Baker raises $500K in October

By Globe Staff

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Charles D. Baker said today that he raised more than $500,000 last month, bringing his total haul to more than $1 million with a year to go before Election Day.

Baker's campaign said it had raised the money from more than 3,500 donors in less than 100 days.

"Charlie's message of ending the current culture of mismanagement and excessive spending on Beacon Hill is connecting," Baker's campaign manager, Lenny Alcivar, said in a statement. "Charlie Baker is the only candidate who has the guts and know-how to stop excessive state spending, and his campaign will have the resources it takes to get that message out and win next November."

Governor Deval Patrick could be poised to announce a decent tally for last month as well, having brought in President Obama for a fund-raiser on Oct. 23. The event, though, also raised money for the state Democratic Party.

Baker, a former chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care who served in Republican administrations in the 1990s, is facing Cape Cod businessman Christy Mihos in next year's GOP primary. State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill is also running as an independent.