By Rich Bockmann
In the southeast Queens City Council race where outside groups spent more than the candidates themselves, labor leader Daneek Miller claimed victory in the still-undecided Democratic Party primary.
Miller, president of the Queens chapter of the Amalgamated Transit Union, claimed victory Tuesday night with the Associated Press reporting he pulled in 24.4 percent of the votes with 98 percent of precincts counted.
Attorney Clyde Vanel, who by the end of the night had 21.8 percent of votes, did not concede the race and said he would wait until the final numbers came in.
Manuel Caughman, a Community Board 12 member who was endorsed by the Queens Democratic Party and southeast Queens political leaders, came in at a surprisingly weak fourth place with 17.2 percent of the votes, the Associated Press reported with 98 percent of the vote counted Tuesday night.
Miller was handpicked by term-limited Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) to succeed him.
Caughman raised less money than Miller in private funds, but he was able to collect more small contributions from within the district, which earned him more from the city’s public matching funds program.
When both private and matching funds were counted, Miller had $44,460 more than Caughman at his disposal, but outside groups would tip the scales in Caughman’s favor.
The real estate-backed political action committee Jobs for New York spent $261,533 in support of Caughman.
Union-supported political action committees spent $138,042 campaigning for Miller.
All told, outside groups spent $460,168 compared to $214,719 by the candidates.
Jobs for New York also spent money campaigning against two candidates. The PAC spent $38,040 against Vanel and $28,040 to do the same with attorney Joan Flowers, who picked up 21.3 percent of votes.
Community Board 12 member Greg Mays earned 11.3 percent of votes and management consultant Sondra Peeden took in 4 percent, the AP reported. Peeden will face the winner of the Democratic primary in November on the Independence Party line.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
