Ed Markey raised 11 times more cash than Republican challenger Kevin O’Connor in final weeks of Q3: FEC reports

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey raised 11 times more cash than Republican challenger Kevin O’Connor between mid-August and the end of September and holds a similarly large advantage in cash on hand as the Senate campaign heads down the homestretch, financial records show.

But the underdog O’Connor said “message beats money” and expressed confidence that his “common sense” platform of good jobs and community safety is resonating with both Republican and independent voters.

Markey raked in $2 million between Aug. 13 and Sept. 30 — the remainder of the third quarter after the pre-primary filing deadline — as he vanquished Democratic primary challenger U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III and dug in for the general election fight against O’Connor. He spent even more — $3.5 million — bringing his total spending in his battle to keep his Senate seat to $13.8 million, Federal Election Commission filings show.

O’Connor raised $180,170 during the same time period — for a total of $460,003 — and spent $288,719, according to an updated filing from his campaign. He also loaned himself another $145,000 for a total of $267,800.

The incumbent senator entered the final stretch of his more-than-yearlong campaign with $1.9 million cash on hand, far more than his challenger’s $162,209.

“We are continuing our aggressive grassroots campaign, working to elect Democrats up and down the ballot and highlighting the need to pass the Green New Deal,” Markey campaign manager John Walsh said in a statement.

O’Connor brushed off the cash differential, pointing to the $1 billion former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sunk into his short-lived presidential campaign as evidence that “all the money in the world can’t buy an election.”

“Senator Markey has problems in his own party of his own making and problems with true independents who want real-world, common-sense solutions, not pie in the sky free lunches,” O’Connor said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2SZ9vSc