While waiting for Sandy to do her worst, I’ve been checking in on the 24-hour filings on the state Board of Elections website.

A lot of cash is changing hands in these final days leading up to the general election.

Here’s an interesting one: Assemblyman George Amedore received $2,000 from a dead man.

The man in question is the late Sen. Ron Stafford, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 69.

But his campaign committee, the Plattsburgh-based Committee to Re-elect Senator Stafford, lives on, controlled by the deceased senator’s wife, Kay.

As of mid-July, Stafford’s committee had a balance of $27,104.

Back in 2009, Jimmy Vielkind, then working for the New York Observer, noted that Stafford’s “ghost” campaign committee had made close to $60,000 worth of contributions to charities and Republican candidates, despite the fact that the senator had been dead for four years at that point.

Kay Stafford is president of CMA Consulting Services in Latham, which has been registered to lobby in New York since 2007.

She also happens to be a close personal friend of former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who used to work for CMA until his never-ending battle against federal corruption charges caused him to resign.

Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger has called for legislation to end spending by dead and former elected officials. But so far, her effort hasn’t generated much support.

Amedore, of course, is running for the newly-created 46th Senate District, which was drawn by the Republicans in hopes of improving their chances of retaining the majority this fall.

Also appearing with frequency on the 24-hour list this weekend is the Suffolk County Democratic Committee, which received $65,000 on Saturday from various donors.

There’s a competitive Senate race in Suffolk County – namely the battle for retiring Sen. Owen Johnson’s seat, which pits Republican Assemblyman Phil Boyle against Democrat Ricardo Montano.

But it’s not clear if all that cash is intended to be spent on that race or on something else.

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