Days after the incumbent bought his first batch of airtime ahead of the September mayoral preliminary in Springfield, one of his major challengers has followed suit. At-large City Councilor Justin Hurst went up on television Thursday morning with a one minute spott.
UPDATED: 8/4/23 10:33PM: To include note of how many different ads are running. To the surprise of no one, incumbent Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is the first candidate to go on the air in the mayoral race. Fresh off a boffo fundraising months in June
Thanks to his reelection war chest’s sheer size and robust monthly fundraising, Domenic Sarno still has the most money among Springfield mayoral candidates. Yet, his monthly burn rate has reached nearly $50,000. Money is not the only campaign finance story in June, though.
On June 20, for the first time since the shroud of the coronavirus fell upon Springfield, city councilors confronted Mayor Domenic Sarno, faccie e faccie, in chambers as he presented his budget for new fiscal year.
Patterns that began to emerge in April campaign finance reports for the Springfield mayoral race came into clearer focus in May. Incumbent Domenic Sarno took back the top fundraiser spot, but his monster spending put him into a deficit while two of his challengers kept building their reserves.
Challengers to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno enjoyed some brisk fundraising as the race itself picks up speed. While May reports, which will be due in a few days, should show whether candidates can maintain this pace, the April numbers could alter some of the assumptions about the money race.
What are elections about? The smart political operative will tell you they are about the future.
That was not exactly on tap when Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno launched his reelection Wednesday at the Greek Cultural Center.
As the mayoral race in Springfield inches closer to the September preliminary, much of the campaign still has something of an unreality. There are four major declared candidates, each holding office and there are moves worth watching in the money race.
The opposition to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has been busy. They have little choice to be otherwise given Sarno’s advantages. It is no surprise that aside from squirreling away campaign funds, Sarno has barely campaigned.
That may be changing. Fitfully but notably, the incumbent has begun to heave himself onto the stump.
Less than a week ago, the Springfield Election Commission flung open its doors to candidates in a year with historic interest, several have already submitted their filings to run. Candidates have until June 6 to turn in signatures but as of this posting nine could not wait that long.