Mayor de Blasio took political fundraising to new extremes during his come-from-behind campaign, a Daily News review has found.
Deep-pocket donors showered him with checks far in excess of the usual campaign finance limitations, thanks to loopholes that allowed for double- and even triple-giving.
De Blasio was able to raise money on three fronts in the same election cycle: first for his campaign, then for a $300,000 fine he still owed from a 2009 campaign, and finally for his inauguration and transition costs.
That meant individual donors limited to giving no more than $4,950 per election cycle were able to give the maximum amount again and again, writing checks to de Blasio — who railed at loopholes as a candidate — twice and even three times.
“It compounds the influence one (donor) might have,” said Dick Dadey of the non-partisan watchdog Citizens Union. “This the shortcoming of the program that allows current donors to make contributions toward fines that go back to prior campaigns and allows donors to increase their impact on the campaign.”
Most of those able to come up with that much cash just happened to be lobbyists, real estate developers and a lineup of special interests who do business with the city.
By law, individuals aren’t supposed to give more than $4,950 per candidate per election, but there are plenty of loopholes that make such a hard-and-fast restriction meaningless.
While running for mayor, candidate de Blasio himself attacked this problem, complaining about “the rich and powerful having their voices heard above the rest of us because of weak laws and loopholes that allow money to permeate our elections.”
Records show de Blasio took full advantage of those loopholes.
At least two donors appear to have set a record — managing to give to de Blasio not once, not twice but three times: once to his campaign, once to his inauguration and once to help him settle the old campaign debt owed for illegally plastering posters all over the city back in 2009.
The top triple-giver was Anthony Bonomo, CEO of Physicians Reciprocal Insurers, one of the state’s biggest medical malpractice insurers.
He personally gave de Blasio the maximum $4,950 for his 2013 campaign, another $4,950 toward the old 2009 fine, then another $4,500 — the maximum allowed — for de Blasio’s inauguration.
And that was only the beginning. Bonomo acted as an intermediary for both the 2013 campaign and the inauguration, raising a total of $71,500 from friends and family for de Blasio — more than 14 times the amount an individual is allowed to give.
The other triple-giver was David Kuperberg, CEO of one of the city’s biggest real estate brokerages, Cooper Square Realty, who gave de Blasio the max of $4,950 toward the 2009 debt, $4,950 for his mayoral campaign and $4,500 for the inauguration.
Records on donations for the 2009 debt have only been released through July. More triple-givers could surface when de Blasio updates the disclosure forms for the 2009 committee later this week.
A spokesperson for de Blasio’s transition team had no problem with the triple-givers: “We couldn’t be more proud of the inclusive and transparent transition we’ve run, and we are humbled by the tremendous support we’ve received from New Yorkers across the five boroughs.”
For years de Blasio has voiced outrage at the undue influence money has on politics, but his effort to raise money for the inauguration was fairly explicit in providing exclusive face-time with the mayor to those who raised big bucks.
At a Dec. 10 fete at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in Times Square, fundraisers designated as “chairs” for that fete had to raise $50,000 but got a private reception with the mayor, while “hosts” who raised $25,000 got an “individual dinner reception.”
Many of those who showed up at B.B. King had already written checks for the campaign – including an all-star cast of the city’s big-name lobbyists and vendors.
Charles Hocking of Hazen & Sawyer, an engineering firm that does millions of dollars of work for the city, went all out, first raising $22,550 for the campaign, then scaring up another $30,350 for the inauguration.
Sid Davidoff’s lobbying firm, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, raised $9,500 for de Blasio during the campaign, then he came up with another $2,800 for the inauguration.
Jonathan Greenspun of Mercury Public Affairs gave de Blasio $2,450 during the campaign, but raised $23,000 for his inauguration.
All of these lobbyists make good money schmoozing city officials — including the mayor’s office — for a host of favors for their clients.
A look at lobbying records shows their clients include every special interest imaginable, from firms that make voting machines to companies seeking cable licenses to vendors angling for contracts.
