Sciortino trumps Trane on fundraising, local donors
Bay Windows, by Ethan Jacobs
Sep 9, 2008
If fundraising is any measure of the strength of a campaign, openly gay Rep. Carl Sciortino is in good shape to hold onto his Medford/Somerville seat in the Sept. 16 primary race against Somerville Alderman Bob Trane. According to campaign finance reports released Sept. 8 by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the Sciortino campaign managed to rake in over $90,000 from January through the end of August, nearly three times the amount Trane pulled in, about $35,000. By the end of August Sciortino's campaign had about $40,000 on hand, while Trane had less than $7000.
Much of Sciortino's support came from outside the district, and his contributor list reads like a who's who of powerful LGBT and progressive Bay Staters, but Sciortino also won more support within the district than Trane. While Trane received donations from 65 donors within the 34th Middlesex district, Sciortino attracted the financial support of more than 300 donors within the Medford and Somerville district.
The Sciortino campaign has been particularly aggressive in its fundraising because Sciortino will be at a major disadvantage come primary day. Trane will be the only candidate on the printed ballot as a result of the Sciortino campaign's failure to submit the required number of certified signatures to the Secretary of State's office by the deadline; Sciortino alleges the signatures were stolen from his State House office. As a result Sciortino must run a sticker campaign, placing volunteers at all of the polling places in the district to hand out stickers to allow voters to place his name on the ballot.
Among the donors on Trane's report is one sure to raise eyebrows among LGBT people in the district. Sciortino' predecessor, Vincent Ciampa, gave $200 to Trane. Sciortino narrowly defeated Ciampa in 2004, and he ran in part to oppose Ciampa's record of opposition to marriage equality. Ciampa and Trane may not agree on the marriage issue (Trane supports marriage equality), but Ciampa still seems willing to help try to unseat the man who sent him packing four years ago.