Cash In Hand: These Worcester Candidates Have Raised The Most So Far

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester's 2023 city council elections may end up being a little more costly than in previous years.

The first campaign finance reports delivered after the 2023 candidate registration deadline came over the first few days of June, revealing that eight candidates have more than $10,000 in their accounts — and many incumbents have more cash on hand at this point than in previous elections.

Here are all the council candidates ranked by how much cash they had on hand at the end of May. These totals reflect all fundraising to date. (An (i) indicates an incumbent):

1. George Russell (i), District 3 — $61,994.17
2. Candy Mero-Carlson (i), District 2 — $48,512.09
3. Donna Colorio (i), At-large — $29,236.12
4. Etel Haxhiaj (i), District 5 — $23,588.62
5. Philip Palmieri, District 2 candidate — $21,618.79
6. Moe Bergman (i), At-large — $19,426.41
7. Khrystian King (i), At-large — $17,778.60
8. Domenica Perrone, At-large candidate — $12,165.40
9. Maydee Morales, At-large candidate — $9,580.37
10. Joseph Petty (i), Mayor — $8,288.45
11. Guillermo Creamer, Mayoral candidate — $6,969.37
12. Kate Toomey (i), At-large — $5,355.22
13. Thu Nguyen (i), At-large — $5,335.16
14. Jenny Pacillo, District 1 — $4,367.29
15. Robert Bilotta, District 2 candidate — $4,087.64
16. Jose Rivera, District 5 candidate — $2,998.58
17. Johanna Hampton-Dance, At-large candidate — $2,505.04
18. Luis Ojeda, District 4 candidate — $2,080.00
19. Theodore Kostas, District 4 candidate — $1,943.12
20. Maureen Schwab, District 4 candidate — $112.07
21. David Peterson, District 1 candidate — $87
22. Larry Shetler, District 1 candidate — $50
23. Feanna Jattan-Singh, District 3 candidate — $25
24. Katia Norford, District 4 candidate — $10.05
25. Maria Montano, District 1 candidate — $1.01
26. Bill Coleman, Mayoral candidate — $0

No surprise, incumbents have some of the most money because they have been actively raising money for longer than new candidates and often have cash leftover after previous elections. But in a few cases, incumbents have more money on hand in May 2023 compared to previous election cycles.

Every incumbent except Nguyen and Petty — who spent more than $150,000 on a state senate primary campaign in 2022 — has a higher amount of money now than in the previous election.

Three candidates stand out this year in particular: Colorio has $23,000 more than she had on hand in May 2021; King has more than $11,000 on hand compared to two years ago; and Russell more than $14,000 more.

Some incumbents have routinely ended the May before an election with five figures or more in the bank. The lone exception is King, who never had more than $7,000 on hand by the May before an election in 2021, 2019, 2017 and 2015, according to state records.

Toomey and Haxhiaj are also entering the 2023 election in a better financial position compared to May 2021 with $3,398 and $3,886 more on hand.

There are also several new and returning candidates who have proven to be formidable fundraisers. At-large candidates Maydee Morales and Domenica Perrone have more cash than three incumbents; and mayoral challenger Guillermo Creamer is only about $1,200 behind Petty.

Palmieri's relatively large campaign account should come with a caveat: he served as the District 2 councilor between 2001 and 2015, and has kept his campaign account almost frozen since he left office. His final report in December 2015 showed a cash-on-hand balance of $30,577.82.

The fundraising situation will certainly change as the election cycle moves closer to September primaries and the November general election. Candidates typically report the prior month's fundraising between the 1st and 7th of the following month.

School committee candidates also file campaign finance reports, but not through the state like council candidates. School candidates file reports directly with the Worcester City Clerk closer to Election Day.