With convention approaching, Coakley, Berwick report strong fundraising

We now have the last fundraising figures before the Democratic convention. As delegates prepare to gather in Worcester next week, Martha Coakley turned in the highest fundraising figures among Democrats, followed closely by Don Berwick. Republican Charlie Baker continues to lead all candidates in total receipts (though by a narrower margin), while independent candidate Jeff McCormick added $300,000 of his own money to his campaign.

Highlights of the month's tally:

1. Coakley more than doubles Grossman's fundraising. Most observers agree that Steve Grossman will pull the most overall delegates at the Democratic Convention, despite trailing Martha Coakley in the polls and in fundraising. Coakley's pace of fundraising has been consistently higher than Grossman's, whose tallies have fluctuated considerably.
2. Charlie Baker continues to lead all comers, but is off his pace from 2010. Excluding self-funding, Baker's monthly haul of nearly $250,000 topped the field. Baker also leads in the total amount raised, which is understandable given the crowded Democratic field and the fact that he (mostly) has GOP donors to himself. That said, Baker's May total was only two-thirds of his total of $375,000 from May 2010. This may indicate some donor fatigue in the wake of several special elections and an expensive Boston mayoral race last year, as well as competition from new forms of outside groups vying for campaign dollars.
3. Don Berwick's burst of out-of-state money propelled him into second place among Democrats. Berwick drew significantly from California and Washington State to out-raise all Democrats except Coakley this month. His totals from the two west coast states were his highest monthly totals for any state but Massachusetts since the campaign began. Berwick has consistently relied on out of state dollars, bringing in more cash from outside Massachusetts than from in-state donors every month except March 2014.
4. Avellone fundraising slipping as convention approaches. Since a spike in January, Democrat Joe Avellone's fundraising has slipped considerably, and the candidate has fallen off the pace of his four Democratic opponents. With the convention fast-approaching, this may spell trouble for Avellone, who needs to reach 15 percent support among delegates to appear on the September primary ballot. With Steve Grossman expected to take a large share of delegates, it is very possible one or more candidates may fail to reach the necessary threshold. To the extent than early fundraising demonstrates support among party insiders, the money race suggests Avellone has the most work to do to reach the 15 percent threshold.
5. Independent candidate Jeff McCormick added $300,000 of his own money to his account, and then dropped the first television ad of the season. At the same time, the first Boston Globe poll with their new partners at Social Sphere shows evidence that McCormick may be inching upward in terms of overall support. McCormick is not alone in his reliance on his own bank account to fund his campaign. Self funding has been popular in this race, representing 24 percent of overall campaign receipts. McCormick has poured the most of his own money into his campaign, with his $835,000 in self-funding, edging Independent United Party candidate Evan Falchuk's $805,000.