Running a political campaign is expensive. Throughout Boston’s municipal election, incumbent mayor Michelle Wu spent around $7.4 million. This plethora of money comes from everywhere. Across the country, from various professions, people donated money to Wu’s campaign.
We reviewed the most recent donations, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 2, to see who had given to her campaign. In that time, she received just short of $1.9 million in 17,000 donations.
Some contributed a dollar, others invested as much as $1,000. While Boston or Massachusetts residents financed the majority of her campaign, a significant portion of funding did not come from Wu’s constituents. More than 8% of her campaign money did not come from Massachusetts. People living all over the country — from Texas to California — collectively contributed $159,010.20.
Within Massachusetts, her donations are heavily concentrated in Boston and its surrounding areas; however, many Massachusetts ZIP codes, even those right on the border of New York, contributed some amount. The 02130 ZIP code in Jamaica Plain contributed the most to Wu, with more than $100,000.
Wu’s out-of-state funding was not limited to historically Democratic-leaning states. Despite her political reputation as a progressive Democrat, partisan lines did not prevent states like Florida, Illinois and Virginia from sending her campaign money.
California, Florida, New York and New Hampshire are among the states that contributed the most money, aside from Massachusetts. Although they are on opposite sides of the country, California residents are Wu’s biggest out-of-state supporters, donating a collective of about $35,000 Alabama, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota are the only states that made zero contributions this year.
Three residents from Puerto Rico donated a total of $25.
People from all different professions and industries financially supported Wu. Professions ranging from architecture to academia, from oyster farming and health care made contributions. Those who identify as unemployed donated the most to Wu’s campaign, with more than 6,000 people contributing nearly $500,000.
The Scope condensed occupation titles into broad categories such as “management,” “public service” and “academic” to determine which industries donated the most money. Apart from unemployed people, those working in “management,” “legal” and “business and finance” professions donated the most, respectively.
The category titled management includes high-ranking supervisors such as CEOs, CFOs, presidents and founders of companies. More than a thousand people holding these titles donated a total of more than $230,000 to Wu’s campaign.
Legal consists of judges, lawyers and attorneys who donated more than $180,000. Throughout her current term, Wu’s administration has included initiatives with the potential to create jobs within this industry. The Access to Counsel Pilot Program, along with several grants, has increased access to legal services for immigrants and at-risk residents in Boston.
Those who work in the service industry, agriculture and aquaculture, or are identified as a homemaker donated the least amount of money to Wu’s campaign.
All information in this story and data visualizations was pulled from the OCPF website and is publicly available.
