Donor-list rift spoils GOP party
Gloucester fundraiser postponed amid split
The state GOP’s rift over access to an online donor database led the Gloucester Republican City Committee to postpone a weekend fundraiser where state Chairman Jim Lyons and Gov. Charlie Baker were both set to appear.
The fundraiser, scheduled for tonight, will now be held later in the year, though organizers have not yet settled on a new date, said Amanda Kesterson, city committee chairwoman.
“With the issues that are going on this week — and the governor’s team and the Republican Party are working them through — we just didn’t think having this event in the middle of it was advisable,” Kesterson told the Herald. “We want to have it at a later date so we can have a great event.”
The intra-party spat over the donor list, which became public this week, revealed tensions among state Republicans and has pitted the conservative Lyons against the more moderate Baker’s political team.
MassGOP said it has been shut out of its online donor list since July 15, and sent a demand letter to Salesforce, the cloud-based software company that hosts the database, last week to regain access.
The letter — circulated to MassGOP members Thursday and obtained by the Herald — also points to issues with several people affiliated with “The Baker Committee” — raising questions of who controls the donor list. Both MassGOP officials and the Baker Committee said Thursday they were unable to access the database.
In a Facebook video posted Friday, Kesterson said Baker called that morning to say he was unable to make the “Infamous Rooftop Fundraiser” in Gloucester, leading organizers to postpone so the governor could attend at a later date.
The fundraiser is an annual happening in Gloucester, but this was the first year the city committee had joined with state party to host the event together. Tickets ranged from $100 to $1,000 per person, according to an invitation shown to the Herald. About 100 people were set to attend, Kesterson said.
Lyons thanked the organizers “for all their efforts” and said “hopefully sometime soon we’ll get together.”
Republican political consultant Chip Jones said the infighting is “destroying our party.”
“The party is battling a cancer — and the cancer is a long-festering battle between strictly fiscal and constitutional conservatives, and social and fiscal conservatives,” Jones said. “We’ve been doing it for a decade, quietly. Now we’re doing it openly.”
But other state Republicans downplayed the clash, saying the blame rests with Salesforce. The company declined comment Friday.
State Committeeman Steve Aylward praised Lyons for standing up for the party, saying, “We need access to our data.”
Asked about the appearance of strife within the state party, Aylward said, “Lyons has brought a semblance of professionalism because he’s a small-business guy. I think he has tightened up some of the controls, and I think that’s what you’re seeing.”