Decker Builds $40K Fundraising Lead Over MacKay After March Surge

State Rep. Marjorie C. Decker pulled ahead decisively in March fundraising, opening a more than $40,000 cash advantage over challenger Evan C. MacKay ’19 after months of closely matched totals in the race for the 25th Middlesex district.

Decker raised $56,700 in March — the largest monthly haul of her nearly 20-year career — and ended the month with just under $107,000 on hand. MacKay reported $66,522.

The gap marks a turning point in what had been a competitive financial rematch. MacKay, who entered the race in January, sought to build on a narrow loss in 2024 and initially kept pace with Decker’s fundraising — a contrast to the previous cycle, when Decker held a clear advantage.

Decker’s March surge was fueled in part by a March 10 fundraiser backed by senior state House leaders, a nod to her institutional support ahead of one of the state’s most closely watched primaries. Her campaign brought in $24,245 in the week following the event, its strongest weekly showing.

More than half of Decker’s March fundraising came from small-dollar donors, totaling $33,725. Contributions over $1,000 accounted for $23,000, and the campaign reported $6,625 from political action committees and lobbyists.

Decker said the increase reflects a more deliberate fundraising push after a slower start to the year.

“We’ve just started focusing on really looking at fundraising,” she wrote in a statement Monday, pointing to her work on maternal health and anti-poverty programs as key drivers of donor support.

“People wanna make sure that my leadership and experience continues to represent them in the House of Representatives,” she wrote.

MacKay’s March numbers fell well short by comparison. The campaign raised $4,706, relying primarily on small-dollar contributions and reporting no donations from PACs or lobbyists — consistent with its emphasis on grassroots fundraising. More than half of MacKay’s donations came from Cambridge residents.

MacKay framed the disparity as indicative of broader concerns about the role of money in politics.

“The more I engage with politics, the more concerned I become about the corrosive effect of money in politics, and how this erodes democracy and empowers the closed door network of politicians, lobbyists, and their ultra-wealthy donors at the expense of everyday people,” they wrote.

Still, MacKay enters the race in a stronger financial position than at this point in the 2024 cycle, when they had raised just over $30,000 by March. Decker, by comparison, held roughly $93,600 at the same point last year.

MacKay also dismissed fundraising totals as determinative, emphasizing organizing over spending.

“We are not going to run this race by flooding our neighbors’ mailboxes with expensive mailers,” they wrote.

—Staff writer Wyatt T. Zurline can be reached [email protected].