BOSTON — The Brian Shortsleeve for Governor campaign declared war Saturday on every TV station and streaming platform in Massachusetts carrying a Massachusetts Democratic Party attack ad that brands the pro-choice Republican as opposing abortion rights — accusing the Healey-backed state party of running a "false and defamatory" spot and warning stations they risk defamation liability if they keep airing it.
Campaign manager Ryan Chamberland fired off a Saturday letter — copied to the Massachusetts Democratic Party and campaign counsel — demanding stations pull the ad by Monday at noon, decline any future placements, and preserve every record of how the spot got on air.
"We are demanding that every station and CTV platform airing this ad immediately remove it from the airwaves," the campaign said in its accompanying statement.
The legal salvo names Brian Shortsleeve's GOP primary opponent — Republican Mike Minogue — as the actual anti-abortion candidate in the race, repeatedly using Minogue's own stated label: "pro-life."
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue, identified in Brian Shortsleeve's cease-and-desist letter as the GOP primary's "pro-life" candidate.
"What this ad makes clear is that Maura Healey intends to turn the general election into a referendum on abortion rights," the Shortsleeve statement says. "That strategy only works if Mike Minogue is the Republican nominee. The only path for Republicans to win the corner office is by nominating Brian Shortsleeve to take on Maura Healey."
Governor Maura Healey, whose state Democratic Party is running the ad the Shortsleeve campaign now wants pulled.
"I am a pro-choice Republican"
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The Shortsleeve campaign's case to the stations leans on Brian Shortsleeve's own public record. From the letter:
- Shortsleeve appeared on GBH's Boston Public Radio last week and said, "I am a pro-choice Republican."
- A May 4 Boston Globe column described him as someone who "describes himself as a supporter of abortion rights."
- Shortsleeve has said publicly he is not seeking to change Massachusetts abortion law and would not support changes as governor.
Against that record, the Mass Dems ad's claim that Shortsleeve "opposes abortion rights" is, per the campaign letter, "objectively false."
The defamation hammer
The letter walks the stations through their legal exposure in plain terms. Third-party political ads don't get the federal "no censorship" shield candidate-sponsored ads get under Section 315 of the Communications Act, the letter notes — meaning broadcasters and streamers carrying a third-party ad can be liable if they continue airing it after being put on notice that it contains a knowingly false claim.
"Continued airing of the advertisement despite actual knowledge of its falsity may constitute reckless disregard for the truth and expose the station or platform to legal liability under applicable defamation law," Chamberland wrote.
The campaign's three demands:
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- Cease airing the ad in its current form;
- Decline any future placements containing the false claim that Shortsleeve opposes abortion rights;
- Preserve every record relating to the ad — including communications with the Massachusetts Democratic Party, media buyers, substantiation materials, internal review documents, traffic logs, and airing records.
Stations have until Monday, May 18, at 12:00 p.m. to confirm in writing that the ad has been pulled pending correction.
"Nothing in this letter should be construed as a complete statement of the campaign's rights, remedies, or claims, all of which are expressly reserved," Chamberland wrote — leaving the door open to a defamation suit if the stations don't comply.
"They cannot lie their way out"
The Shortsleeve statement tied the abortion ad to what the campaign argues are Healey's actual problems heading into 2026.
"Maura Healey and her allies have started their campaign with lies, but they cannot lie their way out of an affordability crisis, exploding energy costs, a housing shortage, zero job growth and thousands of people and small businesses fleeing the state," the campaign said. "It is well-established that Brian Shortsleeve is pro-choice and supports current law."
The Massachusetts Democratic Party has not publicly responded to the cease-and-desist as of Saturday evening.
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