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Brown raises largest share of donations from Bay State

Incumbent shows fund-raising strength in Boston, wealthy suburbs

US Senator Scott Brown continued to draw a large share of his campaign money from within Massachusetts in the final quarter of 2011, tapping wealthy suburban enclaves across Greater Boston, according to an analysis of campaign finance documents.

About 66 percent, or $1.5 million, of the itemized contributions Brown reported in the last quarter came from donors within the Bay State.

Brown, a Republican who won his US Senate seat in a 2010 special election, raised about $3.2 million in total over the last three months of 2011, including about $400,000 in small contributions that do not have to be reported individually.

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He collected at least $764,000 in itemized donations from out-of-state donors, including $146,000 from Texas and $141,000 from New York, his two biggest-contributing states after Massachusetts.

The percentage of in-state money raised by Brown, “is high, particularly for an incumbent,’’ said Colby College professor Anthony Corrado, who studies campaign finance. Incumbents, in general, tend to more easily attract money from national sources due to their high profile and access to national networks based in Washington.

“This shows he has been able to develop a very strong fund-raising base in Massachusetts,’’ Corrado said.

Brown’s probable Democratic opponent in November, Harvard Law School professor and consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren, has outraised Brown since she entered the Senate race last summer.

Warren’s campaign brought in $5.7 million in the last three months of 2011. More detailed data on her contributions, including the amounts raised from in-state donors, is not yet available from the Federal Election Commission.

Brown still leads Warren in overall cash-on-hand, with about $12.9 million in his campaign account, according FEC filings. Warren has about $6.1 million on hand.

Boston has been a rich source of campaign cash for Brown, providing $215,000 in itemized contributions last quarter.

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He raised nearly $86,000 from New York City sources and drew substantial support from the affluent suburbs of Wellesley, Newton, and Weston. The senator’s fund-raising improved as 2011 drew to a close. He raised $1.58 million from July to September of last year.

The money Brown received from political action committees also substantially increased at the end of 2011: PACs gave Brown $352,000 in the fourth quarter, making up about 11 percent of his total donations.

PACs supporting Brown are linked to some of the best-known corporations in the US, including Cisco Systems, Boeing Co., Microsoft Corp., and Raytheon.

He also drew support from a number of PACs controlled by financial firms, among them Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, as well as PACs representing the pharmaceutical and energy industries.

Brown received a $5,000 donation from the Gridiron PAC, which is controlled by the National Football League; and received a $3,066 in-kind contribution from the Country First PAC, controlled by Senator John McCain of Arizona.

The contribution from McCain, the GOP presidential nominee in 2008, is reported as a “list rental,’’ which normally refers to a voter or donor list that is shared for fund-raising purposes.

Other prominent Republican officials sent the Brown campaign money through their leadership PACs, such as Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

The election commission reports also include employers for each itemized donor.

At least 60 contributions to Brown, totaling $28,950, came from Raytheon employees. Liberty Mutual employees donated at least $31,000, while those who work at PricewaterhouseCoopers gave more than $26,000.

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Brown spent more than $900,000 during the last quarter, including payroll for campaign staff and fund-raising costs, such as catering and room rental, including more than $60,00 in rental and catering fees at the Boston Park Plaza.

He also spent funds on travel reimbursement, telemarketing, computer database management, and printing.

He paid about $140,000 to SCM Associates, a Republican fund-raising and direct-mail political consulting firm in Dublin, N.H.; $21,000 to Public Opinion Strategies, a well-known Republican polling firm; and $30,000 to the Shawmut Group, the Massachusetts political consulting company cofounded by Republican operative Eric Ferhnstrom.

Shawmut managed Brown’s surprising win in the special election two years ago to fill the term of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.


Mark Arsenault can be reached at marsenault@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BostonGlobeMark