Boston mayoral candidates Michelle Wu, Andrea Campbell tout September fundraising numbers
The two Boston mayoral challengers touted their fundraising hauls from the opening weeks of their campaigns — though Michelle Wu’s campaign, blaming reporting glitches, says she brought in far more money than the state data shows.
State data has Wu raising $138,608 and spending $45,954, leaving her with $439,245 cash on hand; Andrea Campbell bringing in $94,357 and spending $9,642, for a total of $369,867; and incumbent Mayor Martin Walsh raising $106,560 and spending $90,516, bringing his war chest to $5,543,014.
Wu, the 35-year-old at-large city councilor from Roslindale, claims that she brought in much more — “over $200,000,” her campaign said Monday, insisting that the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance data, which comes from a bank deposit report at the end of the month, simply hasn’t caught up yet.
The campaign blamed “online processing lags” for making her come up so much shorter than the total amount she claimed, and said that more data would be available in the coming days.
Wu jumped into the race Sept. 15, so she was a candidate for mayor in the second half of the month, but the numbers include the first half, when she was allowed to fund-raise as a city council candidate. Wu had touted $100,000 in donations in the first two days of her campaign.
She was joined in the race nine days later by Campbell, who announced her run on Sept. 24. She said people donated $50,000 in the first day.
The 38-year-old district councilor from Mattapan, reported a total haul of $94,000, according to the OCPF data for September, when she was a mayoral candidate for one week. Her campaign also claimed a discrepancy with her bank deposit report, but a much smaller one — they said not-yet-reported money pushed her above $100,000 for the month.
“I am so humbled by the enthusiasm and support we have seen in just the first week of my campaign,” Campbell said in a statement. “I am looking forward to building this movement in partnership with residents across this city to transform systems to ensure Boston works for everyone.”
Walsh hasn’t said whether he’ll run for a third term in 2021, though he has acknowledged calling around for support after Wu told him of her intentions to run.
Walsh paid Democratic consultants SKDKnickerbocker $36,000 in September.
Per his campaign, Walsh said, “I’ve hired SKDK to prepare for what is ahead for 2021 while I’m focused on doing my job as mayor. SKDK has one of the most progressive, most respected, and most experienced campaign teams in the country. But my priority right now is helping our city recover from COVID-19, reopen schools, create new jobs, strengthen our neighborhoods, and keep our city safe. This is a time to be fully engaged in City Hall work, and that’s where I’m focused.”
Walsh, a 53-year-old labor leader and state representative, is broadly popular. Wu is running with a focus on a call for more dynamic leadership, and Campbell’s campaign has begun with a focus on racial and socioeconomic equity.
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