In what could be their only general election outing, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno jousted with at-large City Councilor Justin Hurst in a debate WWLP aired Monday. The faceoff featured a range of issues from crime to the equitable distribution of resources.
As the Springfield mayoral race lumbered into October, the campaign cash dash was barely at a trot. Piles of money and late heat in the campaign propelled at-large Councilor Justin Hurst and Mayor Domenic Sarno past the September 12 preliminary. Yet, neither showed a surge of activity many had expected ahead of the final confrontation on November 7.
Four years ago, Baker and Polito’s orbits had telegraphed a preference for mayor. Not so much in 2023. Rather, the commonwealth’s onetime executive duo endorsed their former Western Mass aide and now-Council candidate, Jose Delgado.
The Hispanic Latino Leaders Now Independent Expenditure PAC (HLLN) upended the electoral mood, if not the results, when it began spending thousands of dollars to boost Latino candidates, including State Rep Orlando Ramos, who failed to advance in the race against Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.
SPRINGFIELD—Mayor Domenic Sarno and City Councilor Justin Hurst’s advancement to the mayoral preliminary was the result the city’s chattering classes had been expecting for nearly a year. However, a reductionist understanding of what happened risks missing real lessons in the wake of the election.
SPRINGFIELD—The mayoral preliminary arrived here at last with incumbent mayor Domenic Sarno and at-large City Council Justin Hurst advancing the November general election. The result with Sarno comfortably ahead with Hurst State Rep Orlando Ramos and Council President Jesse Lederman behind in that order fit
SPRINGFIELD—In the waning weeks of the preliminary campaign here, candidates for the five at-large City Council seats face a big challenge: standing out. Two Council retirements and a competitive mayoral race has yielded a historic 20 candidates for the September 12 at-large preliminary.
SPRINGFIELD—Since filing a pair of reports earlier this month, Hispanic Latino Leaders Now Independent Expenditure PAC (HLLN), has been busy. The SuperPAC, with a stated mission of electing Latinos and flush with cash from home care executive Cesar Ruiz, has begun to move into this year’s elections.
UPDATED: 8/4/23 10:33PM: To include note of how many different ads are running. To the surprise of no one, incumbent Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is the first candidate to go on the air in the mayoral race. Fresh off a boffo fundraising months in June
Thanks to his reelection war chest’s sheer size and robust monthly fundraising, Domenic Sarno still has the most money among Springfield mayoral candidates. Yet, his monthly burn rate has reached nearly $50,000. Money is not the only campaign finance story in June, though.