Patrick Donations Surged in August

[Kat45]

Governor Deval Patrick, his running mate, and the state Democratic Party raised more than twice as much money last month as their Republican counterparts, further evidence of a significant momentum shift in the battle for campaign cash.

Patrick, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, and the state Democratic Party together hauled in $988,127 last month, easily outpacing the $418,581 raised by Charles D. Baker, his running mate, Senate minority leader Richard R. Tisei, and the state Republican Party, according to state records and campaign tallies.

For months, Baker and the Republicans had been bringing in far more money than Patrick and the Democrats. But the governor, after a sluggish start to his reelection campaign, has begun aggressively soliciting money in hopes of winning a second term.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/03/patrick_donations_surged_in_august/


Thought you'd appreciate the good news, particularly since Patrick's campaign hasn't been in the media much as yet.

[bluerum]

1. He better get the campaign in gear - the rethuglicons have had a lot more exposure.

This is starting to concern me.

Are there any debates scheduled?

Baker aides pointed out that, as the race entered August, Baker had raised more money this year than Patrick and Cahill combined. In 2010, the Baker-Tisei campaign has outraised Governor Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Murray by more than $1 million and we still have more cash on hand,’’ Amy Goodrich, a Baker spokeswoman, said in a statement yesterday. "There aren't enough donors in Massachusetts to rescue Governor Patrick from his record of eight tax increases and $3 billion in increased spending that's marked the past four years."

"He's doing a good job with the Massachusetts economy — as best he can," said Clifton Reed, an 82-year-old retired state employee from Burlington, who donated $100 to Patrick on Aug. 9. "Everybody's hurting, but we don't want to take a chance on an unknown."

Baker is counting on more donors like James Punderson, the 84-year-old retired owner of Punderson Oil Co. in Springfield, who donated $100 to the Republican challenger on Aug. 5. Punderson said he believes the state is headed in the wrong direction, and he is concerned about Democratic dominance on Beacon Hill.

"They'll do something that will turn Massachusetts around financially," added Joseph H. Maney, a 74-year-old retired electronics company owner and former town administrator in Lynnfield, who gave Baker's campaign $100 on Aug. 12.

[Kat45]

2. Deval has been running a boots-on-the-ground type of campaign.

The campaign has been recruiting activists for quite some time. He has a lot of organizers, of which I am one, and each of us is supposed to find 50 people in our network to pledge to vote for him. If you're a MA voter and haven't pledged to vote for him as yet, PM me your name and email address and I'll send you an email to do so.

The governor hasn't been advertising yet; I'm guessing he'll wait until fall, when more people are paying attention, perhaps after the primary. (There is a very active 3-way primary for auditor, and a lot of people have been working on that race during the summer.) He has been getting some media coverage on the news for his work as governor, though perhaps not as much as we'd like to see. He's also been making a lot of appearances around the state, again not often seen on the news. I certainly assume there will be debates, but I haven't heard about any as yet.