Touting the party as "in the strongest position we've seen in years," MassGOP officials on Monday announced major fundraising success and plans to return operations to their former Boston headquarters.
State Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Carnevale, who took the reins just over a year ago with the party's influence shrinking and finances in disarray, touted the MassGOP's current footing as a marked improvement and said she is "determined to maintain this momentum" into the current election year.
Carnevale wrote in a message to supporters that the party's finances have improved significantly since she started. In 2023, MassGOP raised about $770,000, she said.
"This is a huge number," Carnevale wrote. "Raising money is never easy, especially during an off-year of the election cycle when the party does not have an elected statewide or federal official. Historically, the best comparison would be to 2007. After Governor [Mitt] Romney stepped down, the party was only able to raise approximately $494,000. We outperformed this benchmark, largely through the hard work of our event hosts, donors, and all of you."
Carnevale said she served without pay in 2023 and kept party staff to a "bare minimum" to help control expenses. She said MassGOP so far paid down $200,000 of "inherited debt from previous leadership."
The party repaid an unspecified number of vendors and remains in dispute with one other, according to Carnevale, who said MassGOP is still working through additional issues with state and federal political finance regulators.
"As we reported early last year, [the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance] identified $300,000 in misreporting in the 2022 cycle, and we are continuing to work through those issues," Carnevale wrote. "Similarly, we entered a formal dispute resolution process with the [Federal Election Commission] over 2022 reporting issues. Our attorneys were able to negotiate the fine for this misreporting down to $6,450 while avoiding a full FEC audit of the committee. Additionally, the Party incurred a fine of $15,000 by the Attorney General for alleged campaign finance violations from the 2022 cycle, and this fine has been paid in full."
Putting it closer to the hub of state government and political media, the party also plans to move its headquarters back to Boston after more than four years operating in Woburn.
Under former MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons, who previously served as a state representative from Andover, the party in 2019 decamped its offices at 85 Merrimac St. in Boston for an office park in Woburn. Officials said at the time that the move would save nearly $350,000 over five years.
The party will transition operations back to Boston over the course of the month with plans to be fully operational in its old digs by the end of February, Carnevale announced Monday.
"This location is conveniently located near North Station with many public transportation options nearby. The move is paramount to our continued growth and connectivity to the heartbeat of the Massachusetts government where we can be on top of the many failed policies coming out of the Healey Administration and Beacon Hill," Carnevale wrote, later adding, "With the new Boston location comes opportunities to hire interns, connect with elected officials, and promote conservative values from the epicenter of the state's media apparatus. This move signifies that the Republican Party is back in the fight."
It's not clear exactly how long MassGOP had previously operated out of 85 Merrimac St. Former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, a Republican, used it as her campaign headquarters during her unsuccessful 2006 bid for governor.
Although Republicans have had some success winning the corner office, Democrats have long wielded veto-proof supermajority margins in the Massachusetts House and Senate.
The GOP flipped a Senate seat last year when Peter Durant of Spencer -- who later delivered the party's official response to Gov. Maura Healey's State of the Commonwealth address -- won a special election for the district vacated by Democrat Sen. Anne Gobi.
Durant's House seat is now vacant, and no Democrats filed paperwork to run in the March 5 special election, according to POLITICO.
"With the Democrats failing to field a candidate, we can confidently say that the MassGOP is poised to go 2-0 in our first two special elections under our new Chair," Carnevale wrote Monday.
