Outside Money Could Change Massachusetts Senate Race

It appears the Scott Brown victory of 2010 is still haunting the Democrats. Outside groups are spending more money than ever to make sure that the Republican doesn’t pull off a miraculous win again this year. But the Republican and his outside support systems don’t plan on going down, not without a fight, anyways.

After the primary election just a few weeks ago, democrats chose Ed Markey to face off against the republican candidate, Gabriel Gomez. The spending in that election was also unprecedented. Tom Steyer, a California billionaire who spent $630,000 to back Markey in the primary was one of the top outside donors. Unions and other interest groups got involved on Markey’s side as well. Gabriel Gomez now looks to find donors who will do the same for him.

Markey’s team is now banking on the return of top spenders like Tom Steyer, the SEIU, and the League of Conservation Voters. Mr. Steyer’s rep had to this to say about the prospects, “We are in the process of evaluating the race with our local partners, but the more we learn about [Republican nominee Gabriel] Gomez, the more he looks like Mitt Romney without the experience," LeHane said.

The SEIU has already spent $340,000 on the upcoming special election. And the League of Conservation Voters, which endorsed Markey and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his behalf in the primary, expects to do the same for the special election. Their spokesman said, "We made the largest investment by any group in the primary, and we’re going to continue supporting Markey in the general election. This is the biggest race this year for us”.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is planning to make a financial investment in Gomez's campaign in the coming weeks, though Republicans won't say what form that investment will take .

And their involvement could open the door to investments from other GOP outside groups.

Asked Monday whether American Crossroads or its affiliated nonprofit, Crossroads GPS, is likely to get involved in Massachusetts, spokesman Jonathan Collegio said the groups are “carefully weighing all the options for engagement there.”

With this election just a month away, the race is too close to call. But what we can tell for sure is that outside groups are going to play a large role in Massachusetts, and could even change the outcome.