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Following Mitt Romney as he eyes a possible run for president

Donors in communities close to Boston like Newton, Wellesley, and Lincoln have opened their wallets this year in support of the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Deval Patrick, helping him to open a wide fund-raising lead over Republican Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.

Labor unions have poured about $4 million into their efforts to boost Deval L. Patrick in the closing weeks of the campaign. The spending gives the front-running Democrat a financial edge over Republican Kerry Healey, his chief rival, down the stretch.

Labor unions and other Democratic allies are pitching in to help Deval L. Patrick, who for the last two weeks has been heavily outspent in an increasingly combative television ad battle with his Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor Kerry M. Healey.

Democrat Deval L. Patrick, who regularly decries what he calls a ``Big Dig culture" on Beacon Hill, collected thousands of dollars in campaign money at a fund-raiser this month hosted by O'Neill and Associates, a firm that lobbies for the Big Dig's project manager.

Deval L. Patrick's campaign said yesterday it raised about $550,000 in August, breaking the single-month fund-raising record for a gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts.

WALTHAM -- A month before the Democratic primary, gubernatorial candidate Christopher F. Gabrieli has poured almost $7.5 million of his own money into his campaign, shattering the record set by Governor Mitt Romney in 2002.

A few familiar names pop up in recent campaign filings in the Democratic race for governor.

It may be the dog days of summer, but two of the wealthy candidates for governor are dipping deeply into their family treasuries to bankroll television advertising blitzes they hope will sway voters.

Two of the three Democrats running for governor, Deval L. Patrick and Thomas F. Reilly, will each get about $400,000 in public financing, the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance announced today. The third Democrat, Christopher F. Gabrieli, opted not to seek public financing.

The Supreme Court decision striking down Vermont's limits on political donations could pave the way for a challenge to Massachusetts' donation caps.

Christopher F. Gabrieli, a wealthy venture capitalist who is self-financing most of his campaign for governor, set a $15.36 million spending cap for his Democratic primary campaign June 9, rejecting a plea from the party chairman to agree to a much lower spending level for the three-way race.

Christopher Gabrieli announced June 5 he will decline public funds for his campaign for governor, guaranteeing an expensive three-way race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Lawyers from around the US, many of them at major Boston firms with clients before state government, have pumped more than $1.7 million into the campaigns of three leading candidates for governor since 2003, a Globe analysis shows.