Sunday, August 11, 2013

Can Spitzer Buy His Way Into The Comptroller's Office?

The NY Post reports that Eliot Spitzer has spent more than 10 times what Scott Stringer has spent in the comptroller's race:

It looks like Eliot Spitzer will be a financial “steamroller” this time around.
Spitzer, who’s self-funding his campaign, has put in $3.7 million since declaring his candidacy for comptroller on July 7.

What’s more, the former love gov spent $2.6 million on the race for comptroller in the last month alone — more than 10 times that of his rival Scott Stringer, new campaign finance records show.

...

 A new filing with the city’s Campaign Finance Board reveals Spitzer doled out more than $270,000 on petitioning expenses, including a $165,000 payment to consultant Jonathan Trichter.

And the money apparently made a difference. In just four days, Spitzer’s team collected more than 27,000 signatures to put him on the ballot.

The disgraced former governor — who resigned in 2008 after getting caught soliciting hookers — has also spent $2 million on TV ads.

He paid Brown Miller Group $33,000 for petitioning help and elections attorney Aaron Maslow $37,750 to make sure the petitions wouldn’t be challenged.

Spitzer — who once threatened an upstate lawmaker by saying, “I’m a f--king steamroller, and I’ll roll over you and anybody else” — has steadily filled his coffers, putting in a cool $500,000 on July 15, followed by $425,000 two days later. And on July 24, he gave his campaign $2.72 million.

Meanwhile, Manhattan Borough President Stringer has raised a comparatively paltry $310,595 and spent $173,355 in the same filing period from July 12 to Aug. 5.

Stringer, who raised about $4 million so far, received about $1.5 million in matching funds. He has $4.6 million on hand.

Last week, Spitzer told the Campaign Finance Board that he’s not planning to spend more than $12 million.

If that holds true, Spitzer has $9.4 million left to spend until the primary on Sept. 10. That’s twice the cash that Stringer currently has left in his coffers.

 We'll see if Stringer's operational support can beat Spitzer's money.

That's an awful lot of money Spitzer's dropping in just two months.

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