Residents donated more to Patrick
BOSTON --Deval Patrick, the frontrunner going into today's gubernatorial primary election, is also a leader when it comes to campaign contributions from the Waltham-Newton area.
According to records from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, residents from Waltham and Newton donated more money to Patrick than both Attorney General Tom Reilly and venture capitalist Christopher Gabrieli.
Of the $695,587 contributed from Waltham and Newton to all three candidates, Patrick raked in more than half of the money, a sum of $363,218.
A computer analysis of campaign records showed that Waltham and Newton residents accounted for about 3 percent of the Democratic candidates overall campaign donations from 2005 to September.
If you eliminate out-of-state contributions, Waltham and Newton's contributions added
The two towns represented 7 percent of the $5 million in in-state donations to Patrick's campaign, with Newton's residents contributing $351,718.
Waltham was well-represented among Reilly contributors totaling $19,425 in contributions from 59 people. Waltham residents gave, $11,500 to Patrick and $5,170 to Gabrieli.
Waltham and Newton contributions account for 6 percent of in-state contributions to Reilly.
Gabrieli has received the least amount of outside financial support; his own money accounts for $7.9 million of the $8.3 million in his campaign fund.
Kristina Saunders, a Gabrieli spokeswoman, cited more than 100 donors from Waltham and Newton. She credited the support to Gabrieli's visibility.
"Chris has been all over the state and his message is resonating across the state, as seen in these communities," she said.
Forty-eight Waltham residents contributed a total of $5,170 to Gabrieli, while 100 Newton residents gave $26,080 to Gabrieli.
Saunders said Gabrieli's supporters are lending their time as well as money to the campaign.