Newton voters face up to five contested Democratic primaries on September 1, and campaign finance filings show five very different money races: U.S. Senate, Representative in Congress (4th District), Governor’s Council, Middlesex District Attorney, and, for voters in parts of Wards 1 and 3, State Representative (10th Middlesex). (See Fig City News’ Voters’ Guide for candidates, forums, and how to vote.) Republican and unenrolled voters who take a Republican ballot have one contested race, for Governor, between Michael Minogue and Brian Shortsleeve.
Fig City News analyzed the contributions each state-race committee reported to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) and the totals federal candidates reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). State-race figures cover January 2025 through mid-August 2026 filings; cash-on-hand figures come from committees’ bank reports, most recently filed in late July. Federal figures run through June 30, the most recent FEC reporting deadline, except where a later filing is cited. Fig City News has asked all 12 campaigns for comment and will update this article with any responses.
Money raised per likely voter
Because these elections vary greatly in size – by the number of votes likely to be cast – we divided each campaign’s fundraising by the number of likely voters in its primary: the ballots cast in the district the last time that party had a contested statewide primary, the 2020 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate (1.43 million ballots statewide, 9,538 in the 10th Middlesex) and the 2022 Republican primary for Governor (275,000). That puts all 12 candidates’ fundraising on one scale.
- Michael Minogue’s Republican campaign for Governor leads at $62 per likely voter, 90% of it his own money.
- Among candidates relying on donors, Jake Auchincloss has raised the most per voter, $22, most of it unspent.
- John Lawn, the 10th Middlesex incumbent, is next at $19, and he is the only candidate who has spent more than he raised this cycle.
In the chart, * marks incumbents, and labels show each campaign’s total raised this cycle with the candidate’s own share. Bars divide that total by the ballots cast in the area the race covers in the party’s last contested statewide primary (Democratic: 2020 U.S. Senate; Republican: 2022 Governor).
U.S. Senator
Challenger Seth Moulton, who campaigned in Newton in August, has outraised incumbent Edward J. Markey this cycle, $5.65 million to $4.85 million, and both have spent most of those amounts: $4.89 million by Moulton and $4.43 million by Markey through June 30, when Markey held $2.23 million in cash to Moulton’s $2.61 million.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) signaled its support of Markey with a $62,000 contribution on August 13, reported in an FEC 48-hour notice, the maximum the national party may give a Senate candidate. Moulton argues that money should be used in battleground states, not for a safely Democratic seat, a point he repeated in the candidates’ final debate on August 20.
U.S. Representative, 4th District
The money in the 4th Congressional District race is one-sided. Incumbent Jake Auchincloss, interviewed on the Fig City News podcast in January, has raised $3.54 million this cycle and sits on $7.41 million in cash. Challenger Jason Poulos has raised $41,237 and held $20,448 as of June 30.
Poulos, in a May Fig City News podcast interview, raised the issue of AIPAC’s support for Auchincloss. FEC filings show that in this cycle, Auchincloss has accepted $424,452 in individual contributions earmarked through AIPAC’s political action committee, plus $10,000 from AIPAC itself, totaling about 12% of his fundraising.
District Attorney, Northern District (Middlesex)
The District Attorney race is the biggest money contest among the Democratic state-level primaries on Newton ballots, and the most lopsided in reserves. Incumbent Marian Ryan has raised $262,241 this cycle from 624 donors, including $22,800 from Newton, while spending little: Her committee entered 2026 with $636,769 and held $770,733 in late July, by far the largest war chest of any candidate in these state races.
Challenger David Solet has slightly outraised her, with $264,383 from 572 donors including $25,891 from Newton, and he is spending it: $159,842 so far in 2026, more than seven times Ryan’s $21,428, leaving him with $82,404 on hand.
Fig City News profiled the Newton connections of both candidates.
Governor’s Council, 3rd District
In the race for Governor’s Council, incumbent Mara Dolan has raised $49,153 from 208 donors this cycle, including $2,400 from Newton, and her campaign held a balance of $33,491 in late July. Challenger Margie Palladino of Wellesley has raised $24,531 from 88 donors, including $675 from Newton and $1,100 of her own money. Both candidates appeared at a League of Women Voters forum in August.
State Representative, 10th Middlesex
The 10th Middlesex district for State Representative includes parts of Newton, Waltham, and Watertown. Its Newton portion runs along the city’s northern edge, on the Charles River and the Watertown line: Nonantum, Newton Corner, and the northern parts of Newtonville and West Newton (Ward 1 Precincts 1, 2A, and 4, and Ward 3 Precinct 4), representing about one in nine Newton addresses. Incumbent John Lawn of Watertown faces Newton City Councilor Alison Leary, and the two campaigns are running on very different money. In August, Fig City News interviewed Lawn and Leary about their platforms.
Totals raised
Since January 2025, Lawn has raised $180,101 from 580 donors. Leary has raised $40,558 from 165 donors, and $13,500 of that total came from the candidate herself. Leary’s total is net of two contributions her committee returned. Lawn has contributed $25 to his own campaign.
