BMG central just received a press release from Gerry Leone’s campaign touting his 2005 fundraising results. From the release:
Among the more than 1,550 individual contributions Leone has received just seven months since establishing his campaign committee, donors include Democratic activists, law enforcement officers and public safety professionals, victim witness advocates, current and former prosecutors, statewide and local elected officials, educators, business leaders and medical professionals.
Pretty good numbers. Jarrett Barrios, too, has done well in the fundraising department. I can’t figure out where the reports detailing total contributions received are filed (anyone?), but as of the end of December 2005 Barrios had close to $600,000 in the bank. Mike Festa and Peter Koutoujian are way, way behind.
Money is definitely an issue in this race – Middlesex is a huge county, and none of the candidates is well-known county-wide, so whoever can afford to get his name out in a big way is going to have a big advantage. Right now, it looks like Leone and Barrios will have the wherewithal to do that. And that’s a pretty interesting race: the socially progressive legislator with big ideas but no prosecutorial experience vs. the career prosecutor who knows how to put away the bad guys and run a big office but who has been less focused on broader societal issues (though, to be fair, Leone has some credentials in that area as well). I, for one, would not hazard a guess at this point as to how this one is going to go.
Like all other races, the annual reports are due on 1/20, so they’re not available yet.
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Of course, campaigns have the numbers in their computers even if the final reports aren’t due yet, so that’s what the Leone campaign is reporting.
Actually, all the Middlesex DA campaigns file reports every month… the most recent reports went up on the secretary of state’s website yesterday.
http://www.mass.gov/ocpf/
As someone who is following this race very closely, I think limiting the campaign to two candidates based on money is premature. Looking at all of the candidates is fasctinating:
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Barrios: He has never prosecuted a case, but he has the most money. Are the voters actually going to vote for a DA candidate who has no prosecutorial experience? I know the average voter isn’t going to care too much about this race, but a candidate who literally has never prosecuted a case? I think not. Also, Jarrett has been known to use “bully tactics” to gain support for whatever it is he is campaigning for/working on. I think his support base will erode and has already begun to. For example, while not a big part of the electorate, the gay community is fragmented over Barrios and Festa… not because they don’t like Barrios anymore, but because he just isn’t experienced. Most people see Barrios for what he is: a climber. And I’m not even saying that being a climber is all bad… but jeeze, he is just so obvious about it.
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Leone: He is definitely a contender in this race, but will simply buying up media time be a strategy that can win this race? I personally don’t think so. I think it will go to a candidate who is willing to play the ground game [more on that later]. Leone is the most experienced prosecutor vying for the seat, but the least politically adept. I think that voters will choose a middle candidate like Festa or Koutoujian as the nominee rather than the two extremes that are Leone and Barrios. After all, a DA should have both prosecutorial ability and political ability to truly be effective at putting in place crime prevention policy.
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Koutoujian: Contrary to this post, and from first glance at OCPF, Koutoujian does not have a paltry 75k in his campaign account. He has over 300k, but it is located in various places, like CD’s that get better returns on his money. So he is definitely able to raise the money to be competative. But to me the question is, is he going to stay in the race? I don’t think he will. As chairman of the Public Health Committee he is in a powerful position that is also pretty cozy. At the end of the day I don’t think he’ll make the jump. Also, he’s campaigning a lot less than the other candidates… not even having a website up. Also, he and Festa could have the effect of canceling each other out to some extent — having Barrios and Leone at one end of the spectrum leaves a well rounded candidate to win the election — as long as there is only one middle candidate. Will Peter stay in? Only time will tell. If Festa gets out and Koutoujian stays in I think Koutoujian will take this one.
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Festa: Yikes. The guy only has 33k on hand. Not much you can do with 33k. Even State Rep. Alice Peisch spent over tripple that for her last House race. There’s no doubt that Festa has money problems. But word on the street is that he has an ambitious fundraising goal in order to complete what his campaign insiders have figured out as an ambitious overall campaign plan. I think we’ll see a strong few months from him. Also, I have a feeling that Festa is going to be the only candidate who runs a ground game, which I think is the only way a candidate can win against 2 or 3 big spending media buy campaigns like Leone’s and Barrios’ campaigns are going to include. Honestly, I don’t bet on long shots but my money is on Festa, especially if Koutoujian wises up and gets out of the way.
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So that’s my analysis. I’m for a balanced candidate and I think that person will win. Leone will definitely be a challenge and Barrios may just self-destruct at the DA stop on his way to the top.
Well, if the ‘Democratic activists’ are sending in the checks, do you think it’s because Joe O’Donnell and Richard Egan, two top Republican fundraisers, are making the calls for Mr Leone? Doesn’t sound like the moves of a Yellow Dog Democrat to me. Let’s throw Mr. Leone’s death penalty support and his work on the Patriot Act in to the mix….who’s the donkey here?
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If you have access to the HERALD today, you might want to read the update on the OCPF reports in the Middlesex DA’s race…Mr. Leone might want to take his fundraising chiefs to the woodshed. All good candidates should know the Cardinale rule of fundraising, don’t you think?
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It may be a money race right now and it appears that Leone and Barrios are the big money guys right now. Digging deeper into the OCPF pages indicates that Senator Barrios has contributors who have backed him for many, many years.
Donna, I think you may want to inform Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Kerry, Cong. Markey, Meehan, Lynch, Capuano and the countless other statewide Democrats about the âCARDINALEâ rule of Fundraising in reference to your comments about Richard Eganâs and Joe OâDonnellâs donations to the Leone campaign. Or maybe you should do some research in the future before you start making accusations about whoâs really a Democrat.
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Iâm a longtime Democrat, who has and will continue to support Sen. Barrios, heâs a great legislature, but the DAâs race isnât for him. Your comments are exactly what the Democratic Party doesnât need, mud slinging against other Democrats. I for one am proud of the selection of great candidates that we have to choose for District Attorney and am pleased that such a qualified candidate such as Leone is a Democrat!
Mr. Nihan,I have been a Democrat all my life: a Yellow Dog Democrat, if you will. As Bob Shrum stated during the Kerry Campaign: “Real Democrats stand up for people”. Real Democrats don’t raise money for Republican presidents and their Republican appointed underlings. Have a nice day.
I think Davidâs comments were correct about Mr. Leoneâs appointment to the US Attorneys office to be the first anti terriosim coordinator of MA. I heard from a friend that Mr. Leone was actually recommended by Tom Reilly to be the anti terrosim coordinator in the US Attorneys office and Michael Sullivan accepted the recommendation. Michael Sullivan was appointed by Bush not Leone.