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CHRISTY MIHOS A planned ad blitz has not yet aired, and the campaign’s media director said he was fired this week. |
Mihos campaign coming up short in funds
Republican Christy Mihos’s campaign for governor is in some disorder after it fell short of fund-raising goals, did not fulfill a promise to go up with television ads in October, and fired its director of communications as part of a staff shake-up.
Kevin Sowyrda, who has been Mihos’s spokesman and media director since the summer, said he was told yesterday that he has been terminated. Sowyrda said he has not heard directly from Mihos, but that he had heard he was fired from another consultant to the campaign, whom he would not identify.
Sowyrda said the first hint came when his campaign cellphone shut down yesterday.
“This is classic Christy,’’ Sowyrda said. “Apparently, he has told people on the campaign that I resigned a month ago and have been working pro bono since then, which of course was news to me. However, we all love Christy dearly for this type of eccentricity, because that’s what makes him the very special person that he is.’’
Sowyrda’s departure comes amid a broader staff reshuffling, in which Mihos appointed his field director, Joseph Manzoli, as his campaign manager. Neither Mihos nor Manzoli returned calls for comment.
Meanwhile, Mihos’s efforts to raise money for his campaign have not met expectations. A fund-raising appearance last week by Dick Morris, a national Republican consultant who is advising Mihos, fell flat. Two events with Morris, one on Cape Cod and one in Boston, drew sparse crowds, according to Sowyrda.
The Mihos campaign hired national GOP fund-raiser Carolyn Machado more than a month ago to put together a financial plan. But Mihos’s committee has yet to show it can raise substantial sums beyond the candidate’s own bank account.
By comparison, his GOP primary opponent, Charles D. Baker, raised more than $500,000, according to his campaign aides. They said the campaign has raised more than $1 million in less than 100 days from more than 3,500 donors.
“Charlie’s message of ending the current culture of mismanagement and excessive spending on Beacon Hill is connecting,’’ said Baker’s campaign manager, Lenny Alcivar.
Mihos had told reporters that his campaign would begin a television advertising blitz in October. No ads have appeared, though Mihos told State House News Service yesterday that the ad campaign was imminent. One spot, touting Mihos as a whistle-blower on the Big Dig project, has been made but not broadcast.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
