Boston mayoral candidates stock up on political consultants

All politics may be local — but that’s not always the case for the strategists guiding campaigns in the Boston mayoral race.

As the four candidates in the race continue to staff up, they’re in many cases shelling out thousands of dollars to hire consultants, some whose experience is largely outside the city.

These senior adviser positions do matter, said former city councilor and mayoral candidate John Nucci.

“You want someone for the mayor’s race who has been in the trenches of a mayoral race,” Nucci said.

For City Councilor Andrea Campbell, who entered the race in September, Juanita Tolliver and Adam Webster are serving as her top political advisers — and received $5,000 and $6,000, respectively, for their work last month.

Tolliver, who’s D.C.-based, is in charge of communications strategy and most recently served as political director for Supermajority, a national organization meant to boost the political power of women. Webster, a veteran Boston political consultant, has worked on campaigns for mayor and council runs in the Hub for more than a decade.

City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George, who’s coming off of her first full month as a candidate, paid LB Strategies $14,000 in February. The small Boston outfit was a favorite of Essaibi-George’s friend Mayor Martin Walsh, whose girlfriend worked there.

Essaibi-George also handed $9,000 to Liberty Square Consulting, which is run by Scott Ferson, a well-known Massachusetts strategist who most recently has worked on U.S. Sen. Ed Markey’s campaign.

State Rep. Jon Santiago, who jumped into the race last week, has hired Sean Downey and Patrick Sheridan Rossi, both of Hilltop Strategies, to handle political strategy and communications. They’ve worked on various presidential campaigns, including Downey on U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s and then President Biden’s runs last year, while Sheridan Rossi has worked for candidates more locally, including state Rep. Ed Coppinger.

Santiago’s campaign finance data from February doesn’t include their salaries.

City Councilor Michelle Wu, who jumped into the race in September, has not brought on veteran outside political consultants. For a senior adviser, she recently re-enlisted the services of MaryRose Mazzola, who previously has managed her council campaigns and is the former executive director of the Boston Women’s Workforce Council and staffer for state Sen. Barry Finegold.

Her salary wasn’t available in the state data, either.

Nucci, the former mayoral candidate, said a “nuts-and-bolts” campaign manager and a good media consultant will be important.

“Media consultants are going to be critical in this campaign, and I would not normally say this,” Nucci said. “Media will be key because retail politics will be pretty much impossible with COVID.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/387XB0c