Nearly $200K Spent In 2021 Framingham Mayoral Contest

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The latest campaign finance reports filed in the 2021 Framingham mayoral election show a wide spending imbalance between winner Charlie Sisitsky and Mayor Yvonne Spicer, revealing that money may not have been a major factor in the race.

Spicer and Sisitsky spent nearly $200,000 combined in 2021, with about half of that spent during November, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.

Spicer — who raised money throughout her four-year term — was the fundraising winner, taking in more than $104,000 in contributions in 2021. She ended up spending nearly $122,000 on her reelection bid, with more than $50,000 spent in November.

Charlie Sisitsky, the victor in the 2021 race, raised almost $86,000 after starting his campaign in May. He spent more than $77,000 to win the race, with about $40,000 of that in November.

Sisitsky won the race with 8,283 votes to Spicer's 3,909. That's a per-vote spend of $31.14 for Spicer, $9.30 for Sisitsky based on total amounts raised per candidate in 2021.

Here are more details about campaign spending in the mayoral race:

Total contributors 2021

• Spicer — 548
• Sisitsky — 337

Framingham contributors

• Spicer — 179 total, $23,422
• Sisitsky — 245 total, $54,787

Non-Framingham MA contributors

• Spicer — 279
• Sisitsky — 79

Contributions outside MA

• Spicer: New York (13), California (11), Virginia (6), Florida (5), Georgia (5), Maryland (4), Louisiana (4), Washington state (3), North Carolina (3), Pennsylvania (3), New Hampshire (3), Vermont (2), New Jersey (2), Kentucky (2) Wisconsin (2), Washington, DC (2), Rhode Island (2), Arizona (2), Colorado (2), South Carolina (2), Texas (2), Nevada (2), Maine (1), Michigan (1), Minnesota (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Missouri (1), Arkansas (1), Toronto, Ontario (1)
• Sisitsky: California (4), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (2), New York (2), Maryland (1), Maine (1), Florida (1)

Number of $1,000 donors (max allowed)

• Spicer — 32
• Sisitsky — 31

Biggest expenditures

• Spicer — Two payments on Oct. 26 and Nov. 1 to Bergmann Zwerdling Direct, a firm that sends direct mail pieces on behalf of Democratic candidates: $28,179
• Sisitsky — A payment to East Coast Printing for printing and mailing campaign literature: $31,052.98 (the campaign spent another $14,945 with East Coast Printing earlier in the year)