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CASH FLOW
Reich’s shallow pockets
BY SETH GITELL

Former secretary of labor Robert Reich hopes to step up his fundraising efforts with the hiring of an experienced moneyman. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Reich has hired Josh Galper, fresh from the Rahm Emanuel congressional campaign in Illinois, as his campaign’s finance director.

In the first three months of 2002, Reich raised roughly $380,000 — the third-highest amount of any candidate, after Treasurer Shannon O’Brien’s $592,000 and Senate president Tom Birmingham’s $460,000. (Businessman Steve Grossman raised $245,000. Former Watertown state senator Warren Tolman is not raising money, as he has qualified for Clean Elections funds.) According to state documents, Reich’s three-month total includes a $50,000 personal loan made by Reich to his own campaign on March 22.

"It was his money," says campaign spokesperson Dorie Clark. "It was a personal loan to the campaign."

The Reich campaign hopes that Galper’s expertise will increase the stream of money into its war chest. Before the hire, Reich had taken on the arduous task of personally telephoning people to solicit donations.

Galper has his work cut out for him. Reich still has far less cash on hand than any of the other three candidates — Grossman and O’Brien now have totals of roughly $1.7 million each, while Birmingham still leads the pack with more than $2.5 million. The Reich campaign hopes that as its candidate climbs in the polls and demonstrates that he has support from 15 percent of convention delegates, his funding will climb too.

Issue Date: April 18 - 25, 2002
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