GBH Daily: Investigating an election ad

⛅Cloudy day, with highs in the 60s. Sunset is at 5:51 p.m.
Today we’re taking a look at a specific political action committee (PAC) mailer. But first: The postercards in the photo above are what Lowell Elections Director Will Rosenberry jokingly calls “love notes,” sent when mail-in voting started becoming more popular here in 2020. They don’t get these letters much anymore, but people still have concerns about this year’s elections: Will their mail-in ballots be counted? Is this a safe way to vote?

GBH reporter Liz Neisloss talked to election officials about how they’re having these conversations with people in their communities. Rosenberry said he’s worried about voters getting confused or fearful, especially with concerns about federal immigration agents: “I don’t want people to be afraid. I want people to come out and vote, whether that’s early, in person or by mail,” he said. You can hear more from the people who help run elections across Massachusetts here.

Four Things to Know

1. Ukrainians, Russians worried about foreign policy shifts: After President Donald Trump said he’d remove sanctions on Russian diesel fuel, a Ukrainian refugee in Massachusetts named Jane said she thinks the news is “really sad and deeply disturbing.” “It’s really heartbreaking to see our country’s future being discussed as if our sovereignty were negotiable,” she said.

Olga Yulikova, who was born in Russia and now lives in Massachusetts and runs a nonprofit that helps Ukrainian and Russian refugees, said it’s disappointing but not surprising. “Perhaps [Trump] is completely unhinged now and telling the world that he is 100% on Russia’s side — on the side of the dictatorship and an aggressor. But again, it’s consistent with his ambitions and goals and everything else he has done.”

2. Marriage fraud arrests: A woman from Fall River is accused of arranging sham marriages between U.S. citizens and immigrants, charging immigrants between $38,000 and $40,000 per marriage. The couples would stay married for a few years, then get divorced, and the U.S. citizens would marry new immigrant clients, according to U.S. Attorney Leah Foley.

“Marriage fraud underlies the processes that ensure honest, lawful individuals can marry United States citizens and enjoy everything the United States has to offer to them,” said John Soars, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England. “Fraudsters, like the individuals arrested today, make that process more difficult for those who tell the truth and typically do the right thing.”

3. No confidence in Lawrence mayor: Five of nine Lawrence city councilors voted no confidence in Mayor Brian DePeña Tuesday night. It’s a mostly symbolic vote: The City Council does not have the authority to remove DePeña from office. One councilor voted against the measure, and three others did not take a side.

DePeña has said he does not plan to resign as he awaits trial in two criminal cases. He’s accused of fraudulently obtaining $1.5 million in COVID relief loans meant for small businesses in federal court, and of witness intimidation and illegal wiretapping in state court.

4. End-of-treatment flyover: Cape Cod resident Shyla Bodge said she knew she wanted to mark the end of her breast cancer treatment in a special way. Then she got an idea: Why not hire a biplane to fly over Hyannis with a message?

“I know it’s tradition to ring a bell when you’re finished with treatment and I was trying to come up with something different,” Bodge told CAI. “Then, all of a sudden, it just popped into my head. I live right down the road from the Marstons Mills Airport [Cape Cod Airfield on Race Lane] and I stopped in.” The plane banner read “Cancer Awareness. Stay Positive and Fight.”

Why is a pro-Mike Minogue super PAC targeting Mass. gubernatorial candidate Andrea James?

Polls have Democratic Gov. Maura Healey leading Republican challenger Mike Minogue by more than 20 points in the Nov. 3 election. So some voters in Massachusetts might be surprised to see that a political action committee supporting Minogue is attacking not Healey, but independent candidate Andrea James.

James was not allowed into the two gubernatorial debates and has been polling in the single digits. The campaign calls her “the Massachusetts Mamdani,” a reference to New York City’s mayor, and highlights her support for policies like rent control, free child care and health care and stopping construction of new state prisons.

So why is a political action committee attacking someone polling at 6%, instead of the perceived frontrunner?

GBH Reporter Adam Reilly spoke with Rob Neuner, chairman of Massachusetts First Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee, the group behind the ads. “We thought, as [an independent] candidate, she should’ve been in the debates,” Neuner told Reilly. “We looked into Andrea James a little bit more and figured she is someone that is showing the direction Massachusetts is going, and people should be aware of that.”

There’s also another possible explanation: “While the little-known James currently pulls votes equally from both Healey and Minogue, it is a near certainty that she will draw more from Healey in November as voters become more familiar with her far-left politics,” conservative pollster John McLaughlin wrote in September.

James said she’s not bothered.

“Imagine the immense privilege it takes to think housing, healthcare and childcare for all is a bad thing,” James told Reilly. “These attack ads are making my case for me. ... If making sure people can afford to live here makes me too liberal, I’ll be that.”

Reilly takes a deeper look at the polling dynamics here. 

Dig deeper: 

-Have you met Andrea James? She’s running for governor.

-What you need to know about Question 5: Changing state revenue limits

-What you need to know about Question 6: Establishing a nature reserve fund