With almost two months until the Sept. 14 preliminary, political newcomer Ruthzee Louijeune has one of the largest war chests among the City Council at-large hopefuls.

Her fundraising has outpaced that of two incumbents who are also running for one of the four at-large seats. Two of the positions are open this year due to Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi-George opting to run for mayor.

Louijeune, an attorney and former legal aide to US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, has pulled in $194,887 so far this year, and as of the end of June, had $151,946 in cash on hand.

Michael Flaherty, a councillor who left the body to unsuccessfully run for mayor in 2009 and returned in 2013, had raised $124,015 through June and has $276,095 on hand. The other incumbent, Julia Mejia, raised $94,534 and has $101,040 on hand.

The numbers of year-to-date fundraising and cash on hand come from publicly available filings with the independent Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Attorney Kelly Bates raised $129,741 and has $65,562 on hand, while David Halbert, a former City Hall aide, raised $103,8515 and has $85,591 in cash.

Longtime public school teacher Erin Murphy raised $90,023 and has $45,921 in place. Alex Gray, who worked for Gov. Deval Patrick, raised $55,767 this year and has $42,364 in hand.

In the Sept. 14 preliminary, voters will whittle the field down to eight people who will face off for four slots in the November final election.
The other contenders include Said Abdikarim, James Colimon, Carla Monteiro, Bridget Nee-Walsh, and Althea Garrison, a perennial candidate who has served as a state representative and city councillor.