All three NYC mayoral candidates still standing are flush with cash heading into the final weeks of the campaign, as evidenced by both their big spending on TV advertising and the latest fundraising data from the city Campaign Finance Board.
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in the three-way contest, became the first candidate to reach the CFB’s $8 million fundraising limit on Sept. 5.
“Thanks to the support of everyday New Yorkers, we don’t have to worry about fundraising in this race,” Mamdani told reporters at a news conference last Friday. “We’ve maxed out our fundraising because thousands of New Yorkers have come forward.”
Yet the democratic socialist Assembly member still raised a strong $410,800 in net contributions over the most recent filing period between Aug. 19 and Sept. 29, CFB records show. He submitted roughly $143,700 in claims to the city’s generous public campaign financing program, which matches eligible contributions 8-to-1.
Among the donors who gave Mamdani the maximum contribution of $2,100 were A-list actor Mark Ruffalo and author Steve Phillips.
The Assembly member spent $1.7 million over the past month. His biggest outlay was a $250,000 payment to the Los Angeles, California-based Debra Schommer Media Group for TV advertising.
Mamdani has the most campaign cash at his disposal, with a $5 million war chest, comprising both private donations and public matching funds. The CFB will award the candidates the latest round of matching funds during its meeting on Thursday.
The lawmaker’s fundraising slowed significantly from the last filing period, when he raised just over $1 million in private funds, as he hit the spending cap soon after it began.
Mamdani’s haul came from 6,543 donors, who contributed an average of $63. Roughly 51% of those contributions came from New York City residents, while the other 49% came from outside of the five boroughs.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, an independent candidate polling in second place, made up significant ground in the fundraising race this filing period, although he is still trailing Mamdani. He raked in a significant amount in the hours directly after the current Mayor Eric Adams suspended his reelection campaign late last month.
The former governor reported raising nearly $896,000 in net contributions between late August and late September, according to CFB records. Nearly $400,000 of that sum flowed into Cuomo’s coffers in the 36 hours following Adams’ exit from the race, according to his campaign. He submitted approximately $337,000 in matching funds claims.
Bill Mulrow, Cuomo’s campaign chairman, said in a statement last Friday that “Momentum is on our side at exactly the right moment.”
“Voters are just now tuning into this race, and they want a safe city they can afford to live in, and they know Andrew Cuomo has the experience to deliver and the ability to hit the ground running on Day One,” he continued. “This is officially a two-person race, and it’s one Andrew Cuomo is going to win.”
Cuomo nearly doubled his haul this cycle compared to the previous one, when he raised $477,500.
Among the notable donors who gave the maximum contribution to Cuomo were John Darius Bikoff, who founded Glaceau — the firm that made Smart Water before it was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company. Real estate developer Joel Bergstein, who worked on the Halletts Point housing development in Queens, also gave Cuomo the maximum donation.
The state’s ex-top executive spent about $1.5 million over the past month, records show. Nearly $678,000 of that amount he paid to Capitol Message and Media LLC for his own TV ads. Another large expenditure was the $100,000 he spent on North Shore Strategies for campaign texts and robocalls.
Including both private donations and public funds, Cuomo has over $1.4 million in his campaign account.
Cuomo raised his latest round of funds from 2,754 donors, who gave an average of $325 each. Roughly 75% of Cuomo’s contributions came from city donors, while the remaining 25% came from outside the city.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa raised $423,770 during the most recent fundraising period, a figure that remains steady from the nearly $412,300 he raised during the previous period, according to board records. He submitted $187,700 in matching funds claims.
Sliwa — a talk radio host and founder of the Guardian Angels volunteer patrol group — spent about $1.5 million over the last month. Like his competitors, Sliwa’s biggest expenditure was the $750,000 he paid Target Enterprises for TV ads.
The founder of the Guardian Angels has a $2.2 million war chest, comprising both private and public funds.
With an average contribution size of $100, 4,240 people donated to Sliwa’s campaign during this period, according to records. Over half of Sliwa’s haul, approximately 60%, was donated by city residents, while the remainder came from outside the city.
amNewYork reached out to Sliwa’s campaign for comment, and is awaiting a response.
