Lobbyists Also Like the Mayoral Frontrunners

Polls and insider opinion suggest that city councilor John Connolly and state representative Marty Walsh are the frontrunners in the Boston mayoral contest, with District Attorney Dan Conley and city councilor Rob Consalvo in the next tier.

Those are also the candidates who scooped up the most campaign contributions from state registered lobbyists in the first months of the campaign.

Walsh led the way, with close to $15,000 as of June 30—nearly $5,000 more than the closest competitor, Connolly.

The figures were calculated from reports filed by lobbyists with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office, covering the first six months of 2013. Although lobbyists are only registered for state-government activity, they must report all contributions to municipal as well as state-office candidates.

Walsh’s top spot is unsurprising since he is the only state legislator in the race. State lobbyists have been contributing to his campaigns for years, and some of this year’s total came before he entered the mayoral race.

Interestingly, the firms whose lobbyists gave the most to the top candidates all represent casino interests, among other clients.

The firm whose lobbyists gave the most to Walsh is O’Neill & Associates, which represents a wide range of clients from Mohegan Sun Massachusetts to the Boston Foundation.

Connolly’s top giving firm was Smith Ruddock & Hayes, which represents the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and Steward Health Care, among others.

For Consalvo, it was ML Strategies, which represents, among others, Development Associates, which works on behalf of Wynn Resorts.

And Conley’s was Shanley Fleming Boksanski & Cahill, which represents Penn National Gaming, along with Northeast Utilities and others.

Here is the list of reported state lobbyists contributions to the mayoral candidates, from January through June 2013, compiled from the searchable reports at the Secretary’s web site:

Marty Walsh:     $14,860

John Connolly:     $8,925

Rob Consalvo:     $7,600

Dan Conley:     $5.250

Mike Ross:     $3,425

Charlotte Golar Richie:     $2,100

Bill Walczak:     $1,525

Felix Arroyo:     $1,300

John Barros:     $200

Charles Yancey:     $200

Charles Clemons:     $0

David James Wyatt:     $0