A political action committee (PAC) affiliated with the progressive Maine People’s Alliance has made a large independent expenditure in support of their employee, Penobscot State Senator Mike Tipping (D), who is running for reelection in Senate District 8.
Sen. Tipping is a longtime employee of the MPA — according to his most recent personal financial disclosure with the Maine Ethics Commission, Tipping works as a research director for both the MPA and their 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm, the Maine People’s Resource Center (MPRC).
Tipping, though running as a clean election candidate under the Maine Clean Election Act (MCEA), has benefited from several independent expenditures from PACs associated with his employer.
Tipping is supported by MPA Campaign Vote! PAC, whose stated purpose is to “support and elect candidates endorsed by the Maine People’s Alliance.”
Both the PAC’s principal officer and treasurer are Mike Tipping’s coworkers at the Maine People’s Alliance and Maine People’s Resource Center.
MPA Campaign Vote! has spent approximately $15,000 in the 2024 election season, according to recent filings with the Maine Ethics Commission.
Over half of this spending has gone directly to MPA for canvassing efforts supporting Tipping’s re-election bid.
The canvassing contract, filed on September 30, indicates that $7,900 was used specifically to hire canvassers in support of Tipping’s campaign. An additional $2,260 was allocated to former Rep. Bettyann Sheats (D) in her Senate District 20 race.
On Sept. 16, MPA Campaign Vote! spent nearly $200 for printed campaign materials in support of Tipping.
Rebuild Maine PAC, which lists MPA as one of its founding organizations, this week spent $3,220 on digital advertisements in support of Tipping.
Another PAC affiliated with the Maine People’s Alliance, the Maine Labor Climate PAC, in September spent over $17,000 for political mailers and digital advertising in support of Sen. Tipping’s campaign.
Filings 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 major proponent of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine.
The treasurer of the Maine Labor Climate PAC is Francis Eanes, the executive director of the Maine Labor Climate Council.
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.
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