Reports: Mayoral campaigns lay out nearly $100,000

LYNN – Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and Timothy Phelan could spend almost $100,000 on the 2013 race for mayor by the time voters go to the polls on Nov. 5, according to campaign finance reports and interviews.Kennedy?s reelection campaign spent more than $25,000 through Oct. 18, according to her preliminary election and pre-election state campaign filings, but the mayor has $43,000 on hand as the final campaign week unfolds.The Kennedy campaign is not raising more money but it will spend campaign donations on a mailing to voters this week, Campaign Manager Loretta Cuffe O?Donnell said Monday.Phelan, as of 6 p.m. Monday, had not met a state campaign finance report filing deadline, but campaign manager and brother Vincent Phelan said the campaign boosted its treasury by $12,000 from a early October fundraising event.?The money is still coming in,” he said.Kennedy?s campaign raised $6,900 in September and early to mid October and spent $9,300 in that time period on expenses, including $3,800 on postage to send campaign mailings to voters.?He (Phelan) has spent more money than we have,” Cuffe O?Donnell said.Phelan?s campaign spent at twice the rate of Kennedy?s in advance of the Sept. 17 preliminary election, according to state campaign finance reports. With $66,000 balance on hand prior to the preliminary election, Phelan?s campaign spent $30,000 ?twice as much as Kennedy spent in advance of the preliminary with a $60,000 campaign treasury.James Carrigan, the local attorney advising Phelan?s campaign, is also a frequent campaign contributor, according to the most recent reports filed with the City Clerk?s office on Monday.Carrigan made donations ranging from $75 to $300 to Councilors Richard Colucci, Gordon “Buzzy” Barton, Wayne Lozzi and Rick Ford and School Committee member Maria Carrasco.The mayoral candidates are not the only ones spending money in advance of next Tuesday?s final election.Ward 1 candidates Wayne Lozzi and Debra Plunkett each spent more than $15,000 from earlier this year through mid October in their campaigns with Lozzi spending $9,200 through September and $6,100 during the last two months, according to his filings.Plunkett, a first-time candidate, spent $12,000 on her campaign between March and September, according to city filings, and raised $4,000 in September and October.Ward 4 City Council candidate Ariana Murrell Rosario loaned her campaign $10,055 and spent more than $11,000 through September, according to a city filing, in her bid to defeat Councilor Richard Colucci on Nov. 5.Murrell Rosario?s sole campaign contribution came from Claire Butcher, the woman who fought city officials in court over the right to feed wildlife around local ponds. Butcher contributed $100 to the Lewis Street tax preparation franchise owner?s campaign.Colucci spent $2,300 in September and October on top of $2,300 spent before September. He has an $11,000 campaign treasury balance, according to the report his campaign filed with the city on Monday.