Grassroots leaders of Boston’s Democratic ward committees have filed a request with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to “open an immediate investigation into troubling evidence of illegal campaign spending and coordination between the Josh Kraft for Mayor campaign and the Your City, Your Future Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee, which has already spent more than $2.5 million attacking Mayor Michelle Wu and boosting Josh Kraft.”
This is commendable action, and I have copied the complaint below. I hope you will read it. I have just a few points to make. (I saw the complaint in a Bluesky post by Christine Langhoff, who informs me it originated in a post from Fortpointer. Thank you, Fortpointer.bsky.social).
First, the complaint has this to say:
The Kraft campaign’s official spokesperson Eileen O’Connor, her husband Will Keyser, and Your City Super PAC ad-maker Jonathan Karush work side by side as consultants in the same political firm, Keyser Public Strategies. In March, Karush created a new LLC called CP Campaigns LLC, apparently for the purpose of funneling Super PAC money into attack ads against Mayor Wu that are now flooding into the race. Any claim that close business associates O’Connor, Keyser, and Karush have shared no communications about Josh Kraft and his campaign is implausible.
Now recall this from the Boston Globe on January 11, 2016: “The lead outside consultant for Great Schools Massachusetts is Keyser Public Strategies . . . “
Most of the money to fund Great Schools Massachusetts ballot committee came from a dark money front called Families for Excellent Schools, which essentially laundered millions of dollars in donations from Massachusetts oligarchs. After that campaign, OCPF conducted a thorough investigation and required FES to register as a campaign committee and disclose its dark money donors. As I wrote in my book Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization, OCPF came very close to referring the case to the Attorney General for possible criminal charges.
Second, the letter places a spotlight on the activities of billionaire Robert Kraft for both his son’s political committee and the SuperPAC. Good. Remember, OCPF diligently performed its duties after the 2016 FES campaign, even though it involved investigating and sanctioning some of the wealthiest and most powerful oligarchs in Massachusetts.
Third, Yesterday in a letter to the Boston Globe I wrote that OCPF action is not enough. Citizens need to pressure the billionaires and SuperPACs to get out of our democracy. I made that point in last week in The Meaning of Josh Kraft’s “Thanks Dad” Campaign too. Tell the billionaires and their favored candidates we demand our democracy back. Democracy is rule by the many, not the money.
Here is the letter from grassroots leaders:
June 3, 2025
William C. Campbell
Director
Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance
One Ashburton Place, Room 411
Boston, MA 02108
Dear Director Campbell,
As leaders in Boston’s Democratic Party Ward Committees, we take seriously our responsibility as the most grassroots level of representation in our City. Over many years, each of our ward committees has worked hard for different candidates and causes that matter to Boston—knocking on doors, hosting events, and organizing alongside our neighbors with the belief that every voice matters for our democracy.
We are grateful for the critical role your office holds in protecting the impact of grassroots organizing by ensuring transparency of all political donations and accountability for following campaign finance law. Today we come together to urge that OCPF open an immediate investigation into troubling evidence of illegal campaign spending and coordination between the Josh Kraft for Mayor campaign and the Your City, Your Future Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee, which has already spent more than $2.5 million attacking Mayor Michelle Wu and boosting Josh Kraft.
Effective OCPF regulation of Super PACs has protected Massachusetts residents from the worst abuses of unrestricted money in our state and local campaigns. The key regulation, 970 CMR 2.17(3), states that “an independent expenditure PAC may not directly or indirectly coordinate its campaign activity with any Massachusetts candidate or political committee.”
Campaign finance violations carry significant consequences, including referrals to law enforcement. Under state law, independent expenditure PACs found to have made coordinated expenditures lose the ability to raise and spend unlimited amounts. Last year, OCPF shut down a Super PAC that was found in violation of these rules.
As reported yesterday by Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi, the known connections between the Kraft campaign and the Your City Super PAC are flagrant and extensive. The Kraft campaign’s official spokesperson Eileen O’Connor, her husband Will Keyser, and Your City Super PAC ad-maker Jonathan Karush work side by side as consultants in the same political firm, Keyser Public Strategies. In March, Karush created a new LLC called CP Campaigns LLC, apparently for the purpose of funneling Super PAC money into attack ads against Mayor Wu that are now flooding into the race. Any claim that close business associates O’Connor, Keyser, and Karush have shared no communications about Josh Kraft and his campaign is implausible. We ask that their communications in recent months be investigated thoroughly by state regulators.
Of equal or greater concern is the suggestion that Josh Kraft’s father, Robert Kraft, is actively coordinating donors and donations to both the Super PAC and the campaign. Josh Kraft publicly acknowledged his father’s role in guiding donations in an interview on May 13, 2025, and it seems Robert Kraft has headlined and hosted events to fundraise for the campaign and for the Super PAC. On May 2, Michael Rubin, the billionaire founder of a sports merchandising company and a close friend of Robert Kraft, donated $1 million to the Super PAC. On April 25, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, leading Trump donors and owners of the Cleveland Browns, donated $100,000, shortly after a gathering of NFL owners at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, where Robert Kraft owns a home. On April 18, the chair and top lawyers from Paul Weiss, the law firm that cut a deal with the Trump administration after Robert Kraft arranged a meeting with President Trump, donated the maximum amount to the Kraft campaign. Robert Kraft was also advertised as the main headliner for Josh Kraft’s very first finance committee meeting in February 2025. We ask OCPF to review whether the Kraft campaign and Your City Super PAC are acting independently, as the law requires, or as a front for Josh Kraft and his family to get around legal donation limits.
This race is unlike any we’ve seen in Boston’s long history. More outside money—from Trump supporters and out-of-state billionaires—has already been raised and spent to attack Mayor Wu and support Josh Kraft than in any other mayoral campaign. More negative attack ads are flooding into our city via ominous TV commercials, mass text messaging, misleading social media graphics, and billboard trucks blocking crosswalks. At a time when our national politics are consumed by billionaire spending, conflicts of interest, and outright corruption, OCPF has been successful at keeping the worst abuses out of Massachusetts. This unprecedented flood of coordinated money threatens our state’s strong track record and demands action.
We ask that OCPF act swiftly to investigate coordination between the Kraft campaign and Your City and act with urgency to address any violations before it is too late. Thank you on behalf of our City and our democracy.
Sincerely,
Annie Rousseau, Chair, Boston Ward 11 Democratic Committee
Jonathan Cohn, Secretary, Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee
Heather O’Brien, Vice Chair Boston Ward 1 Democratic Committee
Carol Lasky, Co-Chair, Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee
Patricia Amend, Second Vice Chair, Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee
Gretchen Bennett, Executive Committee Member, Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee
Sammy Nabulsi, Member, Boston Ward 8 Democratic Committee
Aaron Jones, Vice Chair, Boston Ward 9 Democratic Committee
Kade Crockford, Treasurer, Boston Ward 13 Democratic Committee
Ed Cook, Co-Chair, Boston Ward 15 Democratic Committee
John Parsons, Treasurer, Boston Ward 15 Democratic Committee
Shirley Jones, Member, Boston Ward 15 Democratic Committee
Steve Backman, Member, Boston Ward 19 Democratic Committee
Full disclosure: as a (now retired) educator in the UMass system, I am a union member. I write about dark money, democracy, and oligarchy. My book, Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization, is available.]