Republicans running for governor of Massachusetts tap business connections for cash

The two Republicans running for governor of Massachusetts have tapped their business connections for tens of thousands of dollars since launching their campaigns in attempts to shore up their bank accounts during the early days of the referendum according to state information Mike Kennealy a former state housing and economic advance secretary and Brian Shortsleeve a venture capitalist have turned to executives from top companies in the country attorneys at high-end firms in Boston and CEOs of New England s biggest businesses The input makes clear that each man is focusing on wealthy or connected business associates or friends who can help them build campaign war chests large enough to compete with the million Gov Maura Healey has so far stashed away to compete in next year s governor s race Wendy Wakeman a Republican political strategist in Massachusetts who is not involved with either campaign revealed it is no surprise that the two candidates have turned to people they know to beef up their bids for governor They re getting contributions from people they ve worked with in the past on either side either on the sell side or the buy side as they say in stake lingo They re turning to people they know people who believe in them for a lot of reasons and that s unsurprising Wakeman narrated the Herald Both Kennealy and Shortsleeve have deep business roots Brian Shortsleeve Shortsleeve is a longtime investor who co-founded M Improvement which describes itself as a venture firm that partners with founders and CEOs to help them rapidly scale their companies and succeed in their respective markets He was also the head of the MBTA for a handful of years under former Gov Charlie Baker a Republican and credits himself with helping get the Green Line Extension project back on track and renegotiating a contract with a Chinese company for new train cars The -year-old from Barnstable has amassed more than in campaign cash by the end of June including thousands from his business contacts state material shows He has pulled in money from chief executive officers bankers business executives consultants investors lawyers former politicians and other venture capitalists according to records from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance Shortsleeve has also received donations from an employee of M Development and executives at certain of the companies the assets firm has worked with and where he serves as a board member according to state records and his online resume Mike Anello another co-founder at M Development donated to Shortsleeve in May as did Ryan Kubacki CEO of the Illinois-based solution company Contruent according to Massachusetts records Shortsleeve was a member of Contruent s board from October to December his online resume shows and M Advance lists the company on its website In an interview with the Herald Kubacki stated he met Shortsleeve when the two were teenagers later became college roommates at Harvard University in the s and eventually joined together to form Contruent a utility that helps manage large-scale construction projects Kubacki announced that for those who have known Shortsleeve for a long time it was no surprise he demanded to run for higher political office in Massachusetts He s reliably focused on amenity Kubacki declared by phone It s not inauthentic with him It s just who he is Look at his whole life He s consistently been the class president or in our dorm he was the guy who was rallying people around to figure out how to create experiences for everybody He cares about his society He cares about his people John Davagian the CEO of the manufacturing program company L L where Shortsleeve was a board member from to contributed to his gubernatorial campaign according to state records Tim Nguyen and Veronica Nguyen the CEO and executive vice president of the California-based financial system company BeSmartee each donated to Shortsleeve Shortsleeve sits on the company s board and M Expansion lists them on its website Executives at specific of the largest companies in the country have also donated to Shortsleeve He pulled in top-dollar donations in May from Niraj Shah the co-founder and CEO of Wayfair and local billionaire Ernie Boch Jr according to state facts Bradley Crate the president of Red Curve Solutions a well-known campaign finance compliance firm based in Beverly donated in May as did Christine Abramo a area president at BNY Mellon the massive New York-based financial services company state records show Holly Robichaud a political strategist working for Shortsleeve disclosed the people who know him best strongly believe that he has the character leadership ability and vision not just to defeat Maura Healey but reverse the economic carnage of her tenure as governor They want a governor who will restore affordability fiscal responsibility and common sense to the Commonwealth and that s what Brian s career as a Marine Corps Veteran profitable business leader and proven regime reformer has shown he can do Robichaud stated in a report to the Herald Mike Kennealy Kennealy served as the secretary of housing and economic advance for four years under former Gov Charlie Baker a Republican He also spent years in private equity with the firm Spectrum Equity where he says he helped grow the business from million in assets under management to billion The -year-old from Lexington has drawn donations from long-time friends in the capital world as well as from lawyers business executives people working in real estate and even the head of one of the largest companies in the world Chris Kempczinski the board chairman and chief executive officer of McDonald s donated to Kennealy in June according to state records Shah the co-founder and CEO of Wayfair and Boch also handed Kennealy last month facts shows At least lawyers at the national law firm WilmerHale where Gov Maura Healey once worked as a junior attorney have contributed varying amounts to Kennealy in April and June including eight at the state limit according to campaign finance records Isaac Kato a venture capitalist from the Seattle area with the firm Two Ravens and a decades-long friend to Kennealy and his family also donated to Kennealy in May Kato explained he met Kennealy while the two attended a graduate undertaking at Harvard Business School Kato revealed he has not worked with Kennealy professionally but from knowing him for years he just can t imagine anybody who cares more about the Commonwealth I had no hesitation making a donation And if I lived there there s no question that he d have my vote Kato informed the Herald by phone He s a super reasonable guy who cares simple as that And he s been very very effective in every role that at least I ve seen him be in Logan Trupiano a spokesperson for Kennealy commented Kennealy is honored to have the help from so multiple people who know him his character his track record and his commitment to community function He is the one candidate with the leadership vision and determination to bring people together from every corner of the Commonwealth With the already strong backing and help of the people of Massachusetts and beyond Mike is building a broad coalition to restore common sense and lead Massachusetts forward Trupiano commented in a declaration to the Herald Gov Maura Healey has million tucked away in her campaign account so far Stuart Cahill Boston Herald