In the waning days of the New York mayoral race, Bill de Blasio took advantage of his sudden popularity and a loophole in campaign finance laws to pay off a six-figure fine he had owed the city since 2011.
In addition to raising millions of campaign dollars for his New York mayoral run, de Blasio has received a wave of separate donations since July to pay off the $300,000 fine — incurred when his 2009 public advocate campaign was cited for plastering the city with illegal posters.
To clean the slate, de Blasio — in a move that is perfectly legal — made use of a quirk in the campaign finance laws that allowed donors to give to both his 2009 and 2013 campaigns, at the same time.
Back in mid-July, de Blasio was in fourth place in the polls at 10%, far behind then-front-runner and serial sexter Anthony Weiner’s 25% ranking.
At that time, he still owed some $120,000 of the campaign finance fine, but had only $72,000 to show in his 2009 campaign account, according to campaign finance records. He was only allowed to use his 2009 donations to pay off the fine.
As he surged in the runup to his Sept. 10 primary victory and in the weeks leading up to the general election, de Blasio managed to raise enough to pay off the rest, city officials confirmed.
On Oct. 28, he wrote a final $101,995.20 check, bringing the total amount paid to settle the fine to $360,728, including interest.
Donors could contribute no more than $4,950 to de Blasio’s mayoral run but could also give separately to his 2009 campaign because it was for a different office.
Some deep-pocketed donors doubled their clout, giving to both de Blasio’s 2013 and 2009 campaigns for a total of up to $9,900 each — twice the usual legal limit.
For instance, real estate heavyweight David Kuperberg, CEO of Cooper Square Realty, gave de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign the max $4,950 in January 2012, then kicked in $2,850 to his 2009 public advocate’s campaign in March.
Landlord Leonard Litwin, president of Glenwood Management, one of the biggest apartment management firms in the city, gave de Blasio’s 2013 campaign $4,950 in January, then threw in another $4,950 toward the 2009 debt in April.
One donor took it a step farther. Anthony Bonomo, CEO of Physicians Reciprocal Insurers, one of the state’s biggest medical malpractice insurers, raised $44,500 for de Blasio as an “intermediary,” collecting other people’s money for de Blasio’s 2013 campaign.
He and multiple family members also made maximum $4,950 individual donations to the mayoral campaign, and then on top of all that, kicked in another round of checks for the 2009 campaign in June.
All told, the Bonomo clan wrote checks totaling $33,700 for both de Blasio campaigns. Bonomo did not return calls seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for de Blasio, Lis Smith, said: “This is standard practice and in full compliance with New York City’s strict campaign finance laws.”
