The campaign finance reports are continuing to tell a story about which candidates made serious runs for a seat on the Cambridge City Council in 2013, how costly their campaigns were, and how effective their expenditures proved to be. Here are the figures from January 2013 through the latest (Dec 31, 2014) reports:
| Summaries | Start | End | Open | Receipts | Expend | Balance | #1 Votes | $/Vote | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzan, Dennis | 16-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $0.00 | $66954.84 | $58747.39 | $8207.45 | 1302 | $45.12 | $2000 refunded donation subtracted |
| Carlone, Dennis | 1-Aug-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $0.00 | $45999.96 | $41727.29 | $4272.67 | 1151 | $36.25 | includes late $10,000 candidate loan (Dec 2013) |
| Cheung, Leland | 1-Jan-13 | 15-Jan-14 | $7016.78 | $50586.80 | $37041.34 | $20562.24 | 2392 | $15.49 | $800 overpayment deducted; figures do not include Lt. Gov. campaign; actual balance at end of 2014 is $6002.06. |
| House, Janneke | 1-Jun-13 | 31-Jan-14 | $0.00 | $13518.97 | $13538.95 | -$19.98 | 411 | $32.94 | $1132.76 reimbursed candidate loan subtracted |
| Kelley, Craig | 1-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $5262.08 | $11461.80 | $5122.30 | $2601.58 | 1093 | $4.69 | $9,000 candidate loan reimbursement subtracted |
| Lee, James | 1-Aug-13 | 15-Nov-13 | $0.00 | $1207.42 | $1207.42 | $0.00 | 92 | $13.12 | $1,149.64 loan reimbursed subtracted |
| Leslie, Logan | 16-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $0.00 | $26371.40 | $26371.40 | $0.00 | 505 | $52.22 | |
| Maher, David | 1-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $19131.76 | $85943.30 | $76333.85 | $28741.21 | 1460 | $52.28 | |
| Mazen, Nadeem | 1-May-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $0.00 | $60532.70 | $48259.16 | $12273.54 | 984 | $49.04 | $100 refunded donation subtracted; cost of school bus and parking costs not in any reports; account overdrawn; horrible accounting |
| McGovern, Marc | 16-Feb-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $0.00 | $64325.86 | $58227.41 | $6098.45 | 1189 | $48.97 | $1,903.58 School Committee balance included in receipts |
| Mello, Gary | 1-Aug-13 | 15-Dec-13 | $0.00 | $549.99 | $549.99 | $0.00 | 107 | $5.14 | |
| Mirza, Mushtaque | 16-Aug-13 | 31-Jan-14 | $0.00 | $20083.00 | $20083.00 | $0.00 | 284 | $70.71 | |
| Moree, Gregg J. | 1-Feb-13 | 15-Jan-14 | $0.00 | $3850.00 | $3896.46 | -$46.46 | 38 | $102.54 | account overdrawn |
| Peden, Ron | 2-Aug-13 | 29-Aug-13 | $0.00 | $500.00 | $500.00 | $0.00 | 50 | no depository reports | |
| Phillips, Lesley | 16-Aug-13 | 15-May-14 | $0.00 | $3994.50 | $3994.50 | $0.00 | 83 | $48.13 | $1267.31 from previous campaign account not recorded, $500 loan subtracted |
| Reeves, Ken | 1-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $16034.27 | $56540.07 | $70489.88 | $2084.46 | 932 | $75.63 | Only $1,000 campaign hdqtrs. rent to 3MJ Realty recorded |
| Seidel, Sam | 1-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $253.96 | $22247.60 | $22360.30 | $141.26 | 700 | $31.94 | |
| Simmons, Denise | 1-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $7625.65 | $52052.95 | $52231.31 | $7447.29 | 1183 | $44.15 | |
| Smith, Jefferson | 1-May-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $0.00 | $45669.46 | $45665.90 | $3.56 | 579 | $78.87 | credit card debt apparently being paid down |
| Toomey, Tim | 1-Jan-13 | 17-Oct-14 | $6035.62 | $65152.14 | $56676.91 | $13010.85 | 1459 | $38.85 | $1500 loan reimbursement subtracted from expenses, includes partial State Rep. campaign finance |
| vanBeuzekom, Minka | 1-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-14 | $5201.71 | $36085.19 | $33906.50 | $7380.40 | 874 | $38.79 | $8,007.68 bank transfer included in expenditures |
| Vasquez, Luis | 16-May-13 | 15-Jun-14 | $0.00 | $2387.33 | $2387.33 | $0.00 | 264 | $9.04 | |
| von Hoffmann, Kristen | 16-Feb-13 | 31-Dec-13 | $0.00 | $16919.17 | $16919.17 | $0.00 | 421 | $40.19 | $109.67 reimbursed loan subtracted |
| Williamson, James | 1-Jan-13 | 31-Dec-13 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 74 | no reports on record | |
| Yarden, Elie | 2-Aug-13 | 31-Dec-13 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 102 | no reports on record |
The table can be sorted by category in ascending or descending order by clicking on the category name in the top row.
