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Of the $414,880 Belmont residents have spent on campaigns for statewide offices and ballot questions since the start of the year, $117,266—about 30%— has gone toward the campaign to re-elect Belmont resident state Sen. William Brownsberger.
A majority of those dollars, however, were donated in the days and months leading up to the primary race earlier this fall—a race Brownsberger won by a razor-thin margin against challenger Daniel Lander, a former senior aide to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. The race was one of several contested in the Democratic primary, including races for state representative, Middlesex district attorney, and U.S. Senate.
Contributions for Brownsberger since he declared primary victory on Sept. 11 have slowed significantly, with just about $3,710 reported to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) between then and Oct. 21. He now faces a race against Brandon C. Wood, who is registered as an independent.
Belmont residents have also strongly backed Gov. Maura Healey, who is facing Republican Mike Minogue in the midterm elections on Nov. 3. Though Minogue’s contributions totaled $13.5 million as of Oct. 21 — of which $11.8 million came from his pocket — Belmont residents have only contributed about $6,950 for Minogue’s campaign, according to the OCPF. Belmont residents, meanwhile, raised $62,271 in individual donations for Healey. Healey made no self-contributions during the same period.
Belmont raised $27,950 for the Democratic State Committee, followed by funds for former Select Board member Elizabeth Dionne — a Republican challenging longtime incumbent Democratic state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. Dionne’s campaign has raised $22,070 from Belmont residents, with another $250,000 coming from her own pocket. By comparison, Goldberg has raised $2,000 from Belmont residents.
From the start, Dionne has pledged not to accept donations from industries the state treasurer’s office would directly oversee—alcohol, school construction, and lottery industries, for example. So, who is she accepting money from? Primarily individual contributions from private citizens, according to the OCPF.
Contributors include retired businessman Ernie Boch Jr., former Market Basket CEO Arthur Demoulas, and Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton.
Additionally, Republican town committees across the state contributed thousands of dollars to her campaign. She also received a $500 donation from the Norfolk County Republican Committee PAC.
On the Democratic side, Healey’s largest campaign donation came from the state Democratic Committee in the form of in-kind donations, as well as donations from the biotech industry, medical field, and housing and construction.
Brownsberger, meanwhile, has received financial backing from the tech industry (including several donations from employees at Anthropic, an artificial intelligence research company that recently signed a lease in Kendall Square for a Cambridge base) and the real estate industry.
Though not nearly to the same extent as contributions toward candidates, Belmont residents are also putting money toward ballot questions. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 21, residents donated $5,117 toward the Coalition for a Healthy Democracy (which is advocating for a Yes vote on Question 3), $1,175 toward the Committee to Protect Cannabis Regulation (which is advocating for a No vote on Question 8), $100 toward Yes for a Safe Massachusetts (which is advocating for a Yes vote on Question 9), and finally, $5,000 for the Vote Yes for Water and Nature, which is advocating a Yes vote on Question 6.
The U.S. Senate race will see a competition between Democrat Ed Markey, Republican John Deaton, and unenrolled candidates Joseph Tache and Shiva Ayyadurai.
According to the Federal Election Commission, Markey has raised $8.7 million, while challenger John Deaton has raised $1.7 million. Tache, who is running under the Party for Socialism and Liberation, has receipts totaling $285,402, and Ayyadurai has receipts totaling $245,728, according to the FEC.
Mary Byrne is a member of The Belmont Voice staff. Mary can be contacted at mbyrne@belmontvoice.org.
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