Campaign finance reports released by the Town Clerk’s office Tuesday show former elected officials are supporting the incumbents in a four-way race for two open seats on the Andover School Committee.
Candidates are required to submit reports documenting donations and expenditures eight days before the local election, which is next Tuesday. The reports cover transactions made between Jan. 1 and March 7. While the reports typically document just a few thousand dollars, they can reveal a network of allegiances between candidates and past and present elected officials.
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Former select board members Annie Gilbert and Christian Huntress, along with former school committee member Susan McCready, made donations to both Emily DiCesaro and Sandis Wright. The incumbents also received donations from Ellen Keller, who ran unsuccessfully for select board last year, and Matthew Scully, husband of former school committee member Shannon Scully.
Former school committee member Tracey Spruce donated $100 to Wright, while the Committee to Elect Tracey Spruce donated $100 to DiCesaro.
The two challengers in the race are relying more on their personal finances than donations. Jacob Tamarkin, for example, has raised $968, including $318 from his own pocket. At a candidates forum earlier this month, Tamarkin said he had stopped accepting donations.
“I’ve received donations from my mother, my next door neighbor and two close personal friends, and after that, more people wanted to donate, but I shut it down,” Tamarkin said. “It was just getting too complicated, and I didn’t want to have to deal with it.”
Christopher Shepley, meanwhile, raised $1,421 and made a $2,000 donation to his own campaign.
Candidate expenditures include yard signs, mailings, and campaign Websites. DiCesaro has spent $2,017.70, more than any other candidate, while Wright did not make any expenditures during the period covered by the reports. Tamarkin spent $968, while Shepley has spent $1,903.37.
Shepley’s expenditures included $1,481.93 to reimburse the Massachusetts Republican State Committee to use the party’s bulk mail permit.
“This was done to help save on mailing costs, as they are significant. However, my campaign fully reimbursed the Mass GOP for the total cost of printing and distribution, as will be clearly reflected in my campaign finance report,” Shepley said last week. “This was not a donation or contribution by the MassGOP, just an efficient way to manage mailing expenses while adhering to all campaign finance laws.”
The incumbents’ supporters have criticized Shepley and Tamarkin for accepting endorsements from the union that represents Andovers’ teachers, which is expected to come with significant campaign support. Andover Education Association members for the candidates and distributed lawn signs. Their campaigns are not allowed to coordinate activities with AEA.