Current News

/

ArcaMax

Boston Mayor Wu inauguration fund hits $1.2 million with contributions from city's heavy-hitters

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on

Published in News & Features

BOSTON — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s inauguration fund received $1.2 million in donations from heavy-hitters in the sports and business industries, including $15,000 from the professional women’s soccer team the city is rebuilding White Stadium for.

Wu’s inaugural fund contribution report was filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance on Monday, after she was officially sworn into her second, four-year term at Symphony Hall in Boston.

The vast majority of the mayor’s nearly $1.2 million in contributions were listed as being received in the month of December, with a prior report with one $15,000 donation having been filed for the month of November on Dec. 5 with OCPF.

Fifty-seven of the 72 donations received by the mayor for her inauguration fund were for $10,000 or more, with the top three contributions at the $50,000 mark.

Contributing $50,000 to Wu’s fund were the Boston Red Sox, the Electrical Industry Labor Management Cooperation Trust and Whoop Inc., a Boston-based health technology company.

Wu’s mayoral reelection campaign was endorsed by former Red Sox star David Ortiz, and a line from a famous speech he gave at Fenway Park in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing was included in a video highlighting the mayor’s first term that was played at her inauguration ceremony on Monday.

The inaugural fund received 16 donations for $25,000. Contributing that amount were Liberty Mutual, New England Development, Synergy Financial, WinnDevelopment Company, and The Edward Davis Company, a security consulting firm run by former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, among others.

Related Beal, a real estate firm focused on development and investment opportunities in Boston, contributed $20,000 to the inaugural fund, as did the law firm DLA Piper, which has a Boston office.

Howard Cohen, board chairman of Beacon Communities, a real estate developer in the city, contributed $15,000, as did 31 other individuals or companies.

Among those to contribute $15,000 was Boston Legacy FC, the professional women’s soccer team that is set to play at Franklin Park’s White Stadium, which is being rebuilt as part of a public-private partnership championed by the mayor.

The contentious project is set to cost taxpayers at least $91 million, reflecting the city’s half of the plan that the mayor has said will likely increase in price due to federal tariffs that are increasing construction costs.

The total project cost, with the other half borne by Boston Unity Soccer Partners — a for-profit group of investors that owns Boston Legacy, a National Women’s Soccer League expansion team — currently stands at about $200 million.

 

The project has proven to be controversial, and led to a lawsuit from the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and a group of park neighbors who favor a high-school-only rehab of White Stadium.

The new professional team is under a 10-year lease agreement with the city to share use of the stadium on non-game and practice days with Boston Public Schools student-athletes.

Also contributing $15,000 to the mayor’s inaugural fund were The HYM Investment Group, a Boston real estate developer; John Moriarty, who owns a construction management company; Eastern Bank; and Alexander Leventhal, a managing partner at Faros Properties, a real estate investment firm, among others.

The mayor also received four $10,000 donations, including from Thomas Tsao, a co-founder of the Asia-focused venture capital firm Gobi Partners; a $7,500 contribution; 12 donations of $5,000; and three remaining contributions of $2,000, $1,000 and $250, per OCPF records.

A spokesperson for the mayor’s inaugural committee defended the contributions as a way to avoid using taxpayer funds to pay for the Boston inauguration and related activities, which included Monday’s swearing-in ceremony and family-friendly programming being held across the city this week.

“As is common practice, an inaugural committee was created to raise resources for commemorations without using any taxpayer dollars or public resources,” the Wu inaugural committee spokesperson said. “The committee solicited donations for events across many neighborhoods and communities throughout a week of bringing people together, and so that events would be free for all attendees.

“The mayor is grateful for the support of residents, businesses, and all community members in bringing our community together in this important moment,” the spokesperson added.

Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a pro-democracy government watchdog group, said large contributions to a politician may “create the perception of a red flag,” when asked about the potential for favorable treatment for donors in the future.

“State law sets no limit on how much money can be donated to an inaugural committee but it does require disclosure,” Foster said in a statement. “Even still, large contributions can still create the perception of a red flag. That’s why disclosure requirements are vital, because they let the public and watchdog groups like ours see who donated and help deter or expose any undue influence down the road.”

Wu’s 2021 inaugural fund generated more than $1.3 million in contributions, with reports filed through July 2022. She was sworn into office for mayor in November 2021.

_____


©2026 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus