As many as six of the 11 candidates to replace Maria del Carmen Arroyo on the New York City Council appear to lack the money to compete, a second round of fund-raising disclosures shows.
Two candidates appear to have abandoned their efforts. Joann Otero added just $70 in two contributions for the period from Jan. 16 to Jan. 22 when the city’s Campaign Finance Board requires candidates to update their fund-raising and expenditures. Helen Foreman-Hines has gathered just three cash contributions totaling $274 and has raised no money since Jan. 12.
Carlton A. Curry and Marvin Molina have raised less than $5,000, and Molina has spent all but $723 of the money
John Perez and Eliot Quinones have failed to register with the board in violation of its regulations.
While Rafael Salamanca continues to lead in fund-raising, Amanda Septimo now has more cash on hand, and George Alvarez trails them closely.
Salamanca has spent nearly half the $53,000 he has raised, chiefly on consultants, including a former aide to Carl Heastie, the Speaker of the Assembly and former Bronx Democratic Party leader.
Salamanca’s campaign refunded Heastie’s contribution of $1,375, reported on the Jan. 15 filing with the finance board, and also returned $1,375 to Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the chair of the Bronx Democratic Party, and $500 to Assemblyman Michael Benedetto.
Salamanca broadened his base of supporters to nearly 250, but continued to rely on large contributions from politicians and Hunts Point business interests, including Council members Fernando Cabrera and Corey Johnson, who gave the maximum $1,375 and Council member Mark Levine, who added $1,000. Arroyo and her mother Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo contributed smaller amounts. Medina Sadiq, head of the Southern Boulevard Business Improvement District, and Susan Fox, Otero’s largest contributor in the first round of filings, gave $1,200 and $1,000, respectively.
Septimo raised $2,575 in the second filing period, half of it from Michael Davis, the fourth wealthy Riverdalian to support her campaign. Davis heads the Plymouth Group, a private equity firm that specializes in real estate, including gentrifying Harlem, and in start-ups.
Septimo paid consultant L.D. Bland and Associates $7,000 for her signature-gathering efforts. The Harlem-based firm is headed by LaMon D. Bland, who founded it after serving as the National Field Director and traveling manager for Rev. Al Sharpton at his National Action Network.
Alvarez is husbanding his funds. He added $6,000 to his coffers, half of it his own money. He spent a relatively small $3,500 on consultants and flyers during the period.
Julio Pabon added 68 contributors, who gave small sums potentially eligible for matching contributions of as much as $6 to $1 from the Campaign Finance Board, but he spent more than he took in, half of it on election lawyer Martin Connor, the former minority leader of the New York State Senate, who led Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s unsuccessful effort to knock his rival Zephyr Teachout from the primary ballot in 2014.
Rev. James Russell raised another $4,500 during the second filing period, but has less than $2,000 of the $10,500 he has raised left, after paying election lawyer Sarah K. Steiner $2,000 and spending $3,300 to print nominating petitions and gather signatures. Like Pabon, he continues to raise most of his money in small sums with the potential for matching funds from the city.
The candidates’ next filing deadline is Feb. 9, after which they must file reports daily until the election.
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