Republicans could flip the Penobscot district as the Maine People’s Alliance uses dark money to support its clerk senator

A political action committee (PAC) affiliated with the progressive Maine People’s Alliance has made major independent expenditures in support of its staffer, Penobscot State Sen. Mike Tipping (D), who is running for re-election in Senate District 8.

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Senator Tipping is a long-time employee of the MPA – according to his most recent personal financial disclosure to the Maine Ethics Commission, Tipping works as a research director for both the MPA and its 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm, the Maine People’s Resource Center (MPRC).

Although Tipping is running as a clean election candidate under the Maine Clean Election Act (MCEA), he has benefited from several independent expenditures from PACs affiliated with his employer.

Tipping is supported by MPA Campaign Vote! PAC whose stated goal is to “support and elect candidates endorsed by the Maine People’s Alliance.”

Both the PAC’s senior officer and treasurer are Mike Tipping’s associates at the Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine People’s Resource Center.

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MPA campaign vote! spent about $15,000 in the 2024 election season, according to recent filings with the Maine Ethics Commission.

More than half of that spending went directly to the MPA for advertising efforts in support of Tipping’s re-election bid.

The advertising contract, filed on September 30, shows that $7,900 was used specifically to hire advertisers to support the Tipping campaign. Another $2,260 was allocated to former Rep. Bettyann Sheats (D) in her Senate District 20 race.

The MPA campaign vote took place on September 16th! spent nearly $200 on printed campaign materials supporting Tipping.

Rebuild Maine PAC, which names MPA as one of its founding organizations, spent $3,220 this week on digital advertising in support of tipping.

Another PAC affiliated with the Maine People’s Alliance, the Maine Labor Climate PAC, spent over $17,000 in September on political mailings and digital advertising in support of Sen. Tipping’s campaign.

Records show that the Maine Labor Climate PAC is registered at the same Portland address as the Maine People’s Resource Center.

The Maine Labor Climate PAC appears to be a project of the Maine Labor Climate Council, a purported coalition of labor unions that has been a key proponent of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine.

The treasurer of the Maine Labor Climate PAC is Francis Eanes, executive director of the Maine Labor Climate Council.

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According to a filing with the Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions, the Maine Labor Climate Council is actually the Maine People’s Alliance, operating under an “assumed” name.

Tipping’s Republican opponent in the November general election for Senate District 8 is Leo Kenney, a small business owner and political newcomer.