Q&A #6 -- Out-Of-State Fundraising

"Conor" asks via email:

What do you think about Boston municipal candidates raising money out of state?  Does this make a candidate less representative of Boston? Or less likely to be corrupted by local developers, unions, etc.?  Is money raised in Somerville different from money raised in Western Mass different from money raised in NYC different from money raised in SF?

Personally, I have no problem with it. And frankly, I think the $500 maximum annual contribution is a bad joke; with that individual limit, of course candidates have to widen their vistas.

Plus, of course, in SOME Boston municipal elections, it MIGHT be hard to raise money locally because SOMEONE might hold extraordinary power over the city and MIGHT be accused of using that power to punish SOME people who support SOMEBODY's opponents by, say, writing them a check. But that's really justa hypothetical.

All that said, I believe that it's my job to report on things like, say, the fact that more than 70% of the $30,000 Sam Yoon just deposited into his campaign account came from out-of-state contributors. Because it's up to the voters to decide what matters, so we need to get them as much information as we possibly can; that's how the whole sunlight/disinfectant thing is supposed to work. Right?