Westfield Newsroom

Candidates for governor target supporters

STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — As they scramble for campaign dollars, Republican Charlie Baker and Democrat Martha Coakley are reaching out to different pockets of donors to help bankroll their pursuit of the Massachusetts governor’s office.
One of the differences is in the amount of out-of-state money each campaign has brought in.
Just under 8 percent of contributions to Baker’s campaign — about $270,000 — came from donors living outside Massachusetts, according to a review of campaign finance records by the the Associated Press filed between January, 2013 and mid-September.
For Coakley, the nearly $494,000 she’s pulled in from out-of-state backers accounts for more than 19 percent of her total — nearly one out of every five dollars.
The reports filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance also helped fill in some details about the kinds of individuals donating to both campaigns.
Lawyers were among the top donors to both candidates, Coakley collected more than $544,211 from those who listed “attorney” as their profession — more than double the $263,823 donated to Baker by those who described themselves as “attorney” or “lawyer.”
Those who described themselves as “retired” were the top donors to Baker by occupation ($335,930), far more than the $136,954 donated to Coakley by retired individuals.
Other top donors by occupation to Coakley were those who listed under their job title: “not employed” ($76,908); president ($74,900); homemaker ($73,085); and consultant ($28,556).
For Baker, those who listed their job title as retired or attorney were followed by: homemaker ($169,283); president ($90,195); executive ($84,970); and consultant ($79,210).
The reports also show how much workers from individuals companies gave to each candidate. While companies are barred from making direct contributions to candidates, individual donors list both their occupation and employer. The maximum individual donation is $500 per calendar year.
For Baker, employees at PricewaterhouseCoopers contributed $15,200, followed by Northeast Utilities ($13,100), Fidelity Investments ($12,125), Gutierrez Company ($11,000), and Mintz Levin ($7,500).
For Coakley employees at EMC Corporation topped the list with $20,500 in total donations. Others include Goulston & Storrs ($13,100), Nixon Peabody LLP ($12,825) and Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP ($11,750).
Coakley, the state’s attorney general, also collected $17,770 from those who listed the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as their employer.
Baker’s campaign finance director Mark Fuller said the GOP candidate’s strong support from inside Massachusetts is a good sign.
“We’re proud that virtually all of our financial support comes from folks that live in the commonwealth,” Mark Fuller said in a statement. “It shows that Charlie’s positive message is really resonating with voters.”
Coakley campaign press secretary Bonnie McGilpin said the attorney general’s role in national issues like the foreclosure crisis and arguing against the federal Defense of Marriage Act helped earn Coakley fans outside Massachusetts.
“In addition the thousands of supporters in Massachusetts excited about electing our first women governor, there are people across the country that support Martha’s vision of expanding fairness, opportunity and equality,” McGilpin said.
A closer look at the campaign finance reports also showed both candidates relying on contributions from donors in many of the same cities and towns. Contributions from Boston led both candidates’ lists. Newton, Needham, Wellesley and Winchester also made it onto the list of Baker and Coakley’s top ten communities.
Baker also pulled in $120,725 from his hometown of Swampscott.
The top zip code for each Coakley pulled in $338,166 from 02108, a downtown Boston zip code while Baker’s top zip code was in Swampscott.
As of Sept. 15, Baker had $930,109 left in his campaign account, compared to just $131,655 for Coakley, who was coming off a three-way primary contest. Baker was unopposed.
The contributions to Baker and Coakley don’t include money being spent to support or oppose their candidacies by outside groups, including political action committees.
A post-primary poll by the Boston Globe found 39 percent of those polled favored Coakley, compared to 36 percent for Baker, 19 percent undecided, and the remaining 6 percent divided up between three independent candidates for governor — Jeff McCormick, Scott Lively, and Evan Falchuk.
The poll of 407 likely voters was conducted between Sept. 14 and 16 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The election is Nov. 4.

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