Murray outraises statewide officials

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) -  

Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray has outraised all other statewide officials in the past year, collecting nearly $450,000 in campaign donations.  Despite the huge haul of cash, he says he and his family haven’t made any decision yet as to whether he’ll run for governor in 2014. 

“Politics and campaigns require money so we can buy tv commercials, radio commercials and ads in newspapers,” said Murray.  “We’re going to raise what we need to do to be competitive if that’s an avenue we go down.”

State Treasurer Steve Grossman, who told 22 News that he is “leaning strongly in the direction of running for governor in 2014,” came in second with more than $350,000 in contributions.

“You need to have resources to maintain a strong political presence and communicate with citizens so we're pleased with what we were able to achieve fundraising-wise last year and we'll be quite active again this year,” said Grossman.

In third place, Attorney General Martha Coakley pulled in nearly $230,000 dollars in donations.  But last November, Coakley indicated she was only interested in keeping her current office.

“I’m loving being attorney general, we are engaged in so many important issues around keeping people in their homes, looking at energy policies,” said Coakley at an event dedicated to homicide survivors.  “I’m looking at reelection for Attorney General.”

Governor Deval Patrick says he will not run for re-election and is putting his support behind Murray should he decide to run for governor in 2014.