Top Central Mass Donors to Warren Campaign

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Sandy Meindersma, GoLocalWorcester News Reporter

Central Mass voters may be the ones who decide the Brown-Warren Senate race in November, but they’re not the only ones who are paying for it, which is a good thing for local voters, since it is shaping up to be the most expensive Senate race in US history.

“This race is really shaping up to be a colossal race,” former Worcester Sherriff Guy Glodis said. “There are two very strong candidates, two well financed candidates, and two distinct ideological perspectives. Voters will have a lot to choose from.”

Through a GoLocalWorcester investigation, you'll get an inside look at Elizabeth Warren's war chest and a profile of her supporters. Tomorrow, GoLocalWorcester looks into Scott Brown's campaign.

Campaign Donation Tracking

The Federal Election Commission (FEC), which tracks campaign donors and expenses, reports that Elizabeth Warren’s campaign has raised $15,673,07 since August 16, 2011.

These figures are more than her opponent, Senator Scott Brown, who has raised $11,204,059 during the same period of time.

Central Mass. Donations

According to the FEC, only 12 Worcester residents have donated to Warren’s campaign, and those donations total only $6,150. Of these, only Bari Boyer ($2500) and Robert Currie ($1000) have given more than $500.

While registered as an independent, Boyer said she typically votes for progressive candidates.

“My husband and I heard her (Warren) speak at North High,” Boyer said. “I found her to be intelligent and she’s trying to address the central issue of the disappearing middle class.”

In addition to contributing $2500 to the campaign, Boyer said she held a fundraiser for the Warren campaign, which is not something she typically does.

“I ran Shirley Wright’s campaign for school committee, and did fundraising for that, and I held a fundraiser for Kevin O’Sullivan when he was running for Congress,” Boyer said. “But this is the first time we did it for a national office.”

Donors throughout Central Mass contributed just $44,645 to Warren’s campaign, and like city donors, there were not many large donors. Only 16 donors contributed more than $500, and only seven gave $2000 or more.

Warren told GoLocalWorcester that she is very proud of the fact that more than 80% of her donations are $50 or less.

"It's happening all over the commonwealth - families are invested in this campaign," Warren said. "I'm very proud to say that we've received donations from 350 of the 351 towns in Massachusetts."

Birgitta Dickerson of Harvard is the region’s largest individual donor at $2800, while Cathy and Defred Folts, also of Harvard, each gave $2500. Julie Fay of Southborough also contributed $2500.

Massachusetts Donors

Warren’s campaign has raised $15,673,07 since August 16, 2011. This figure includes $8.6 million in individual donations and $6.7 million from unitemized individual contributions.

The FEC report indicates that only $1.8 million of Warren’s $8.6 million itemized donations have come from instate donors.

Itemized Western Mass. donors contributed $149,367 to the Warren campaign, while Eastern Mass. donors gave $1,433,272 and donors from the Cape and southeastern Mass. contributed $55,498.

Unitemized Donations Are Big

According to the FEC, unitemized donations are those that are less than $200 from any individual donor.

Judith Ingram, Press Officer for the FEC, said campaigns are required to track individual donations, since once an individual’s donations exceed $200, it must be itemized.

While most of Warren’s itemized contributions are from out of state, Matt Myers, Warren’s campaign manager said that the unitemized funds are largely Massachusetts dollars, and that those small donations demonstrate the strength of her campaign.

"Even our early fundraising numbers prove we're running a true grassroots campaign on a size and scale we should be tremendously proud of," Myers wrote in an email to GoLocalWorcester.

The Warren campaign says it has received donations from individuals in nearly every town in Massachusetts.

“The incredible enthusiasm we have seen from people across the Commonwealth who are contributing to this campaign shows the strong grassroots momentum behind Elizabeth’s fight for middle class families,” said Myers.

Who Else is Supporting the Warren Campaign

Looking deeper into the FEC data, GoLocalWorcester has learned there have been 11,700 itemized donors to the Warren campaign. Each donor’s contribution is recorded separately by date, and there are many individuals who have made multiple donations.

Nearly every state in the country is represented, and Warren has received more financial support from the Western states than she has from her New England neighbors. New England (non-Mass.) supporters of Warren have contributed less than $123,000 to her bid for the Senate, while the five most western states have donated close to $1 million.

Warren has also received 1046 donations totaling $595,502 from New York, $118,200 from New Jersey and $84,896 from Pennsylvania.

Around the DC beltway, Warren has received support from two political action groups, as well as an additional $123,485 from 192 donors, $74,964 from Maryland and $61,886 from Virginia.

PACs

$367,587 of the individual donations are attributed to three poltical action committees, Washington, DC based Emily’s List and Council for Livable World, and Berkeley, CA based MoveOn.
665 Donations from Emily’s List total $311,746; MoveOn, lists 153 donations $49,631 and Council for Livable World has given $6210 to Warren.

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