ATHOL — They say money is the mother’s milk of politics, and it appears the results of the 2022 race for state representative for the 2nd Franklin District didn’t disprove that old adage.
According to the most recent filings with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, incumbent Independent State Rep. Susannah Whipps far outraised and outspent her Republican challenger, retired firefighter Jeffrey Raymond. The contenders, who both hail from Athol, were competing in a district that stretches from Winchendon to Greenfield.
Whipps started the year with a decided advantage of nearly $10,400 already in her campaign coffers, due in part to fundraising done during previous campaigns. Over the course of the 2022 campaign, she raised an additional $19,000.
As of Oct. 1, the Athol businesswoman had just over $24,400 in campaign funds, leaving her free to spend some $10,500 during the final month of the campaign. The largest portion of that amount, $7,700, went to East Coast Printing of Hingham for flyers that found their way into mailboxes from one end of the district to the other. Another $818 went to Lyman Signs of Phillipston for the printing of yard signs, and $572 was spent with White Dog Printing of Gardner for additional mailers. The spending still left her with close to $15,000 in the bank when the campaign was over.
The biggest contributors to Whipps’ campaign during 2022 were the International Association of Firefighters Local 1751 Athol and Stephen Kenda of Bedford, New Hampshire, each of which kicked in single contributions of $1,000. Thom Daoust and Sarah Leonard, both of Phillipston, also pitched in $1,000, each in the form of two $500 gifts. The next largest contribution, $750, came from Derek Zenga of Carlist.
Those who kicked in $500 included Sarah Lyman of Orange, Richard Adams of Athol, both Nathan and Eugen L’Etoil of Northfield, James Wahl of Willington, Florida, and the Massachusetts and Northern New England Laborer’s District Council PAC. Whipps had many contributors who gave $100 and $250 each.
The story for Jeffrey Raymond, who took on the difficult challenge of trying to unseat a multi-term incumbent, stands in sharp contrast.
Between March 2022 and Nov. 30, Raymond raised a total of $3,120, of which $1,975 was his own money. His largest contributors were the Greenfield Republican Town Committee, which gave $250 to the campaign, and Robert Delessandro of Leominster, who gave Raymond two contributions of $100 and $150 each. Other $100 contributors included Sandra Kosterman of Greenfield, John Buckley of Templeton, Lorraine Emerson of Westminster, Jay Fleitman of Northampton, and Allen Beaudoin of Tewksbury.
Raymond’s largest expenditure was $1,677 for Lyman Signs to produce yard signs. The campaign spent $217 and $222 at Staples for the production of two banners, and $200 was spent to reserve the Orange American Legion’s hall and kitchen for a campaign kickoff event in April.
In the end, Whipps easily held off Raymond’s challenge, collecting 9,797 votes to Raymond’s 4,892. A third candidate on the ballot who had moved out of district before the election, Kevin McKeown, received 736 votes.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.