As New York City’s election season intensifies, candidates vying for City Council seats across Queens are engaged in fierce fundraising battles, with some contenders significantly outpacing their rivals.
The latest figures from the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) reveal high-stakes competition in multiple districts, particularly in the races to replace term-limited Council Members Robert Holden (District 30) and Adrienne Adams (District 28), as well as in the contest for Council District 25.
In District 30, candidates are racing to secure funding ahead of the June primary, with Democratic candidate Dermot Smyth leading the pack in private donations. Meanwhile, challengers in other Queens districts are also seeing tight financial contests, with candidates leveraging the city’s Matching Funds Program to bolster their campaigns.
Smyth, a United Federation of Teachers political strategist, has raised the most money in the district so far from private sources, $77,292, in addition to $125,605 in public funds from the city’s Matching Funds Program, for a total of over $200,000 in the hotly contested race.
The program, which aims to incentivize candidates to raise money from small donors within their district, offers city council candidates an 8-to-1 match on contributions up to $175 from people living within their district. Candidates must receive a total of $5,000 from at least 75 people living in their district to unlock matching public funds.
The latest CFB figures do not include matching funds distributed for the latest disclosures, which were due on March 17. Matching public funds based on the March 17 disclosures will be announced at a CFB meeting in April.
Smyth has out-fundraised all competitors in District 30, raising almost three times as much from private funds as Republican candidate Alicia Vaichunas, who has raised $29,250 so far, according to CFB filings.
However, Vaichunas, a current Holden staffer, has received $101,840 from matching public funds, taking her total funds above $130,000.
Phil Wong, another Holden staffer who is running as a Democrat, has raised the third-highest amount from private donations, receiving $24,695 in the campaign to date. However, Wong has not yet received any matching public funds, according to CFB figures.
Community activist Paul Pogozelski, who is also running as a Democrat, has so far unlocked $76,570 in matched public funding after raising $18,740 from private donations to date.
Republican candidate Jonathan Rinaldi and Democratic candidate Fr. Mike Lopez, who only entered the race last month, have not yet unlocked any matching funds.
In addition to out-fundraising his competitors, Smyth has also out-spent every candidate in District 30, spending $81,091 on his campaign so far. Pogozelski, the next-biggest spender in the district, has spent $31,400 on his campaign to date.
Wong criticized Smyth last month, accusing him of using campaign funds to cover expenses for a trip to Puerto Rico, condemning the spending as inappropriate.
According to filings with the CFB, Smyth spent nearly $2,200 in what Wong accuses are “taxpayer-funded” campaign dollars on travel expenses to attend SOMOS, a conference hosted by a nonprofit organization that unites the Latino community, raises awareness, advocates, and elevates social consciousness on public policy.
Candidates in several other Queens council districts also appear to be locked in hotly-contested fundraising battles.
In Council District 28, the race to replace term-limited Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has seen an incredibly close fundraising race, with several candidates raising significant funds from voters.
Tyrell D. Hankerson, Chief of Staff to Adrienne Adams and her endorsed candidate, has raised the most private funds in the race, securing $48,456 to date. However, he trails two competitors in matching public funds, having received $112,769 through the city’s program, bringing his total campaign funds to over $160,000.
Romeo Hitlall, a South Ozone Park real estate broker contesting the Democratic primary, has received $132,767 from matching funds after raising $39,897 from private donations to date. Meanwhile, Democrat Japneet Singh has received $191,832 from public funds after raising $31,888 from private donors so far. Singh reported raising $30,813 from private donors in the first eight days of his campaign.
LaToya LeGrand, a constituent services representative for Assembly Member Vivian Cook, has raised $14,887 from private donations so far, unlocking $65,816 from matching public funds.
In Council District 25, incumbent Council Member Shekar Krishnan has far outpaced his competitors in fundraising from private donors, raising $69,136 so far. Krishnan has not yet unlocked any matching fund payments; however, his campaign stated that the incumbent council member was not eligible to receive matching funds until his opponents reached the threshold.
Ricardo Pacheco, who has regularly spoken at rallies and protests against rising crime along Roosevelt Avenue, has received $10,135 in private funds so far and is currently the only candidate to unlock matching funds in the district, receiving $45,372 from the city’s purse for a total of $55,507 raised so far.
Pacheco, who unsuccessfully challenged Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas for her Assembly District 34 seat in last year’s Democratic primaries, is now challenging Krishnan in the Democratic primaries this June. Krishnan’s campaign stated that the incumbent council member is now in line to receive matching funds at next month’s CFB meeting after Pacheco reached the threshold.
Republican candidate Shah Haque has raised $11,265 from private donors in the campaign so far but has not yet received any matching funds from the city, while fellow Republican candidates Ramses Frias and Abubakar Ashiq have also failed to unlock any matching funds.
