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WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — MassGOP has filed a complaint against 8th Middlesex District representative Carolyn Dykema for accepting corporate donations at an Aug. 21 senior picnic she held in Hopkinton, according to a press release.
MassGOP, representing the state's Republican Party, claims at the picnic, Dykema conducted a raffle "in which prizes were given out to benefit her candidacy." The companies were Bird in Hand, LLC Red Barn, Coffee Roaster, Inc., Colella's Super Market Inc. and Fiske's General Store.
According to Mass. General Law, chapter 55, section 8, a candidate cannot accept anything of value from a corporation to help a candidacy.
"We believe that representative Dykema solicited these contributions, and insist that the businesses are not responsible for donating to representative Dykema's campaign efforts," wrote Nate Litte, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Republican Party in a letter to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Little also went on to note that other "gifts" listed in Dykema's community newsletter were not reported as "in-kind" contributions to her campaign. Little said he believes Dykema should not be able to benefit from the corporate donations during this election season, according to the release.
Dykema is opposed in the November election by Republican Marty Lamb, a Holliston businessman.
"I was surprised and saddened to see my opponent's GOP surrogates attack this long-standing, bi-partisan community tradition yesterday," Dykema said in response to the claims via press release.
"I'm a firm believer in keeping corporate money out of politics. ... But that shouldn't mean we can't partner with our local businesses to promote a common goal — in this case, supporting our local seniors," she wrote. "I hope in the future [Marty] Lamb and his partisan media machine will stick to debating the issues, not attacking our local businesses and community traditions."
Comments (2)
Rep. Dykema gives out literature with her campaign committee stamp on it, has her campaign people there with their shirts on, and blatantly claims it's not a campaign event. It most certainly is, and these donations are illegal. It's shameful. Then, she plays the blame game. She admits doing this. She should know better. She should apologize for cheating. She thinks she is above the law. Awful ! How about some honesty !
So, in trying to follow this story was it the Seniors that benefited from the donations? If the answer is yes then I think even reporting on this political nonsense is really unnecessary. My interest lies with the issues our local communities face and how these candidates will address them. I would appreciate a focus on this in the future.