Massachusetts: Fundraising

Gov. Deval Patrick, looking ahead to running for re-election in 2010, raised nearly $139,000 in December, according to his deposit reports with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

While his year-end report has yet to become available on the OCPF's website, Patrick's deposits show the governor went on a fundraising kick to finish the year. Patrick made 49 deposits into his bank account totaling $138,885. He deposited nearly $30,000 on Dec. 19 alone.

In the final month of his re-election campaign, U.S. Sen. John Kerry dished out $1.1 million including several substantial contributions to other Democrats across the country, according to his post general election filing with the Federal Election Commission.

The Boston Democrat, who raked in more than $8.3 million in contributions over the course of the cycle, finished the campaign with more than $4.2 million cash on hand.

UPDATED: Jeff Beatty, the Harwich Republican who challenged U.S. Sen. John Kerry this year, finished his campaign owing his campaign manager $112,000, according his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission.

The FEC reports show the campaign is in debt to Joe Manzoli, Beatty's campaign manager, for $37,000 and $75,000. The campaign said that debt is deferred compensation for Manzoli because he didn't take a salary leading up to the election.

Eva O'Connell, a retired police lieutenant, jumped into the 2009 Holyoke mayoral race for a simple reason: she thinks the city needs change and she believes she can help.

"I just would like to see some improvements to the city," she told PolitickerMA.com in a recent interview. "I just think that I know the city well. I know a lot of the city employees."