Brodsky Raises $519K, Has $1.6 M On Hand (Updated)
Jul 15th - 5:14 pm
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky is the fifth of the AG contenders to release his campaign finance summary, reporting he has raised $519,154 over the past six months and has $1.6 million on hand.
That’s only $300,000 more than the Westchester Democrat reported having in his campaign coffers as of mid-January, and much of that was cash he had been raising prior to announcing his intention to seek the office AG Andrew Cuomo is vacating.
Brodsky’s campaign manager Jon Lipshutz insisted his candidate’s cash numbers are strong, saying:
“We are very happy with the strong grassroots operation that we have built throughout the state and have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from everyday people in every corner of New York.”
“With this broad base of support that grows stronger every day, we already have the resources we need to be successful in this election and expect to raise significantly more.”
Dinallo Raises $2.5 M Overall, $787 K Since January
Jul 15th - 4:33 pm
Another of the five Democrats competing to succeed Andrew Cuomo as attorney general has released his fundraising figures.
Former NYS Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo has raised more than $2.5 million since he began his first ever campaign for elected office. He raised $787,000 in that last six months and currently has $1.7 million on hand. That puts him behind at least two of his primary opponents in terms of fundraising, but ahead the lone Republican seeking the AG gig.
-Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice has $4.15 million on hand.
-Attorney Sean Coffey has $2.9 million on hand.
-Republican Staten Island DA Dan Donovan has $511,276 on hand.
We are still awaiting filing information from Manhattan Senator Eric Schneiderman and Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.
GOPers For Cuomo Lands First Elected Officials
Jul 15th - 4:27 pm
AG Andrew Cuomo landed the endorsements of his first two GOP elected officials today during his second RV tour stop in Mahopac.
Mike McKeon, former communications director for ex-Gov. George Pataki, just called in to report that Putnam County Executive Bob Bondi and Town of Carmel Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt endorsed the Democratic gubernatorial designee.
McKeon is heading up GOPers for Cuomo – a move with which the former governor is none too pleased. He’s on hand in Mahopac, but won’t be joining the AG for his entire upstate tour.
Demos Goes Negative
Jul 15th - 3:56 pm
George Demos has released a radio ad that bills him as a “conservative Republican” and slams his GOP primary opponents, Chris Cox and Randy Altschuler, in what I believe is the first significantly negative spot in the NY-1 congressional race.
Click here to listen to the ad. The script is as follows:
“Voiceover: For Congress, there is a real choice.
George Demos: I’m George Demos, the only Conservative running for Congress
One opponent, Chris Cox, Nixon’s Grandson, is marching in a parade, in Buffalo. Since he’s just moved into our district to run, maybe he’s lost.
The other guy running, Randy Altschuler, is from New Jersey. He’s a recent Green Party member, who tried to run for Congress in New Jersey, got caught being solidly pro-choice and now he’s lying about it.
But what do you expect from a guy who outsourced American jobs to India.
It would be laughable if this weren’t a serious Congressional Race. I’m George Demos, the only Conservative-Republican in this race.
Remember that name, George Demos, and I need your support.
Voiceover: Conservative-Republican George Demos for Congress.
George Demos: I’m George Demos and I approve this message.”
Cuomo Has $23 Million On Hand
Jul 15th - 3:50 pm
Holy cow.
I’m not sure quite what else to say about the fact that AG Andrew Cuomo has $23 million on hand as of this week, according to his gubernatorial campaign, which just released the top lines from the fundraising report due today.
He has raised $9,269,415 over the past six months and spent $1,749,682.
A breakdown, compliments of Cuomo2010:
The campaign received a total of 3,951 contributions since January and has gotten checks from 7,433 unique contributors to date. For the current filing, 70 percent of the contributions came from donations of $1,000 or less including:
- 2,791 contributions that were $1,000 or less.
- 1,868 contributions that were $500 or less.
- 1,270 contributions that were $250 or less.
Also, as per today’s Siena poll, Cuomo has a very wide double-digit lead over both his Republican challengers, and his favorability rating remains high.
AFL-CIO Backs Bing Challenger
Jul 15th - 3:26 pm
The 2.5 million-member AFL-CIO has backed Gregg Lundahl, a UFT member primarying Democratic Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, who has angered the teachers union by introducing a bill that would give principals authority over teacher layoffs.
“There are times when labor’s principles and ideals must be placed above all other considerations.,” AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes said in a press release announcing the union’s decision.
“As evidenced by our Executive Board’s overwhelming support of Gregg Lundahl, this is one of those times. It is imperative that elected officials clearly understand the organized labor movement will never tolerate the undermining of our core, bedrock issues of fair wages, benefits, economic security and conditions of employment.”
“Jonathan Bing’s attempt to strip away seniority rights for dedicated, hard working men and women is unconscionable, and clearly shows a callous disregard for the needs, concerns and well-being of working men and women.”
