Area candidates raise funds ahead of primary

Aug 19, 2022

Ahead of the Sept. 6 primary election, candidates are raising support — and funds — for a tough race. 

In the Tri-town, residents can cast a vote for candidates running for 10th Bristol Representative, Plymouth County District Attorney and Plymouth County Commissioner.

Here’s a look at each candidate’s finances as of Aug. 17 based on the most recent filing data from the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

In the election for 10th District Bristol County Representative, incumbent William Straus (D-Mattapoisett) has $88,310 on hand. So far this year, Straus has collected $1,265 in donations from Tri-town residents. 

Since Jan. 1, the majority of his funding came from individual contributions. Residents of Boston, Natick and Mattapoisett have donated the most money to his campaign. 

Political action committees, unions, and other groups donated a combined $6,250 to his campaign this year. 

Primary challenger Richard Trapilo trails with $9,847 on hand. The majority of individual contributions for Trapilo’s campaign this year, $10,375, come from Fairhaven — $10,000 of which he donated to himself. 

Trapilo has collected $450 from Tri-town residents with three individual donations from Mattapoisett. Notably, Trapilo saw a $100 donation from Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson. 

Trapilo has no reported donations from political action committees, unions or other groups. 

Republican candidates in the 10th Bristol race, Jeffrey Swift and Robert McConnell have just $3,017 and $417 respectively. 

Swift’s largest pool of individual donors comes from Mattapoisett, with 24 donations to his campaign totaling $3,005. 

McConnell has collected $200 from Tri-town residents, but one resident of Lake Mary, Fla., has given $300 to McConnell’s campaign, the most of any individual donor. 

With the state primary election only weeks away, many candidates’ spending has ramped up as well. 

In the month of July: Straus spent $16,407, the most of any month this year. Trapilo spent $1,452, the third most expensive month for the political hopeful. Swift only spent $7.50 in his entire campaign on a “monthly fee” in July, according to campaign filings. McConnell spent $292 in July. 

In the race for Plymouth County District Attorney, Democrat candidate Rahsaan Hall has $30,500 on hand, the majority of which came from individual donors from Boston, Cambridge and Brookline. 

Hall, who often touts the importance of “grassroots fundraising” in his campaign, has collected a total of $248,815 from individual donations in 2022.

Republican incumbent Timothy Cruz has $142,964 on hand. Most of Cruz’s individual donors live in Marshfield, Plymouth and West Bridgewater. Cruz, who has collected a total of $100,860 from individual donations this year, leads in donations from political action committees, unions and other groups, with $6,450 in contributions. 

None of the three candidates running for Plymouth County Commissioner have collected donations from any Tri-town residents this year.

Carlos Da Silva leads the pack with $4,983 on hand, followed by Alex Bezanson with $1,116 on hand, and incumbent Sandra Wright with only $504.