Campaign Cash Flows
With Election 2013 less than a month away, the East Hampton Town Democrats continue to swamp their Republican counterparts in both the amount of money they have raised, and spent.
Campaign 2013, the Democrats’ campaign funding committee, which backs all the party’s candidates, reported total receipts of $70,280 and expenditures of $62,930 between July 12 and Sept. 30 in its campaign disclosure statement filed with the New York State Board of Elections on Friday. The committee had a balance of $13,075 on hand at the end of the reporting period.
That was augmented by the money collected by a separate committee, the Friends of Larry Cantwell, dedicated to the election of Mr. Cantwell as supervisor, which received $18,650 during the reporting period and spent $19,948, with $9,000 going to Campaign 2013. The committee ended the period with a healthy balance of $45,290. Mr. Cantwell is running unopposed.
The East Hampton Town Democratic Committee reported separately that it had received $8,205 in contributions, while spending $7,286, $5,500 of which was transferred to Campaign 2013. The committee reported a closing balance of $4,710.
By contrast, the top fund-raiser among Republicans, Councilman Dominick Stanzione, reported total contributions of $21,410 to his re-election committee, the Friends of Dominick Stanzione. Mr. Stanzione, who is seeking his second term on the board, loaned his campaign $6,032. His committee reported expenses of $26,241, leaving him with a balance of $1,927.
“We have to rely on the message and body of work to counter the Democratic machine,” said Mr. Stanzione, who previously lent his campaign more than $14,000 and said the Republicans’ failure to find a supervisor candidate to lead the ticket had a chilling effect on early fund-raising efforts.
Town Clerk Fred Overton who is running beside Mr. Stanzione on the Republican, Independence, and Conservative lines, reported total receipts of $9,919 and expenses of $11,525 by his committee, Friends of Fred Overton. He had a balance of $5,993 at the end of the reporting period.
Another Republican, Joe Bloecker, who is giving up his trustee seat in a bid to defeat an incumbent Democratic assessor, Eugene DePasquale, has also been an active fund-raiser this election season. The Friends of Joe Bloecker took in $10,561 during the reporting period. The committee reported total expenses of $9,762 and a balance of $6,027 going into the final month of the campaign.
The East Hampton Independence Party, which is backing a full slate of candidates, including Mr. