Following the money in New Bedford politics

The race is on to oversee New Bedford’s half-a-billion dollar annual budget. But where does the money come from that supports these local campaigns?

All 11 seats in New Bedford’s City Council, three School Committee seats (out of six), and one assessor’s seat (out of three) are up for election this year. 

A recent surge of candidates who pulled nomination papers could indicate renewed interest in running for local office — especially after recent budget fights on highly-visible community landmarks like the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center and the Casa da Saudade library branch. 

For newcomers, the waters of local politics can be murky. Building a base of support and finding political allies requires navigating through entrenched relationships. For veterans of the political trade, raising money and winning votes means leaning on your record. 

Ahead of this year’s deadline to submit nomination papers, Aug. 19, The Light is charting the waters of New Bedford politics. Where does the money come from that powers local campaigns? Who gives to which candidates? And whom do the candidates themselves support?

The state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) collects data on how City Council candidates raise and spend their money. Though School Committee members are responsible for overseeing up to two-thirds of New Bedford’s annual budget (owing to state aid for education), they are not required to submit the same detailed reporting for their campaigns. 

Mayor Jon Mitchell, who is not on the ballot this year, accounts for a large amount of local political fundraising. The more than $118,000 that Mitchell had on hand in his most recent filing was greater than all 11 city councilors combined — and even more than some state representatives, including Dartmouth’s Chris Markey and New Bedford’s Chris Hendricks. Because Mitchell is not up for reelection, however, he is not included in this analysis.

A total of 27 candidates had indicated through the end of July that they were interested in running for municipal office in New Bedford this year. The Light focused on the 11 incumbent city councilors — all of whom besides Linda Morad, the at-large councilor from the city’s North End — are seeking reelection. 

Who are New Bedford’s top donors to City Council?

The Light set out to determine who or what organizations have donated the most to the New Bedford City Council (with its current composition) going as far back as OCPF data is available. 

For long-time councilors, like Morad or Brian Gomes, that meant going through as much as two decades of contributions. For newer councilors, like first-term Ward 1 Councilor Leo Choquette, The Light examined contributions from previous campaign attempts.

Amid more than $700,000 in donations from unions, committees and individuals to the current councilors since 2011, two unions topped the list.

The New Bedford Firefighters Local 841 donated more than $13,000, and Construction & General Laborers’ Local Union 385 donated more than $11,500. 

The firefighters union in the past 10 years has donated to the current councilors more than 40 times, with Ian Abreu receiving the most contributions among his peers, followed by Naomi Carney. 

Under state law, individual contributions to candidates or their committees are capped at $1,000 per year. 

In addition to City Council, the city firefighters union has donated more than $50,000 to political candidates and committees since 2002, including to state Auditor Diana DiZoglio, local state representatives, and a Massachusetts firefighter political action committee. 

The New Bedford Police Union ranked lower, with most donations (nearly $2,000) going to Abreu. (Since 2006, the union has donated a total of nearly $11,000 to political candidates, per OCPF.)

Public safety unions across the country have historically played roles in influencing policy decisions and public support of elected officials.

In New Bedford, the police union became embroiled in a fight between two city councilors to assume the leading role as council president. The then-incoming union president, Officer Lorenzo Gonzalez, in an email urged union members to lobby councilors against Burgo for the presidency, claiming he is anti-police. (In January, Burgo won the council presidency, a position he holds today.)

Councilors have also drawn support from trade unions. The Fairhaven-based Construction & General Laborers’ Local Union 385 donated nearly 30 times to current councilors over the past decade. Maria Giesta was the top recipient, with $4,100 in contributions, followed by Abreu, with about $3,900. 

Other notable top donors include restaurateur Steve Silverstein, who owns many city establishments, including Cisco Kitchen and Bar, the Black Whale, and Candela Cucina; and Michael Camara, who headed ABC Disposal, a waste company once responsible for the city’s trash and recycling. 

Michael Panagakos, a real estate developer who owns more than one dozen properties in New Bedford, also ranked as a top contributor to the councilors’ campaign coffers.

Which candidates are raising the most money?

Abreu, who was the top vote-getter in each of the last three at-large elections, also holds the top spot for cash on hand ($62,886.97) and money raised this year ($10,573.57) through the July filings. 

Abreu’s almost $63,000 cash on hand rivals the total among all 10 of his City Council peers. Disregarding Morad, who is not running, Abreu has more resources than the other nine incumbents altogether. 

Abreu’s fundraising, more than $10,000 so far this year, is also lapping many of his fellow incumbents. He’s raised from several local unions, including donations from the firefighters, teamsters, and general laborers’ unions. 

