The State Elections Enforcement Commission approved public-financing grants Monday for four statewide candidates facing primaries in three weeks: Shawn Wooden, Dita Bhargava and Art Linares for treasurer, and Jayme Stevenson for lieutenant governor.
Wooden, the convention-endorsed candidate, and Bhargava are rivals for the Democratic nomination, while Linares is a Republican opposing Thad Gray, who won the GOP convention endorsement. Gray is not participating in the voluntary public financing program.
Stevenson is one of three GOP candidates for lieutenant governor and the second to win public financing. The endorsed candidate, Joseph Markley, has his public financing, while the third Republican running for the nomination, Erin Stewart, filed her application last week.
Susan Bysiewicz, the endorsed Democrat for lieutenant governor, has her grant for the primary, but the commission took no action Monday on the application of her opponent, Eva Bermudez Zimmerman.
To qualify for a primary grant of $406,275, a candidate for lieutenant governor must raise $75,000 in small-dollar contributions. For the same amount, a candidate for treasurer must raised $76,100.