Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue plans to spend up to $2 billion on his campaign to unseat Democratic incumbent Gov. Maura Healey in the November election, files obtained by the Herald show.
Minogue, alongside lieutenant governor running mate Shawn Oliver, plans on spending a maximum of $2 billion during the general election, according to the GOP megadonor’s Statement of Financial Interest filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) on Friday.
He says the high number is reflective of the controversial $2 billion state contract for a new courthouse in Springfield, awarded, in-part, to a firm co-owned by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s husband and the interim chief of the state’s Convention Center.
“For too long, the political establishment has looked out for itself while working families struggle to get ahead. People are fed up, and they have every right to be. The era of political insiders cutting sweetheart deals and putting themselves first is coming to an end,” Minogue told the Herald in a written statement.
“It’s time to put Massachusetts families first. It’s time for a government that works for the people, not the insiders,” he said.
That’s more than the $1.22 billion spent by former Vice-President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, and approaches the $3.5 billion in combined spending by Harris and Trump in that election — the most expensive in U.S. history, according to the Financial Times.
Minogue, a billionaire and first-time political candidate, brings decades of experience from the private sector as the former CEO of Abiomed, a medical technology acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2022. He led the company for nearly two decades.
Since launching his gubernatorial campaign in October, Minogue has poured millions of dollars into his own campaign, leading to him having far and away the most cash on hand throughout the majority of the election cycle.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue plans to spend a maximum of $2 billion on his campaign to unseat Gov. Maura Healey in the general election. Courtesy OCPF
“We, Michael Roger Minogue, a candidate for governor and Shawn Oliver, a candidate for lieutenant governor, state that our authorized committees (if any) and each of us jointly and severally agree that the maximum amount of expenditures to be made in the aggregate by both of us and our authorized committees (if any) in our joint campaign as a candidate team for the general election will be: $ 2,000,000,000,” Minogue and Oliver’s Statement of Financial Interest, also known as a CPFA 22T form, reads.
Healey has used Minogue’s wealth for months to paint him in campaign emails as a Republican and Trump-backed billionaire who seeks to “buy the election.” She has called him “MAGA Mike” in campaign materials.
When asked by the Herald during a Wednesday campaign stop in Fall River if she could match Minogue dollar for dollar on the campaign trail, Healey said, “Oh, heck no. He’s got unlimited funds.”
The governor and her campaign have been highlighting Minogue’s financial success for months now, admitting to the “disadvantage” for the first, but not last, time in a May campaign email to supporters.
“Do you have $14 million lying around? Yeah, neither do we. But we just learned that’s how much one of Maura’s Republican opponents has self-funded since launching his campaign,” reads an email from the Maura Healey for Governor campaign team to prospective donors.
Minogue mainly self-funded his campaign, with all but just short of $1.9 million of the $17,694,705 in his war chest coming out of his own pocket, according to OCPF records.
Healey has dominated the race in terms of outside contributions, providing her campaign with no self-funding. Since Minogue began his campaign, Healey raised $4,449,523 — all in outside contributions, OCPF records show.
Healey, for the first time, also has more cash on hand than her GOP opponent. Minogue as of Saturday morning had $5,816,462 cash on hand to Healey’s $6,862,530, according to OCPF filings.
The governor has also portrayed Minogue as a Trump ally and sympathizer, or “MAGA Mike,” who supports the worst aspects of Trump’s nationwide illegal immigration crackdown, stances against expanded abortion access, and his other policies.
When asked by reporters this week why she continues to center her campaign on attacking Trump when Minogue is her opponent, she said Trump “is (essentially) on the ballot.”
“To be clear, Trump is on the ballot. And I’ll tell you why. Every single day, the actions taken by the Trump administration hurt people around the country, but also hurt people in Massachusetts,” Healey said.
“It is absolutely the case that you have somebody as president right now who is doing things that directly hurt the residents and the economy of Massachusetts and our businesses. And we need to make sure that there’s leadership always coming out of the corner office that’s going to protect our state,” she said.
Minogue addressed Healey’s attacks during his victory speech Tuesday night, taking the angle that he is not a politician who will ultimately seek to divide the public to his favor.
“We are not politicians. We are people of principle and we believe in something bigger than ourselves. We don’t hate our neighbors. We are not political enemies. We don’t tear people down. We don’t look for someone to blame. That’s not who we are,” Minogue said to a packed room of supporters at the Great American Beer Hall in Medford.
“This is not what leadership is about. Leadership is about integrity, common sense, and compassion. They will choose division, they will choose to dishonestly attack me with political ads. And in fact, they have already begun,” he said.
Healey and Minogue will face off in the general election on November 3.
Republican candidate for gov Mike Minogue speaks at his election night watch party. Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald