Big Boston mayoral fundraising numbers coming in after Marty Walsh Labor announcement

Mayoral hopefuls began to rake in big dollar amounts in January as the first data from the weeks after the news of Mayor Martin Walsh’s impending departure begins to come in.

City Councilor Andrea Campbell led the way in terms of dollars in January, pulling in $270,289 for the month from more than 900 donors, according to numbers from the state Office of Campaign & Political Finance. City Councilor Michelle Wu brought in $267,130 from nearly 1,800 donors in January, her campaign said on Tuesday.

And City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George, who announced her own mayoral run last Thursday, drew in around $110,000 for the month, including $71,000 in the four days before the end of January, her campaign said Tuesday.

President Biden announced Jan. 7 that Walsh would be his pick for Labor secretary, shocking the Boston political world and setting off feverish speculation around who would run to replace him.

Wu and Campbell, who have both been running since September, now have nearly the same amount of cash on hand: $753,503 for Wu, per her campaign, as compared to $743,416 for Campbell. Wu’s monthly reported number could end up somewhat lower, as it’s been the norm for both candidates so far to release higher numbers and then say some of the haul wasn’t processed in time to show up on the monthly report.

Wu pointed to her number of donors, saying, “It shows a swell of residents from all across the city.”

If Essaibi-George’s number ends up holding up, she’ll have doubled her total cash on hand to around $220,000.

Other potential candidates’ finance numbers weren’t yet available on OCPF. That includes state Sen. Nick Collins, state Rep. Jon Santiago, city economic development chief John Barros and City Council President Kim Janey, who will become acting mayor once Walsh leaves.

The rest would be starting with various sized war chests. As of the end of the year, Santiago had just under $160,000 in the bank, Janey had $96,000, Collins had $18,000 and Barros four years ago zeroed out the campaign fund he put together when he ran for mayor in 2013.

Walsh is scheduled to have a hearing before a U.S. Senate committee on Thursday, though it’s unclear when a full vote would be. None of Biden’s Cabinet picks so far have been rejected by the body, which is controlled by Democrats.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3avbKEW