Welcome to the home page of the Worcester Campaign Finance Project. The aim of this project is to provide citizens of Worcester with information on the amount of money spent in municipal elections and on where this money comes from. This project draws upon data available from the state of Massachusetts and the city of Worcester; our goal is to organize this information in a way that provides useful information to citizens and promotes consideration of the link between campaign finance and democracy. We provide this information not to promote or criticize candidates, but in pursuit of openness and transparency in local politics.
The project is the work of students of the Clark University Department of Political Science, under the supervision of Professor Robert Boatright. For more information, contact Professor Boatright at rboatright@clarku.edu, or at (508) 793-7632.
Tables on Worcester elections, 2005-2021:
- Summary tables for the 2021 Worcester election
- Summary tables for the 2019 Worcester election
- Summary tables for the 2017 Worcester election
- Summary tables for the 2015 Worcester election (includes all of the tables listed below, in one file)
- Fundraising by Worcester citywide candidates, 2013
- Fundraising by Worcester citywide candidates, 2011
- Fundraising by Worcester citywide candidates, 2009
- Fundraising by Worcester citywide candidates, 2007
- Fundraising by Worcester citywide candidates, 2005
- Fundraising by Worcester district candidates, 2013
- Fundraising by Worcester district candidates,_2011
- Fundraising by Worcester district candidates, 2009
- Fundraising by Worcester district candidates, 2007
- Fundraising by Worcester school committee candidates, 2013
- Fundraising by Worcester school committee candidates,_2011
- Changes in fundraising by repeat citywide candidates, 2013
- Changes in fundraising by repeat citywide candidates,_2011
- Changes in fundraising by repeat citywide candidates, 2005-2009
- Comparing the cost of municipal elections in major Massachusetts cities,_2007-2011
- Comparing the cost of municipal elections in major Massachusetts cities, 2005-2009
Our complete analyses of Worcester elections
For the 2013 and 2015 Worcester elections, we did something different. Rather than write analyses specific to these election cycles, we pursued a number of more focused studies on particular aspects of campaign financing, looking at trends in Worcester over the 2005-2013 and 2005-2015 periods and comparing Worcester to other cities outside of Massachusetts. Here are some examples:
- Mapping individual contributors in Worcester, Portland (ME), and Hartford. (2013).
- What would the effect of public financing be n Worcester? Comparing Worcester to public financing systems in Richmond (CA) and Boulder (CO). (2013)
- Where do contributions in Worcester elections come from? Comparing campaign contributions across zip codes. (2015)
- Does self-financing help or hurt? Evidence from Worcester mayoral and at-large council races. (2015)
