Worcester Council, Mayoral Campaigns Report Post-Preliminary Finances

WORCESTER, MA — With just about a month to go before Election Day in Worcester, local city council and mayoral campaigns have filed September fundraising reports showing which candidates are in the strongest financial positions heading into November.

At the end of September, some of the biggest fundraising totals came from longtime candidates running for reelection in 2023. District 3 Councilor George Russell came out the fundraising leader, with more than $66,000 on hand to spend in October, although he's had more than $60,000 on hand since December.

Meanwhile, Mayor Joseph Petty raised the most money in September, pulling in over $12,000 as he competes against four challengers — including fellow at-large councilors Khrystian King and Donna Colorio — in hopes of picking up a seventh term as mayor.

Opposite Petty, longtime mayoral candidate Bill Coleman maintained a longstanding tradition of raising and spending very little. His campaign account retained its $0 balance — the lowest of any 2023 candidate — at the end of September. For comparison, he spent only $136.56 on his 2021 mayoral run.

District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson in September spent the most money of any candidate at over $6,200. Some of Carlson's biggest expenses were for campaign fliers and advertisements on Facebook and Radio Worcester.

Here's a snapshot of how each candidate fared raising and spending money in September. We've also included the names of donors who gave $500 or more to individual campaigns, although some campaigns didn't receive donations higher than that. You can view all donors and expenditures for Worcester campaigns on the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance website.

Mayor

Khrystian King (i)

• End of August: $20,578.83
• Spent: $1,104.05
• End of September: $26,450.19

Bill Coleman

• End of August: $0
• Spent: $0
• End of September: $0

Donna Colorio

• End of August: $28,917.75
• Spent: $247.51
• End of September: $30,045.80
• Donations $500+: Massachusetts and Northern New England Laborers PAC, $500.

Joseph Petty (i)

• End of August: $28,022.64
• Spent: $5,580.10
• End of September: $34,451.96
• Donations $500+: Patrick Lee, Trinity Development executive, $1,000; Painters District Council #35 PAC; Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple attorney Karen LaFond; Attorney Robert Hennigan; Worcester Business Development Corp. President Craig Blais; Haddad Enterprises owner Joseph Haddad; OBA Associates appraiser Michael O'Hara; Madison Properties President Denis Dowdle; real estate agent James Glickman; Glickman, Kovago and Jacobs principle Michael Jacobs; Bowditch-Dewey attorney Robert Cox, all $500.

Guillermo Creamer

• End of August: $433.84
• Spent: $955.95
• End of September: $542.27

City Council At-Large

Maydee Morales

• End of August: $10,464.13
• Spent: $1,158.25
• End of September: $11,673.24
• Donations $500+: United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, $500.

Kate Toomey (i)

• End of August: $11,498.82
• Spent: $1,993.28
• End of September: $12,630.54
• Donations $500+: Paul Tinsley; Local 170 Voter Education Fund; MA Laborers' District Council PAC, all $500.

Domenica Perrone

• End of August: $16,007.70
• Spent: $2,054.79
• End of September: $16,058.09
• Donations $500+: SEIU Local 32BJ PAC, $500.

Johanna Hampton-Dance

• End of August: $1,146.09
• Spent: $644.06
• End of September: $771.81

Thu Nguyen (i)

• End of August: $9,008.71
• Spent: $3,354.13
• End of September: $6,637.08

Moe Bergman (i)

• End of August: $31,301.87
• Spent: $2,410
• End of September: $29,941.87
• Donations $500+: Massachusetts and Northern New England Laborers PAC, $500.

City Council District 1

Jenny Pacillo

• End of August: $6,677.75
• Spent: $795
• End of September: $8,550.38
• Donations $500+: North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters PAC; Local 32BJ SEIU, both $500.

David Peterson

• End of August: $699.78
• Spent: $1,354.09
• End of September: $297.89

City Council District 2

Rob Bilotta

• End of August: $1,861.62
• Spent: $1,890.27
• End of September: $5,042.87
• Donations $500+: Psychologist Julie Cohen, $1,000; Real estate portfolio manager at Cushman and Wakefield Nathan Sabo; Sustainable Comfort President Albert LaValley; and Shrewsbury teacher Anna LaValley, all $500.

Candy Mero-Carlson (i)

• End of August: $53,190.93
• Spent: $6,231.42
• End of September: $49,486.53
• Donations $500+: MA & Northern NE Laborers' District Council PAC; Painters District Council #35 PAC; United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, all $500.

City Council District 3

George Russell (i)

• End of August: $63,068.25
• Spent: $5,060.56
• End of September: $66,577.13
• Donations $500+: Massachusetts and Northern New England Laborers PAC; Massad Movers owner Phillip Massad; United Assoc. of Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 4 PAC; Madulka Ice Cream owner Michael Madulka; Direnzo Towing owner John Direnzo Jr.; Perro Flowers owner Rodney Perro; Parvin Construction builder Kevin Parvin; I.B.E.W Local Union 96 PAC, all $500.

Feanna Jattan-Singh

• End of August: $41.90
• Spent: $40
• End of September: $320.49

City Council District 4

Katia Norford

• End of August: $224.39
• Spent: $9.95
• End of September: $460.49

Luis Ojeda

• End of August: $1,755.97
• Spent: $242.35
• End of September: $2,175.48

City Council District 5

Jose Rivera

• End of August:$1,574.44
• Spent: $4,288.54
• End of September: $1,657.80
• Donations $500+: Direnzo Towing owner John Direnzo Jr.; Harris Auto Body owner Alex Haddad.

Etel Haxhiaj (i)

• End of August: $35,506.89
• Spent: $2,594.63
• End of September: $36,730.20
• Donations $500+: MA & Northern NE Laborers' District Council PAC.