Ben Downing raises $116,000 in first weeks
Running for governor
Former state Sen. Ben Downing raised $116,722 in the opening weeks of his gubernatorial bid as Gov. Charlie Baker continues to lag behind likely contenders for the corner office.
Downing, a former Pittsfield Democrat who now lives in East Boston, launched his campaign on Feb. 8 and raised $116,722 through the end of the month, according to Office of Campaign and Political Finance reports.
He spent $48,996, including dropping $15,750 on his campaign launch video. He has $67,726 in cash on hand.
“We’re proud of the momentum and we know there’s a lot of hard work ahead, but Ben’s excited to keep his head down and keep calling folks and keep talking with everyone about how to build a stronger, fairer Massachusetts,” Downing spokeswoman Gina Christo said.
Downing’s haul exceeds the February totals of his potential rivals. But the newly minted candidate lags behind some of his would-be competitors in money banked.
Harvard University political science professor Danielle Allen raised $69,548 in February.
Allen raised $136,595 in December after announcing mid-month that she was exploring a bid — though she loaned $30,000 of that to herself, according to OCPF reports. She has $171,370 in cash on hand. Scott Khourie, a Quincy Democrat, again showed no fundraising on his report.
State Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat who’s batted away speculation she’s eyeing the corner office even as she steps up her appearances and criticism of the Baker administration’s vaccine distribution, raised $28,137 in February and has $2,945,124 in cash on hand.
On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito continues to out-raise her boss. Polito brought in $69,193 in February and is now sitting on a war chest of $2 million.
Baker posted total contributions of $36,017 in February and has $584,276 in cash on hand.
The governor has remained mum on whether he’ll seek a third term as he remains under fire for the state’s rocky vaccine rollout. Recent polling from conservative watchdog group Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance showed the majority of both Democrats and Republicans at least “somewhat” disapprove of how Baker’s handled the rollout.