The price of access to Bill de Blasio has skyrocketed since his stunning victory in the Democratic primary for New York mayor — from $5,000 to a whopping $75,000, the Daily News has learned.
De Blasio’s handlers are now telling donors they cannot guarantee the candidate will appear at fund-raising events unless the event will bring in at least $75,000 for his campaign, according to a prominent fund-raiser.
That’s 15 times higher than it was at the start of the campaign — when he was polling in the single digits — and higher than the going rates for Democratic heavyweights like New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
“That’s a lot of money,” the source said. “I can get [Gov.] Cuomo at a house party for $50,000.”
Schumer, New York’s senior senator, typically shows up at fund-raisers that collect $50,000, while Gillibrand typically asks for a $30,000 minimum, according to sources who host fund-raisers.
It’s not unusual for candidates to raise their asking price after a big victory like de Blasio had, said another fund-raising source.
“That’s common when someone runs hot. You raise the price,” the source said.
The prices aren’t set in stone, but are guidelines that the candidates’ handlers will tell would-be hosts looking to plan events.
City races have spending caps, so individuals looking to donate to de Blasio can fork over no more than $4,950.
To raise $75,000 for de Blasio at a single event, a host would have to invite at least 16 people willing to give the max.
The de Blasio campaign declined to comment.
But in an earlier interview with the Daily News, one of his top advisers lamented the difficulty de Blasio had fund-raising in the early days of the race.
“I don’t think he was worried [about his chances of winning the primary],” said Washington-based political operative Nicholas Baldick, who also worked on de Blasio’s 2009 public advocate race.
“There were lots of other people worried … It’s tough to raise millions of dollars when you’re in the single digits [in the polls].”
De Blasio raised about $4.5 million for the primary, and received more than $2.9 million in public matching funds, but he largely exhausted that reserve.
He’s coming into the general election with about $1.3 million in cash on hand, according to the last available campaign finance filings.
His Republican challenger, Joe Lhota, has far less, with $383,131.
However, Lhota is expected to benefit from an independent spending political action committee, New Yorkers for Proven Leadership, which has already launched ads for him.
De Blasio picked up major support from top Democrats on Wednesday when former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, who remained neutral in the Democratic primary, announced they were endorsing him.
“Bill de Blasio has been a friend to both President Clinton and Secretary Clinton for many years,” read a joint statement from the political power couple.
“They were proud to see him run a thoughtful, creative campaign about the issues, and they are behind him as he moves on to the general election as the Democratic nominee.”
De Blasio managed Hillary Clinton’s landmark 2000 campaign for U.S. Senate.
With Celeste Katz and Larry McShane
