Housing Super PAC Spends $93,000 to Back Azeem’s State Senate Bid

With the Sept. 1 Democratic primary two weeks away, Cambridge Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem’s bid for state Senate has received a major infusion of outside support — from a super PAC aligned with the pro-housing nonprofit he cofounded.

The Abundant Housing Massachusetts Independent Expenditure PAC reported on Aug. 7 that it had spent $93,000 on digital advertising to support Azeem’s election bid. Though the super PAC shares a name and policy priorities with Abundant Housing Massachusetts, the nonprofit Azeem cofounded in 2020, the two are separate entities. Azeem remains the nonprofit’s treasurer, and the nonprofit has separately endorsed his Senate bid.

The advertising push comes as Azeem, who is serving his third term on the Cambridge City Council, fights through a contentious four-way race among active candidates to represent the 2nd Middlesex district, which includes Somerville and Medford and parts of Cambridge and Winchester. Somerville City Councilor Matthew C. McLaughlin and state Representatives Christine P. Barber and Erika Uyterhoeven are also vying for the seat. Tom Hopcroft ended his campaign in late July but will remain on the Democratic primary ballot.

The seat was left open after longtime incumbent Patricia D. Jehlen announced she would not seek reelection.

Azeem was featured in four new video advertisements across the super PAC’s social media accounts this week, all touting legislative efforts Azeem has spearheaded in Cambridge — including the implementation of universal Pre-K and the elimination of single-family-only zoning citywide.

Independent expenditure PACs are not allowed to coordinate their spending with candidates or contribute directly to candidate committees. The AHMA nonprofit and the PAC are under separate leadership and operate independently, according to Molly R. Goodman, the PAC’s chair.

“We do not coordinate strategy, messaging, or spending with any candidate committee, including Burhan’s, and we do not share any vendors with AHMA or with Burhan’s campaign,” Goodman wrote in a statement.

A written firewall agreement obtained by The Crimson imposes additional restrictions on PAC staff.

Under the agreement, IEPAC staff are “barred from interacting—either personally or electronically—with AHMA board member, Burhan Azeem.”

The document also outlines restrictions for Azeem himself, prohibiting him from serving in any leadership role for the super PAC or weighing on any organizational decisions that impact it.

Through Aug. 6, Azeem was the only candidate for whom the super PAC had reported spending, though Goodman wrote that they are “supporting a number of candidates this cycle.”

According to campaign finance records reviewed by The Crimson, the $93,000 expenditure was the largest reported single-PAC spend in the race through Aug. 6 and the only reported PAC spending in support of Azeem.

The AHMA super PAC reported $111,155 in receipts through Aug. 6. Nearly 90 percent came from a single donor: William Saunders, who listed his occupation as an AI researcher at Anthropic and donated $100,000 in July.

Campaign finance records also show that eight donors who listed Anthropic as their employer each donated $1,000 to Azeem’s campaign — the annual maximum an individual can give to a Massachusetts candidate committee.

Saunders and Anthropic did not respond to requests for comment on the contributions.

Other contributors to the PAC said they are generally supportive of the spending blitz to boost Azeem’s campaign.

“I trust that they’ve identified the strategic campaigns where money can be best spent,” said Cobi F. Frongillo, who donated to the super PAC in June. “I know that Burhan has been one of the housing leaders, most effective housing leaders in the country.”

For Simon Andrews, who has given roughly $135 to the PAC this year across nine individual donations, supporting Azeem seemed in line with the group’s priorities.

“I donate to support pro-housing candidates across Massachusetts generally, and supporting candidates like Burhan is exactly the kind of thing I want AHMA to do,” he wrote in an email.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.