By Ivan Pereira
South Queens’ congressional members will be facing some competition this fall for their bid for another term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Both U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for their races.
Meeks, who has been involved in a controversy over his personal finances, has collected $652,509 in contributions and spent $660,324 on his re-election bid so far, according to the Federal Election Commission. Meeks has numerous individual contributors, including Paul Critchlow, a Bank of America chairman who gave $2,400, and Simon Falic, chairman of Duty Free America, a company that operates several duty-free airport shops, who also gave $2,400, FEC records show.
Meeks represents the 6th Congressional District, which covers most of southeast Queens, including Jamaica, Springfield Gardens, Rosedale and Far Rockaway.
Although FEC has no opponent listed against Meeks for the Democratic Primary, Asher Taub of Kew Gardens has announced his run for the Republican ticket for the November election. Taub has been endorsed by the Queens Republicans, but he was not listed on the FEC’s database as of press time Tuesday.
Weiner, who is running for his seventh term, has so far raised $1,128,663 for his re-election campaign and spent $558,981, according to the Federal Election Commission’s campaign finance database. Weiner has received several contributions from individuals all over the nation, including $2,400 contributions from Daniel Abraham, CEO of Slim-Fast, and Marc Agger, owner of the Brooklyn-based Pierless Fish Corp., according to the FEC.
Weiner oversees the 9th Congressional District, which includes Forest Hills, Fresh Meadows, Rego Park, Maspeth, Glendale, Howard Beach, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, the Rockaways and parts of Brooklyn.
Bob Turner, a Republican from Rockaway Point who is challenging Weiner, has not filed with the FEC. Candidates who receive or spend less than $5,000 are not required to file with the federal government.
Anna Gustafson contributed to this report.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
