Running the Numbers

The Herald reports on Governor Patrick’s fundraiser today:

the event has raised $600,000 for the governor’s re-election war chest, said Patrick spokesman Steve Crawford.

He added 400 contributors are in the ballroom of the Westin Copley Place with about 140 more who donated $6,000 invited into the VIP lounge with Obama. Still, there are some empty seats.

Let’s run the numbers. Each of the 400 contributors was supposed to max out to Patrick at $500, so that raises $200k.

The 140 VIP contributors donated $6k, which breaks down into $500 for the GOV, $500 for the LG, and $5k for the party. So the VIPs raise $70k for the GOV, $70k for the LG, and a whopping $700k for the Party.

Strictly speaking that’s $270k for the GOV directly, but realistically should be a haul of $1.04m overall in his favor.

So, why is his press guy putting the total take at $600k? (A number you can’t really get to with any combination of the above totals).

Three non-exclusive answers — a significant number of folks donated less, they papered part of the house, or somebody’s using wrong numbers.

Regardless, $600k is not a bad day’s work.