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Coakley Far Outraising Opponents In Senate Race

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Hands down, Attorney General Martha Coakley is winning the money race for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. According to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, she raised $2.2 million since announcing last August that she is running.

In a distant second, City Year founder Alan Khazei raised $850,000 for the primary.

Congressman Mike Capuano transferred $1.2 million from his Congressional reelection account to his Senate campaign account, so he had a big head start. He came in third in raising money since the Senate race began, raising $343,000.

Last is venture capitalist Stephen Pagliuca, who has only raised $205,000.

But Pagliuca has personal wealth to lean on, and he has done so. He has a fortune estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and he has lent $1.8 million to his campaign. Since he is basically financing his own campaign, raising money is not an issue for him.

Big Spenders Hoping To Bring Big Votes

Despite bringing in the least amount of money from donors, Pagliuca is still spending more than anyone else so far — more than twice as much as his three Democratic opponents. Pagliuca's campaign has spent $1.3 million as of Oct. 1 — almost all of it on buying cable television ads. Factoring in his personal fortune, Pagliuca's campaign has the deepest pockets.

Capuano's campaign has spent $379,000 so far, most of which has been going toward television ads. He has been spending at the rate that he has been raising money. He has about $1.2 million left, which — thanks to the money he had in his Congressional account — is what he started this race with.

Coakley has not advertised on TV yet. So far, she has spent less than $200,000 and has $1.9 million left in her account.

Khazei has spent the least so far. His campaign has spent $79,000 — nearly a third of that on yard signs — and has more than $1 million left.

Coakley has the broadest base of donors. More than 5,000 people have contributed to her campaign, with most donors giving less than $100 each. Capuano also has a broad base, with more than 4,000 people donating to his campaign.

Alan Khazei's money is also coming from the grassroots. He raised money from more than 1,500 donors. Most of Khazei's donors live in Massachusetts and most of them gave less than $100 a piece.

Pagliuca has raised money from about 160 people, such as Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter; Gov. Deval Patrick's political consultant, Doug Rubin; and Danny Ainge, the president of the Boston Celtics, which Pagliuca co-owns. About a fourth of Pagliuca's contributions have come from employees of Bain Capital, the firm where he works.

On the Republican side, state Sen. Scott Brown has raised $169,000, most of that from people who live in Massachusetts. He has spent $19,000 with half of that going to political consultants.


Click the "Listen Now" button above to hear Fred Thys break down the numbers.

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Fred Thys Reporter
Fred Thys reported on politics and higher education for WBUR.

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