Campaign Finance

UPDATED: See How Much Watertown Candidates Raised and Who Gave Them Money

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{Updated Nov. 7 at 8:50 a.m.: The reports for School Committee candidate Liz Yusem and Council Candidate David Stokes was left off the first version of the story.}

One candidate for Town Council raised nearly $17,000 and two others raised several thousand for their run this year according to campaign finance reports filed at the Watertown Town Clerk’s office. The Town Council drew some big bucks this year. Here are the candidates, from highest funds raised to lowest:

Anthony Donato raised $16,695 as of Oct. 30, and spent $5,997.06.

Campaign Finance

Groups Opposing the CPA May Have Missed Campaign Finance Reporting Deadline

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It appears two groups opposing the Community Preservation Act may have violated the state’s campaign finance laws by missing the first deadline to report campaign contributions, but the law is long and confusing. 

For candidates for elected office – local or state – the reporting times are eight days before the election, eight days after, 30 days following the election and Jan. 20 of the next year. For political committees there are different reporting days. However, neither the Concerned Watertown Homeowners nor the Watertown Strong Schools group are political committees, since they did not form to support or oppose a candidate or ballot measure. They appear to fit under the Section 22 of the law applying to individuals or corporations making contributions.