Hughes went on to assail Bing and his bill, saying the Upper East Side lawmaker is attempting to turn experience into a “negative factor when evaluating job performance.”
The AFL-CIO is targeting individual state lawmakers this year, zeroing in on downstate senators like Democrats Craig Johnson and Jeff Klein, accusing them in flyers of “broken promises” to the labor community – largely due to their support of charter schools.
Also in the AFL’s crosshairs: Senator John Flanagan (Republican, 2nd SD); Senator Jose Peralta (Democrat, 13th SD); and Senator Darrel Aubertine (Democrat, 48th SD).
Cuomo Hits Lawmakers Where They Live (Updated)
Jul 15th - 3:05 pm
During stop No. 1 on his upstate RV tour, AG Andrew Cuomo encouraged supporters to pressure state lawmakers to sign his five-point reform pledge or suffer the consequences at the ballot box this fall.
“Stop playing politics as usual, and you put your own personal and party politics aside,” Cuomo said at about the 7:26 mark in the video that appears below (shot by a reader who was in the audience).
“We’re going to build a citizen coalition and those politicians in Albany will listen or they will no longer be politicans in Albany.”
This is reminiscent of when former Gov. Eliot Spitzer took to the hustings to decry rank-and-file lawmakers for supporting their colleague, then-Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, to replace disgraced ex-Comptroller Alan Hevesi in the wake of Chauffeurgate.
At the time, Spitzer said DiNapoli wasn’t qualified for the post and accused legislators of blindly following legislative leaders – namely Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a big DiNapoli backer.
Cuomo, the Democratic gubernatorial designee was at Rockland County Community College in Suffern, which I think is located in districts represented by the late Sen. Tom Morahan and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee.
(A little jarring that he chose to kick off his first-ever campaign tour in Morahan’s district when the senator is being waked not five miles away. No word on whether Cuomo is going to take time off the RV trail to pay his respects to Morahan, who died Monday after losing a battle with leukemia).
UPDATE: A Cuomo aide tells me the AG attended Morahan’s wake today and also started his event with a moment of silence in honor of the late lawmaker. He also cited Morahan as an example of someone in the Legislature worthy of praise during a post-event Q&A with reporters.
Paterson Seeing Red Over Red-String Bracelet
Jul 15th - 2:35 pm
Gov. David Paterson today lashed out at the Daily News for its front-page story about his red-string bracelet, accusing the tabloid of making a “mockery” of a long-standing religious tradition and insisting the paper owes the Hasidic community an apology.
Paterson told reporters that he’s no longer wearing the bracelet because it fell off about a month ago – right before he started signing more than 6,700 budget vetoes. He said he thought the manner in which the DN described the bracelet was “disgraceful”, adding:
“It’s actually known as the scarlet thread of hope. It promotes hope, safety and success. The thread was tied around the grave of the wife of Jacob, who is Rachel in the Bible, and it’s something that has been passed down through the years.”
“I didn’t do anything to make a mockery of this tradition…and I thought that it was absolutely outrageous and to make a mockery of it by trying to exploit it through me today.”
“I thought – and I rarely say this – that the Daily News owes the Hasidic community who go to that gravesite and who wear it. it’s the same as throwing dung on a cross or stamping on the Star of David. And I think it’s unacceptable.”
Paladino’s Spending: $1.65 M Down, $8.35 M To Go
Jul 15th - 2:12 pm
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino’s first campaign finance report in now on-line, and it shows he has so far spent $1.7 million – $1.65 million of which is his own cash.
During a “Capital Tonight” interview that aired last night, Paladino told me he still plans to spend up to $10 million of his own money on his bid both to defeat GOP designee Rick Lazio in a primary (for which he is filing some 28,000 signatures to get into today) and run in the general election on a third party line.
A brief review of Paladino’s contributions turned up one interesting name: Former Ambassador Anthony Gioia, who is a prominent GOP fundraiser in Buffalo. He raised $500,000 for ex-President George W. Bush, who appointed Gioia as ambassador to Malta in 2001, and was a member of his national finance committee.
Gioia gave Paladino $2,000 – the Buffalo businessman’s largest individual contribution from someone other than himself.
Paladino’s expenditures are much more interesting.
More >
Dopp Pays $10K Fine, Says Troopergate Appeal Will Continue
Jul 15th - 1:27 pm
Earlier this week, Darren Dopp quietly paid the $10,000 fine levied against him by the Public Integrity Commission, even as he continues to insist he will challenge the decision that he violated the law in connection with the Troopergate scandal.
I reached Dopp at Patricia Lynch Associates (the Albany-based lobbying/consulting firm where he has worked since departing the Spitzer administration in the wake of the scandal) earlier today.
He confirmed he had dropped off a check to the PIC, explaining that he didn’t want the commission to start collection proceedings against him, which would have necessitated a whole different legal challenge other than the one he hopes to bring.
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