From a press release for the Ben Florsheim for Mayor campaign. Full disclosure, Ed McKeon who reposted this press release has donated to the Florsheim campaign.
Democratic candidate for mayor Ben Florsheim announced today that his
campaign has raised $18,112 with 189 individual donations. This figure places him ahead of
other Democratic campaigns in grassroots financial contributions, and second in terms of cash on
hand, despite being the last candidate to enter the race.
“I’m humbled by the outpouring of support for this campaign and thrilled by the fundraising
success we’ve had during our first month in the race,” said Florsheim. “Ours was never going to
be the big-money campaign, especially since we pledged to decline contributions from lobbyists
and city contractors. But as we’ve seen time and time again: big money doesn’t win local
elections. People do.
“I am deeply grateful to all of our donors, including friends, family, and progressive leaders
nationwide, as well as elected officials from across Connecticut who I’ve had the opportunity to
work with over the years. But, of course, what makes me proudest is that the plurality of our
donors were people right here in Middletown, giving $5, $10, or $25-- because they believe, like
I do, that our city has a bright future if we’re ready to work to make it so.
“As we head into next week’s convention, I couldn’t be more optimistic about the direction this
campaign is taking. I’m excited to bring our vision and our movement to the Democratic Town
Committee and to the voters of our city.”
CANDIDATE FUNDRAISING AT A GLANCE:
Ben Florsheim
Entered race: 5/30
Total raised: $18,112
Cash on hand: $12,972
Number of individual donations: 189
Average individual donation: $92
Mary Bartolotta
Entered race: 3/19
Total raised: $18,247
Cash on hand: $9,191
Number of individual donations: 169
Average individual donation: $95
Bill Russo
Entered race: 4/24
Total raised: $48,570
Cash on hand: $38,629
Number of individual donations: 126
Average individual donation: $380
Geen Thazhampallath
Entered race: 4/3
Total raised: $12,530
Cash on hand: $8,835
Number of individual donations: 91
Average individual donation: $131
4 comments:
I'm really proud of Ben. He's a brilliant person and cares deeply about this town. The fact that he's raised as much as he has and has received a plurality of donations, especially after refusing money from special interests, is a testament to how much voters resonate with his message.
I am curious who has been donating to Bill Russo's campaign though. He's received donations from 33% fewer people than Ben and 25% fewer than Mary, but he's raised 2.5x as much money with the average donation being 4x Ben and Mary's supporters. It seems some folks with deep pockets really want Bill to win.
189, thats probably the amount of true Middletown residents that will vote for him. How dare the Middletown Dem Town Committee endorse and even before they all met. Wouldn't give him a second thought!
The DTC voted on a nominating committee of 5 members and 4 nonmembers to meet with all candidates vying for position. They spent weeks vetting and interviewing the candidates and came to the conclusion that Ben was the best choice for mayor.
The nominating committee notified the DTC chair of their selection and the chair privately contacted each of the candidates to best prepare them. It would have been unfair to hide the information from the candidates and it gave them the most time to course correct for the actual nomination as well as the primary.
Mary's camp leaking the nomination to the public and spinning it as some sort of insidious plot is laughable. It's also unfortunate that she and Bill pulled out of a public forum with less than a day's notice which was designed to let constituents hear their platforms. At least Geen, Ben, and Valeka all had enough respect for this community to show up.
Get your facts right and sign your name next time. Thanks!
Are you a member of the DTC? Did you just make a threat to an anonymous poster? That’s not very becoming of a DTC member. Since Mary is the DTC endorsed candidate, and Geen and Bill have gathered the needed votes to primary, seems to me that the electorate doesn’t agree with your choice made.
Post a Comment