Incumbent First Selectman’s Re-Election Campaign Raises More Than 10 Times Challenger in Three-Month Period [UPDATED]

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan’s re-election campaign raised more than 10 times the amount his opponent did in the most recent reporting period, records show.

The incumbent Republican’s campaign raised $39,625 in contributions from individuals during the three-month period ended Sept. 30, compared to $3,575 for Democratic challenger Craig Donovan, according to the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission. 

Moynihan’s campaign received 135 individual donations during the period, compared to 34 for Donovan, according to a SEEC Itemized Campaign Financial Disclosure Statement filed Oct. 10. 

Moynihan and Selectman Nick Williams on Sept. 8 held what campaign officials called a successful fundraiser to kick off the re-election season. The event at Woodway Country Club cost $3,790.95, according to the disclosure statement. It’s the single-largest expense for the campaign, which has spent $13,356.81 total, the statement said.

“We had a very good event at Woodway and we raised all the money we needed to raise,” Moynihan told NewCanaanite.com. “We appreciate the support.”

Donovan’s campaign has received $15,000 in loans, the statement said, as well as $1,034.27 in in-kind donations, and has spent a total of $8,351.89, according to the SEEC form. The campaign committee has spent $4,529.50 with Fairfield-based 475 Consulting Group for items including video and targeted social media ads—its largest single vendor, according to the disclosure statement. 

A total of $5,529.15 in Donovan’s campaign expenses have been paid by the candidate, the statement said.

Reached by NewCanaanite.com, Liz Donovan, campaign treasurer for Craig Donovan, said in an email that it “was always to be expected” that the Republicans would out-fundraise them.

“As a Democrat running against an incumbent in a town that has been Republican since its inception, Craig knew it would be on us to put up our own funds from the start,” Liz Donovan said in the email.

She continued, “Instead our focus has always been on reaching out directly to our citizens to find out their issues and encouraging them to come out and vote on November 5. Because the bulk of Craig’s time has been spent working and commuting to [New Jersey] since we moved back in 2014 to allow my 95 year old mom—widow of a Harvard Five architect—to stay in her home of 70 years, we have worked with supporters to hold meet and greets (versus fundraisers) to provide opportunities for residents to meet him and to get his message out. We are always happy to get donations of course and very grateful for the many we have already received, but are more concerned with connecting with voters via door knocking (which we’ve been doing since the end of July—over 2,000 doors and hundreds of voters) as well as via social and traditional print media (hence the 475 expenses). There are still a few remaining events planned; readers can visit https://www.craig4first.com/events to see the schedule and RSVP if interested.”

The Moynihan campaign’s balance as of Oct. 1 was $26,422.90, the SEEC said. The Donovan campaign’s balance was $7,499.17, the disclosure statement said.

[Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with a comment from Craig Donovan’s campaign treasurer.]