Gould, Saslaw Rake in Campaign Cash in City Council Races

If campaign cash were the lone factor in determining an election -- and it often is a strong indication of the final results -- then Tom Gould is in line to top the ticket once again Tuesday and guarantee his seat on the City Council.

Gould, who is finishing his first two-year term as a councilor-at-large, reports his campaign brought in $16,480 in contributions since Jan. 1 -- that's about triple the amount most of the other candidates in that race raised. He spent $8,830 in that time.

Mayor Ted Bettencourt's campaign committee actually reported taking in more than double that amount this year, and Bettencourt doesn't even have an opponent.

Campaign finance reports were filed with the City Clerk's office by Oct. 28, and show Gould at one end of the spectrum with Russ Donovan, who's run multiple times over the years, at the completely opposite end, having neither raised nor spent a penny on his campaign.

The only other City Council candidate to come close to Gould's war chest is Joel Saslaw, who reported $13,597 in receipts since the beginning of the year, putting him far ahead of opponent Bob Croce, in terms of cash, in the race for Ward 5.

Saslaw and Croce are running for the seat left open by Dave Gamache's retirement. Croce reported raising $1,325 in campaign contributions.

Following Gould in the at-large race, former state Rep. Tom Walsh raked in $9,674 since April 1, while incumbent Dave Gravel reported $5,956 since July 1. Councilor Anne Manning-Martin reported $5,811, but that was since Jan. 1, 2012.

New challenger Scott Frasca brought in $5,330 since Jan. 1 while longtime councilor Mike Garabedian reported $4,875 in campaign donations. Next was first-time candidate Peter Bakula with $835, followed by Library Trustee Margaret Tierney, who's making her second bid for the council. She raised $700, but reports spending $9,113 on her campaign.

There's likewise a big gap in campaign contributions in the Ward 2 race. Incumbent Arthur Athas reports receiving $1,814 since. Jan. 1, while challenger Peter McGinn brought in $9,921.

In Ward 3, Tom Serino reports $214.52 in campaign contributions since Sept. 5 (he already had $1,690) to Jim Moutsoulas' zero dollars in receipts since winning the primary in September. Moutsoulas, a former councilor, didn't report having an ending balance either as of Sept. 1. He spent $600.