The Dollars Per Vote information continued to rise as outstanding bills were paid. In addition, some reimbursed candidate loans have been subtracted in order to give a more accurate picture of actual expenses.
Two candidates in particular, Nadeem Mazen and Jefferson Smith, have financial reports that are especially difficult to decipher due to their liberal use of credit cards which resulted in some expenses being counted twice. I corrected the data as much as I could, but both campaigns could have used a competent treasurer.
This post and the table may still be updated, but the focus will soon shift to the 2015 election.
Its a strange sensation to be excited yet bored out of one’s mind at this stuff. I have to give a big “ho hum” to what I’ve seen and heard from candidates either incumbent or contending.
Comment by Patrick Barrett — June 27, 2013 @ 3:52 pm
As of July 15, the biggest campaign balances are:
Benzan $22,014.05
Reeves $17,274.14
Simmons $16,630.63
This promises to be quite a battle.
Comment by Robert Winters — July 19, 2013 @ 12:49 am
The mid-August bank reports show that David Maher received $25,260 in campaign donations during the first half of August. This catapults him into the lead with a current campaign balance of $38,253.52. The next closest is Denise Simmons with $16,277.28.
Dennis Benzan leads with $38,065.06 in receipts. Ken Reeves leads with $28,542.94 in expenditures so far this year.
Comment by Robert Winters — August 19, 2013 @ 10:57 pm
Note: The Reeves campaign just recorded $14,349.32 in recent receipts (last half of September). None of these are itemized yet, but this should be interesting if and when that happens. There’s still no record of the donated campaign headquarters at Norfolk St. and Mass. Ave. (shared with the Harding campaign). If rent was required it would certainly be thousands of dollars per month. This is significant because the law puts a $500 per year cap on campaign donations from any individual.
As of the end of September:
Dennis Benzan is the current leader in receipts with $45390.06.
Reeves leads with $42145.16 in expenses.
David Maher has the greatest account balance with $31950.74.
Comment by Robert Winters — October 5, 2013 @ 12:43 pm
Partial results at the end of October:
Ken Reeves leads with $52,239.32 in receipts. Dennis Benzan is next with $50,936.06.
Ken Reeves leads with $62,143.54 in expenses. Dennis Banzan is next with $48,029.59.
David Maher has the greatest account balance with $22,309.07.
Total receipts so far is $472,090.61. Total expenditures so far is $388,238.41
Comment by Robert Winters — November 5, 2013 @ 12:35 am
It’s quite stunning to see how much money continues to be raised and spent by some candidates even though the election happened half a year ago. Campaign managers are still being paid significant amounts of money.
Comment by Robert Winters — May 26, 2014 @ 4:23 am
Mr. Moree’s camp. spent $4,000 and earned only 38 1#’s?
If he decides to launch a FIFTH consecutive campaign for a seat on the Council, he definitely needs too re-examine his strategies.
Comment by Philip Michael Mitza — May 27, 2014 @ 9:56 pm