unlimited secret money in Massachusetts, and that we follow the lead of Senator Warren in keeping them out of the race for Governor,” said Attorney General Coakley. “My feeling on this issue is the same regardless of who these SuperPAC’s support, and I disavow these ads running against Charlie Baker. Unfortunately, both Charlie Baker and Steve Grossman refuse to disavow the SuperPAC’s supporting them, but rather embrace their role and their potential for bringing unlimited secret donations into Massachusetts.”
Claims to be consistent
Coakley claims she "stood up as the first Attorney General to support the constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United decision and joined with 25 other state Attorneys General in filing a brief with the Supreme Court to protect state's ability to regulate and restrict corporate political spending."
Last week, Coakley called on her fellow candidates for governor to sign a People’s Pledge to keep unwanted, outside special-interest money out of race. The pledge is modeled after the agreement made by Congressmen Markey and Lynch during their Senate campaign, with an additional provision relative to possible attacks from Republican SuperPACs during the Democratic Primary.
She expressed her surprise and disappointment that supporters of Steve Grossman had formed a SuperPAC that will potentially pour unlimited amounts of special-interest money into the Massachusetts governor's race.
The Coakley campaign last week was the first gubernatorial campaign to submit the necessary amount of certified signatures to the Secretary of State’s office to qualify for the ballot. The signatures filed represented 270 cities and towns across Massachusetts, and the campaign expects turn in several thousand more certified signatures before the June 3 deadline.
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