What the Massachusetts Governor Candidates Are Spending Their Money On

Juliette Kayyem
Democrat, $159,545

Kayyem poured money into online ads with hopes of drawing the attention of Web activists. She also built a field team to coordinate the outreach effort. Other spending will pick up if she earns a spot on the primary ballot.

Charlie Baker
Republican, $196,450

Baker’s doing more direct mailing now than his Democratic counterparts, and much of his current spending is with an eye toward the general election.

Don Berwick
Democrat, $133,050

Berwick started the year fully fixated on organizing for the Democratic caucuses, and that meant a slew of mostly lower-paid staffers to cover the state. His top consultant was a Maryland-based fundraiser.

Mark Fisher
Republican, $88,585

Baker’s conservative challenger pumped money to two people: Republican consultant Spencer Kimball for strategy, and Dean Serpa for media production. Presumably, he’s hoping they will figure out how to launch him into something big.

Martha Coakley
Democrat, $172,262

Hoping to build the field organization that she lacked during her failed 2010 senatorial bid, Coakley is betting on consultants—paying top dollar to former SEIU labor leader Tim Foley, $17,000 to pollster Tom Kiley, and more than $10,000 to fundraiser Mary Liz Ganley.

Steve Grossman
Democrat, $137,255

Grossman started out with the most cash, and he’s outsourced some early work—a social-media ad-placement firm and his communications consultant are both in Washington, DC. And in case you’re wondering, he didn’t use his own Grossman Marketing Group for printing. Neither did his competitors.

Evan Falchuk
Independent $106,722

Falchuk’s consultants have included campaign interns who were paid “stipends.” The nuts-and-bolts of a real campaign have yet to materialize.

Scott Lively
Independent, $5,274

Lively has been ramping up since autumn, but at the start of the year, his campaign was limited to printing some handout literature and buying supplies.

Joe Avellone
Democrat, $41,888

Avellone’s biggest cost at the start of the year was his consulting contract with Gateway Public Solutions (led by the “other Marty Walsh”). He was being badly outspent by the other Democratic candidates.

Jeff McCormick
Independent, $149,552

McCormick paid a hefty $34,250 for polling prior to his public campaign rollout; he is also paying several consultants, including Dan Payne, Todd Domke, and Joe Malone. He’s invested in campaign office space and has started hiring staff as well, so his will not be a purely virtual and on-air campaign.

Note: Figures compiled from reports filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance; Figures are for January 2014, were accurate as of press time, and do not always add up to totals because of rounding and other issues.