And Abreu is notable for his appeal to many current and former police and firefighters, who have individually donated to Abreu more than to fellow city councilors, OCPF data shows.  

This includes small-dollar donations from former Police Chief Paul Oliveira, former Fire Chief Scott Kruger, and Assistant Deputy Chief of Police Derek Belong. 

Several councilors notably had not started their fundraising efforts through July (when the most recent OCPF reports were filed). Councilors Derek Baptiste, Carney, and Ryan Pereira had not received any contributions this year (besides regularly-occurring interest on their bank accounts.)

Ward 3 Councilor Shawn Oliver this year has received the second-most donations, with $7,936.06. Oliver’s largest donations came from the firefighters union and James DeMello, the owner of the DeMello International Center, the downtown office building.

The only other councilors who have raised more than $1,000 this year are Ward 2 Councilor Maria Giesta ($5,435), Ward 5 Councilor Joseph Lopes ($4,750.93), and At-large Councilor Brian Gomes ($1,600.17). 

Morad, 70, announced last month that she would not be seeking reelection after more than 20 years in office. As of mid-August, she has about $46,000 in cash on hand in her campaign account. 

The Light contacted Morad to discuss her plans for the remaining cash on hand. In an email, she said she has “no specific plans for my campaign account funds at this time.” 

According to OCPF, a candidate can keep their account open for future campaigns, but Morad says she is retiring. 

Jason A. Tait, education director at OCPF, said that if a candidate decides to close the account, they can continue to spend funds as dictated by state regulations.

“Many candidates donate remaining funds to charity and scholarship funds,” Tait said by email. 

State law allows spending on “things of value for the enhancement of the political future of the candidate” (for example, postage, newspaper and radio ads, campaign staff, travel expenses), charitable donations and scholarship funds. Spending for “personal use” is generally prohibited. 

How are councilors donating to other candidates?

A defining feature of City Council is that it is nonpartisan — at least officially. 

That means prospective city councilors all run against each other, and no party-based primaries exist. In both the preliminary election (the nonpartisan version of a primary) and the general election, candidates do not list their party affiliation, if they have one. 

However, some councilors inevitably align with some of their peers more than others. Some councilors are unabashed about their party allegiance, and will participate in local, statewide, and national events through their party affiliation. 

Only one city councilor, Morad, is registered as a Republican voter. The remaining are registered Democrats, with the exception of Oliver and Carney, who are unenrolled (the Massachusetts version of independent), according to recent voter data from the city election office. 

Despite being predominantly Democrats, most of the councilors (and supporters) have shown local bipartisan support, per campaign finance data, keeping up with the “rightward drift” across the city and region in recent years. 

Gomes, a registered Democrat, donated to a Democratic candidate for Bristol County commissioner (Julie Ruggiero) as well as a Republican candidate for state representative (Joe Pires). 

Morad donated to Rep. Paul Schmid (a Democrat) and former Sheriff Thomas Hodgson (a Republican) in recent years.

Giesta, Lopes, Abreu and Pereira, all registered Democrats, also donated to Hodgson’s committee in the last decade.

In contrast, Burgo, one of the most progressive councilors, as a candidate has not donated to any Republican candidates, per OCPF data. His donations went to Democratic or unenrolled candidates, including Attorney General Andrea Campbell, state Rep. Mark Sylvia, and state Rep. Antonio Cabral. 

Over the years, councilors (or their campaign committees) have donated to fellow councilors: Choquette to Abreu (and Abreu to Choquette), Morad to Burgo, Burgo to Choquette, Giesta to Abreu and Morad, and so on. The amounts are quite small, as candidates may donate only up to $100 to other candidates every year, per state law. 

What does it all mean?

All political donations in New Bedford adhered to campaign finance laws, according to The Light’s review of OCPF data. What the donations indicate is a tight inner circle of donors and politicians, most of whom give to multiple candidates and to each other.

These patterns reflect what the research has shown about political donations. 

“Winning attracts money,” summarized Richard Lau, professor of political science at Rutgers, in comments to FiveThirtyEight, the former data journalism website.

Rather than the old assumption that campaign donations can power a candidate to victory, research suggests that money doesn’t cause political victories — instead, donors tend to donate to candidates who they already think will win. 

That means donors will give to a candidate regardless of party affiliation. 

When motivated donors disagree with policy, Harvard University researchers found that they will back new candidates, rather than trying to persuade incumbents. “Donors are more interested in changing the composition of municipal governance than they are changing the minds of those already in office,” researchers wrote. 

In New Bedford, the highest vote-getter, Ian Abreu, is also the far-and-away money leader. 

Email Anastasia Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org. Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org.