The gap is not new. When Leary first challenged Lawn in the 2020 primary, he raised $94,131 to her $13,661. Over his 15 years as a candidate, Lawn’s committee has taken in more than $900,000. Leary’s committee, whose OCPF records begin in 2015, has raised about $71,000.
Spending and cash on hand
The monthly bank reports that campaign committees file with OCPF show the other half of the picture. Lawn began 2026 with $86,644 on hand. Through July 31, his committee took in $109,205 in deposits and spent $133,073, leaving $62,776 in the bank. His committee also outspent its intake in 2025, spending $143,328 while taking in $129,121. Across the two years, that is more than $276,000 in spending against about $238,000 taken in. (Deposit totals capture all money into the account, so they run higher than the itemized contribution totals above.)
Leary’s committee began 2026 with $536. Through July 29, it took in $29,301 in deposits and spent $25,985, leaving $3,852 on hand.
Sources of Lawn’s donations
Only about 8% of Lawn’s money since January 2025 ($14,736 of $180,101) came from donors inside the district. Among his individual donors, Boston addresses gave $24,000, more than Watertown ($7,650), Waltham ($5,586), and Newton ($2,875) combined. Political action committees (PACs), many also Boston-based, added another $15,700.
The $15,700 came from 29 organizations. Lawn chairs the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, and health care interests dominate the roster: the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association PAC, the Massachusetts Nurses PAC, the Massachusetts Dental Society PAC, the Massachusetts Nurse Anesthetists PAC, and 1199 SEIU’s Massachusetts PAC each gave $500 in both 2025 and 2026, the annual maximum for a PAC-to-candidate contribution. Public safety and trade union PACs, including the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589, round out the list.
Health care money also arrives through individuals. Four donors named Shields gave $1,000 each in 2025; three of them list Shields Health Care Group or Shields Health, the medical imaging and services company, as their employer.
A further slice of Lawn’s individual money comes from donors who work in lobbying and government relations. The 129 donors who self-identified in OCPF filings as lobbyists or government-relations professionals, or who listed a lobbying firm as their employer, gave Lawn a total of $37,975 this cycle, more than double his PAC total. No such donors appear in Leary’s filings.
Lawn’s individual donors skew large: The median gift was $200, and 13 donors with occupations or employers in real estate gave a combined $6,475.
Sources of Leary’s donations
Leary’s largest funder is Leary: Her own donation of $13,500 is about a third of everything her committee has raised this cycle. Her outside money is smaller and more local. The median gift was $100. Donors living inside the district gave her a total of $5,805; Newton donors outside the 10th Middlesex gave another $11,483. She has received almost no organizational money: a total of $400, all of it from the committees of fellow Newton councilors.
Four donors gave Leary the individual annual maximum of $1,000. A fifth $1,000 contribution arrived and was returned.
On June 14, Robert Korff, owner of Mark Development, one of Newton’s most active developers, gave Leary’s committee $1,000. On July 13, the committee refunded it, according to OCPF filings, which do not give a reason for the refund. The donation and refund came as Korff’s Riverside project heads back to the City Council, on which Leary currently serves. As Fig City News reported in August, the project’s proposed restructuring requires a special-permit amendment from the Council, with review expected this fall.
Governor (Republican primary)
The one contested race on the Republican ballot is the most expensive on any Newton ballot, and most of the money is the candidates’ own. Michael Minogue, a former medical device executive, has put $15.4 million of his own money into a campaign that has raised $17.1 million since opening its account in October 2025; his committee had spent $8.96 million through July 31 and held $8.14 million. Brian Shortsleeve, a former MBTA official, has raised $2.98 million, including $1.22 million from himself, spent $2.44 million, and held $526,806. Newton donors gave Minogue $16,300 and Shortsleeve $13,924.
About the data
State-race figures reflect OCPF filings through August 19, 2026. Returned contributions are subtracted from totals. Bank interest, vendor refunds, and inter-account transfers are excluded. Donor counts combine each donor’s contributions after standardizing names and addresses. In-district figures are computed from the official district boundaries for donors whose addresses could be located precisely, and by municipality otherwise. Cash-on-hand and spending figures come from committees’ year-end reports and the monthly bank reports filed in OCPF’s depository system. Lobbyist and government-relations donors are identified from the occupations and employers they list in OCPF filings. Federal figures come from FEC candidate summaries through June 30, 2026. Governor’s race figures come from the Minogue and Shortsleeve committees’ OCPF deposit and bank reports through July 31. Money raised per likely voter divides each campaign’s fundraising this cycle (FEC total receipts through June 30; OCPF contributions, January 2025 through August 19; for the Governor’s race, OCPF itemized receipts through July 31) by the ballots cast in its district in the party’s last contested statewide primary, the 2020 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and the 2022 Republican primary for Governor, from PD43+. District totals are built from each district’s precincts as listed there, with split municipalities apportioned by ballot share. Consult ocpf.us and fec.gov for official records.