GOP seeks challenger to Rep. Flanagan after campaign finance violations

THE MASSACHUSETTS GOP is looking for candidates to take on Cape Cod state Rep. Chris Flanagan after the Dennis Democrat was hit with fines for misleading state campaign finance regulators about the source of funds for a campaign mailing in 2022.

Flanagan, who was elected in November 2022 after defeating a Republican and a third-party candidate, had to pay thousands of dollars for campaign finance violations.

Regulators with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance said Flanagan “delayed and obstructed” their investigation into a mailer from that election, when they pressed him several different times about “Jean Louise,” a woman Flanagan said was behind the mailer. Flanagan eventually admitted the woman did not exist, and he had made her up.

Investigators concluded that Flanagan sought to “influence the election without disclosing to the public who planned and financed the mailer,” which claimed to be from a group called “Conservatives for Dennis,” which supported Flanagan.

The disciplinary actions were first reported by CommonWealth Beacon on Monday, a day before signatures needed to be filed to run in this year’s primary election. Flanagan, who previously served as an aide to US Sen. John Kerry and a Dennis select board member, is currently running unopposed for reelection and no candidates had filed signatures as of the Tuesday deadline.

Republicans say they are now looking for someone to mount a write-in campaign for September’s primary for the GOP nomination. If someone is able to garner 150 votes and they accept the Republican nomination, they can appear on the November ballot with Flanagan.

“That is still an option,” said Judy Crocker, vice chair of the Massachusetts GOP and a Cape Cod resident. “There are some folks considering it,” she added, though she declined to offer up names.

Tracy Post, the Republican who lost to Flanagan in 2022, says her eye is on running for Yarmouth’s select board, with that election set for May 21. “That’s what my focus is. We’ll see how things play out,” she said. “I don’t feel he should be running unopposed. I think people should have choices.”

She added: “Whether it’s me or somebody else, we’ll be working on that.”

In the meantime, Flanagan is looking to move on. “Mistakes were made,” he told CommonWealth Beacon on Monday, and added that he’s “glad that it’s behind me.”

The House seat, which includes the Barnstable County towns of Dennis and Brewster and part of Yarmouth, has often flipped between Democratic and Republican control. Flanagan’s four-term predecessor, Republican Tim Whelan, gave up the seat in 2022 to run for county sheriff.

House Speaker Ron Mariano did not indicate whether the chamber would be conducting its own investigation of Flanagan’s campaign finance violations.

“Representative Flanagan’s behavior was wrong and the OCPF findings are certainly concerning and have been addressed by the appropriate regulatory authorities,” he said in a statement. “The House has its own procedures for investigating complaints regarding Members, should that process be initiated.”

North Adams state Rep. John Barrett III, a Democrat who chairs the House Ethics Committee, did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.