Perhaps against better judgment, one scrolls through Facebook or Instagram. Amid the stunning vistas and global miseries and AI swill, a user in Springfield may find a video. The MTA paid for it and they’re plugging a candidate. Public records show the union has dropped at least $30,000.
As primary season rolls to a close, the action on the campaign finance side of the races begins to ramp up.
Second quarter reports became available on July 15. Candidates for the Democratic nomination in the 1st Massachusetts Congressional race hit the airwaves in July, after the deadline for the second quarter report. The second three months of 2026 also saw another kind of financial report: the candidates’ personal financial disclosures.
Springfield Congressman Richard Neal is facing a primary challenge from Jeromie Whalen, a teacher who lives in South Hadley. Whalen has tried to harness ubiquity to overcome Neals’ advantages like fundraising. In the final quarter of 2025, Neal raised nearly ten times as much as Whalen.
After a two-cycle reprieve, Springfield Congressman Richard Neal, the top Dem on one of Congress’s most powerful committees, will face a primary. Teacher Jeromie Whalen made the local media rounds this past week, confirming speculation that had been percolating at least since spring.
Michael Lachenmeyer, a Wilbraham native, announced Monday he would challenge 12th Hampden Rep Angelo Puppolo in next year’s Democratic primary. Such an early start is unusual for legislative races, yet it presents opportunities for both incumbent and challenger.
With primary season concluding early this month, attention is now turning to the general election in Massachusetts. Some contests do not even feature candidates from both major parties. One exception is the 4th Hampden House district, where the Democratic challenger has quietly outraised the GOP incumbent.
Hispanic Latino Leaders Now, the Springfield-based SuperPAC that aimed to elect more Latinos to office in Massachusetts, filed its 2023 annual report last month. The document provides additional context of the extent of the group’s ambitions, essentially fulfilling promises to operate statewide. However, echoing the
UPDATED 1/11/24 11:41AM for additional information:
The mayoral race in Springfield may be long over and the victors have taken the oath. That, however, does not mean the work of campaign finance regulators have finished their work. Rather, several issues with Mayor Domenic Sarno’s campaign records had remained outstanding per auditors with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance.
Fortune put the date of the 2023 election on the second-latest possible date. That allowed time for one more round of campaign finance reports in the Springfield mayoral race. In October Mayor Domenic Sarno outraised his rival, at-large Councilor Justin Hurst, reversing a lag from the prior months.
UPDATED
As the Springfield 2023 cycle meanders to conclusion, only a few candidates appear to be dominating the air war. Several at-large City Council candidates, including several who advertised during the preliminary, have also bought ad time. In the mayor’s race, however, the incumbent, Domenic Sarno, largely has the air to himself as October concludes.