The Menino campaign has been pulling in $10,000 or more a week at
fund-raisers held at locations such as the Boston Harbor Hotel and the
Fairmont Copley Plaza, where last month, for $250 or $500 apiece, several
hundred downtown donors were treated to hors d'oeuvres, fresh fruit,
cheese, and a glass of wine in a room festooned with flowering palms.
Hennigan's major recent fund-raiser, at the Midway Cafe, a small,
neighborhood bar and nightclub in Jamaica Plain, raised about $4,000, she
said. Donors dined on popcorn and ribs. At a house party last week in
Roslindale, supporters, who were asked to donate something later, noshed
on nachos and strawberries and whipped cream.
''I don't need a big hall with people standing and clapping," she said.
''I don't have a big ego."
Campaign finance reports show stark contrast between the spending by
Menino's campaign and Hennigan's.
When Hennigan and a staff member needed to travel to New York, they
took the train. When Menino and his aides need to travel, they fly.
Hennigan's headquarters is a $200-a-month conference room at her
brother's insurance agency. Menino's campaign just expanded its space in a
Milk Street office building, bringing monthly rent to more than
$7,000.
Menino's campaign has two regular full-time staff members who work
year-round, together earning more than $80,000 a year. The campaign
employs a coterie of consultants, including a $6,000-a-month campaign
manager, Beth Leonard; a fund-raiser, who makes $4,285 a month; and
assorted other helpers, including a software consultant who has been paid
$7,000 so far this year. Hennigan has one paid staff member, former pro
wrestler Mitch Kates, who makes $5,000 a month as her campaign
manager.
Menino so far has spent $32,000 on polling. Hennigan has spent none.
She said that polls are a waste of money and that she knows what voters
are thinking.
As of May 31, Menino had spent $336,801 in 2005, according to campaign
finance reports, leaving a balance of $930,063. Hennigan had spent
$39,623, leaving her campaign with $32,001.
Hennigan, who last week was personally phoning potential donors, said
matching Menino dollar for dollar will be all but impossible. She said
city workers and others who have benefited from his administration are
reluctant, even afraid, to give to her. Menino declined to comment for
this article.
''People who give to him tend to want to influence him -- people who
need permits from the city or individuals or organizations that rely on
the city for funding," she said. ''Our people have known us throughout our
career. They're friends and people who tend not to be political -- average
people whom we have helped over the years and people who can't be
intimidated by him."
She insists that she can win. A smart campaign can generate free
publicity, eliminating the need for large advertising expenditures, she
said. Goodwill generated during her 20-year career on the City Council --
and trifles handed out on the campaign trail -- will also help carry her,
she said.
''Look at my per-dollar expenditures in my races for City Council,"
said Hennigan, who finished third for one of the council's four at-large
seats in the last election two years ago. ''I spend the least and get the
best return on my money."
But several political analysts said Hennigan's fund-raising limitations
will almost certainly hurt her ability to unseat Menino.
''If you're a challenger running against an incumbent who has amassed
such an incredible war chest from some of the city's most powerful special
interests, it's difficult to raise money and run a competitive campaign,"
said Galen Nelson, director of the Massachusetts Money and Politics
Project.
''What we see in this race and in races around the Commonwealth is a
wealth primary -- where the dollars are in effect the first voters who
determine who is competitive and can run in the general election."
Said former city councilor Lawrence DiCara, who ran unsuccessfully for
mayor in 1983:
''There are three kinds of people who run for office," he said.
''People who spend their own money, people who raise money from their
friends, and people who lose. It's very rare that someone who doesn't have
at least some campaign financing does well. There are rare exceptions.
''We have become such a national country in terms of our exposure to
culture. People may know about Michael Jackson or the child who was lost
in Utah, but they don't necessarily know the people they vote for. I'm not
so sure that anybody other than the mayor or governor has extraordinary
visibility. Where I live in JP, where she represented the district, she
certainly has high name recognition, but I don't know if she or any of the
at-large councilors do elsewhere."
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