Big Spending Marked Worcester 2023 Election: See Per-Vote Cost

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester's 2023 election was bigger in many ways compared to 2021 : higher voter turnout, more candidates — and bigger spending, according to a comparison of votes and expenditures.

Across multiple key 2023 races, incumbent candidates spent much more to gain votes — with several notable exceptions — compared to 2021. And those totals don't include spending by two super PACs that got involved to support different groups of candidates.

The most expensive race on a per-vote basis was in the close District 2 contest. Incumbent Candy Mero-Carlson spent about $31.50 per-vote compared to challenger Rob Bilotta's $13.60. Mero-Carlson spent a similar amount in 2021 at about $31.30 per-vote when Johanna Hampton-Dance — a 2023 at-large candidate — ran against her.

Mero-Carlson spent almost $49,000 to earn 1,553 votes compared to Bilotta spending $19,000 for 1,389 votes, according to unofficial election results. That spending may have helped Mero-Carlson improve over 2021, when she earned 1,164 votes.

Mayor Joseph Petty Jr. spent big in his race to win a seventh term facing a serious challenge from At-Large Councilor Khrystian King, who also spent more compared to 2021. But both candidates also saw big electoral gains. In the at-large race, Petty spent about $7 per-vote to earn 11,144 votes. He spent about $2.50 per-vote in 2021 to earn 8,805 votes.

Four incumbents spent less per-vote and earned more votes this year. The 2023 election did have higher turnout of about 22 percent compared to just over 15 percent in 2021, however.

At-Large Councilors Moe Bergman, Thu Nguyen and Kate Toomey all saw gains with lower spending. District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, who faced a tougher challenge in 2023 from Jose Rivera, spent about $1.50 less per-vote this year but earned 640 more votes compared to 2021.

But Toomey was the fiscal winner in 2023. She won a 10th term on Tuesday spending $1.07 per vote, 80 cents less than 2021. She also earned the second-most votes of any at-large candidate, and about 2,500 more than in 2021.

Here's a breakdown of how much each candidate spent per-vote in 2023 and 2021. Not all candidates in the 2023 race participated in 2023, and those are noted by an "N/A".

These per-vote totals don't count super PAC spending. The new in 2023 Progress Worcester PAC funded mainly by the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, Boston developer Winn Companies and the Worcester Business Development Corp., spent about $27,000 backing Petty, Peterson, Rivera and Mero-Carlson, according to campaign finance records.

The Worcester Working Families PAC supported progressive candidates including Creamer, King, Hampton-Dance, Haxhiaj, Perrone, Morales, Pacillo, Nguyen and Bilotta. The PAC also spent to oppose Mero-Carlson, Bergman, Colorio, Toomey and Petty. The PAC spent about $12,400 on those efforts since the September preliminary.