The New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB) announced Thursday that three of the six candidates who are slated to appear on the ballot in the Queens borough president special election qualified for the second round of public matching funds, pulling in over $900,000 in campaign cash combined.
Councilman Donovan Richards, who missed the opportunity to earn matching funds in the previous round of funding, compensated the miss by bringing in the most matching funds in the second round. Richards received $446,633.
Former Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley received $369,407 and Councilman Costa Constantinides received $107,382 in matching funds in the Feb. 26 distribution.
Though Richards’ public funding windfall was able to push him past the estimated balance of Constantinides, Crowley retained her status as having by far the most cash on hand, going into the final month before the special election. Based on the latest filing, Crowley has an estimated $787,735 on hand, Richards has $477,988, and Constantinides has $274,735.
The voluntary public financing program matches small-dollar contributions eight-to-one in order to encourage public participation in the electoral process. All candidates chose to participate in the matching funds program. All participating candidates on the March 24 special election ballot opted-in to the new $8-to-$1 program.
The third and last chance to receive matching funds before the special election will be March 19 – days before the March 24 special election.
