The Lowell Republican City Committee (LRCC), on January 30, 2020, unanimously censured member Mary Burns, currently a candidate for Republican State Committeewoman, for making financial contributions to the campaigns of Representatives Nangle and Golden in Lowell, both Democrats, in violation of the City Committee’s policy and bylaws.

The bylaws state, “​No member of the Committee shall sponsor, endorse or provide material or in-kind support to any candidate, or otherwise in any way serve the interests of any political party other than the Republican Party with careful exception to Unenrolled candidates that uphold the principles of the Republican Party when no duly registered Republican is nominated for any seat serving the City of Lowell or any of its several Wards.”

On further review of the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) reports, it was discovered that Burns had a history of making donations to Democrats. Twenty Democrat candidates received donations from Burns through the years, totaling over $9,000. Burns opponent in the State Committee race, Kathy Lynch, said, “Why would a woman, funding Democrats, run for a Republican leadership role that is supposed to help Republican candidates? I am outraged to hear of this.”

It was further disclosed through OCPF that Burns gave contributions to Westford Democrat Jim Arciero in the 2018 2nd Middlesex State Representative race between Lynch and incumbent Arciero. Burns contributed a total of $650 in donations to Arciero for his State Representative races. “People wonder why Republicans don’t fare well in races. It’s bad enough when you have Democrats working against you but Republicans too?! We need to drain the swamp of Republicans in name only,” said Lynch.

Lynch and Burns are both running for Republican State Committeewoman in the First Middlesex District which includes Westford, Lowell, Groton, Pepperell, Tyngsborough, and Dunstable. The Presidential Primary election for the State Committeewoman race is March 3^rd, 2020.