By Adam Pincus
City Councilmen John Liu (D-Flushing) raised $1,002,771 and Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) raised $726,618 according to the latest filing which includes funds raised in the twelve months ending Jan. 11. City Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis) had raised more than $800,000 by July, but his latest records were not released Tuesday.The only official from another borough who raised a comparable amount of money was City Comptroller William Thompson, who raised $1,092,949, the Finance Board said.The closest competitor from another borough was Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who raised $329,298.Campaign figures were available for only 14 of the 29 candidates running for city office who were required to file a campaign finance statement by Tuesday with the city Campaign Finance Board for the period from July 12, 2006 to Jan. 11. The filings only needed to be postmarked by Jan. 16, explaining why not all the records were available today.City elected officials are facing a two-term limit and many are looking around for another office.Gioia's ferocious fund-raising pace slowed in the second half of 2006, although his financial position still remains one of the strongest in the city.In an earlier filing in July 2006 Gioia raised $524,730, giving him the third highest amount of city candidates behind Weprin, who is running for city comptroller and Thompson, who has not declared his intentions.In the most recent six months Gioia raised about $200,000.Gioia would not identify which elective post he will seek, but it is widely believed that he is eying the office of public advocate.”I am seriously considering running citywide in 2009,” he said. “I am thrilled to have the support of so many friends and neighbors.”Liu has also not declared what job he is seeking.Gioia said about half of his most recent contributions came from donations of $40 or less. “I don't think you should have to pay $500 or $1,000 to hang out with an elected official,” he said. His goal is to create “fun events to discuss issues with an elected official.”He denied that time spent on fund-raising was affecting his work in the City Council.”I am very proud of all we have accomplished in the past five years,” he said.Having raised over $1 million 2 1/2 years before the election, he did not say how much he would need to run a citywide campaign.”I will leave that up to the political prognosticators,” he said. Reach reporter Adam Pincus by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
