IN THE WAKE OF alleged signature fraud, rifts within the Republican Party have emerged. Republicans and Democrats have also found common ground: a desire to reform the process for getting on the ballot.
During a Sunday appearance on WCVB’s “On the Record,” MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale said the allegations of signature fraud that disrupted or derailed three statewide Republican campaigns speak to a public policy question.
“So, I think what this calls out is really a reform of the process by which candidates can qualify for the ballots,” Carnevale said while responding to a question on if she’d be empathetic to Democratic candidates who faced similar allegations. “It’s become commonplace for not only statewide candidates, but also ballot questions, to hire signature gathering firms. So really, it’s become a process of who has the most money to hire these firms to collect signatures.”
Top Beacon Hill Democrats frustrated with an influx of ballot questions backed by special interest groups have delivered a similar message. Legislative negotiators are finalizing the details of a bill requiring more frequent financial disclosures for statewide ballot question campaigns and implementing guardrails around the use of paid signature gatherers. The House’s bill, which representatives passed unanimously, would also create a legislative commission to review the whole initiative petition process, with recommendations for statutory and constitutional amendments due by the end of 2027.
Asked if she thinks candidates need too many signatures to get on the ballot, Carnevale said “I do. I do. I think our process needs reform here in Massachusetts for them to get on the ballot, and I think that’s what this calls out.” She did not specify reforms she’d like to see and a MassGOP spokesperson did not immediately respond to the News Service’s questions about how the party is seeking to change the process.
“Absolutely. So, I think we’ll have to do that in the wake of this election, obviously, we’re mid-cycle in an election, but I think after this election, it’s appropriate to take a step back and work collectively with the Democratic Party,” Carnevale said when asked if she’s pushing for serious change. “I’d be willing to work with them and with Independents to try to reform our system.”
The alleged signature fraud issues have exposed fissures within the GOP.
Last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve launched his first television campaign ad titled “Voter ID.” In the 30-second spot, Shortsleeve attacks his primary opponent Mike Minogue’s response to the alleged signature fraud.
“When Mike Minogue’s preferred running mate committed election fraud, he endorsed it,” Shortsleeve said in the ad that’s airing statewide. “Defending the political insiders. Attacking those who exposed it. And now he wants you to trust him to lead Massachusetts? Give me a break.”
Two GOP lieutenant governor hopefuls were knocked off the ballot as a result of the allegedly fraudulent signatures: Anne Manning Martin and Anne Brensley, who Minogue backed. Brensley accused her signature gatherer, Joe Bronske, of collecting fraudulent signatures and causing her to fall short of the required 10,000 certified signatures. Michael Walsh, a GOP candidate for attorney general, faced similar allegations and was able to restore his ballot access.
Hours after Shortsleeve’s ad went live, Carnevale came to Minogue’s defense.
“As Chair of the Party, it is my responsibility to stand up for and support Republican candidates, particularly when they are being unfairly attacked, misrepresented, or wronged,” Carnevale said in a statement. “In this case, fraud was perpetrated against our candidates. Brian Shortsleeve’s attempt to exploit that fraud for political advantage, while portraying himself as a champion of election integrity and disparaging fellow Republicans, is both misleading and deeply disappointing.”
Carnevale expanded on those comments while appearing on “On the Record,” saying the candidates who faced fraud allegations did “nothing wrong” and it was their signature gatherer who allegedly committed signature fraud.
“They were called out by Brian Shortsleeve in this effort. So I thought, as party chair, I do owe a service to these candidates to defend them and their integrity in qualifying for the ballot.”
Asked on “On the Record” about a path to a more unified Republican Party in wake of Shortsleeve’s ad, Carnevale said she wouldn’t characterize the dynamic as fighting and that it is “an isolated case of really calling out an ad that was disingenuous and misleading” towards some candidates.
“I think we have come a long way in the Republican Party over the last three years of coming together. I think Mike Minogue and the team that we have running for office here in Massachusetts has done a great job in terms of bringing Republicans together, really kind of closing some of those divisions we have had in the past,” Carnevale said. “And I think we’re really a united party going forward.”
Shawn Oliver, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who is aligned with Shortsleeve, filed the complaint that knocked Manning Martin off the ballot. Oliver’s complaint was consolidated with a similar one Democratic Party Executive Director Adam Roof filed. More than 20 Republican State Committee members condemned the move saying in an email that it showed “willing coordination and collusion” between the Democratic Party and Oliver’s campaign, along with Shortsleeve’s camp by extension.
Minogue also condemned Oliver.
“It is shameful that anyone would oppose unifying to win, but unfathomable that anyone would join arms with bad actors to block the democratic process,” Minogue said in a statement to the Boston Herald.
Oliver and Shortsleeve have stood by the complaint and criticized both Minogue’s and MassGOP’s response to the allegations of fraud. Shortsleeve said MassGOP is asking Republicans to “ignore election fraud because it’s one of their own” and that he would not. Shortsleeve also said Minogue’s response to the issue raises “serious questions” about how he would handle potential election fraud and corruption if elected governor and called on him to “rethink the consequences of his defense of election fraud.”
In July, MassGOP passed a resolution saying it is “committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and fairness in all aspects of the electoral process.” The resolution also calls for a “thorough and timely” investigation into alleged fraud or “irregularities” with the signature collection process and says the party supports “fair and transparent” resolution of the matters in court and appropriate administrative processes. It also calls on the auditor to conduct a “comprehensive review” of the state’s signature verification and certification processes to ensure “uniformity, accuracy, and adherence to best practices.”
Minogue spokesperson Elizabeth Hopkins said in a statement to the News Service that the candidate believes in “safe and fair elections” and that as governor, he would audit the system to “ensure it is one of the best in the country.”
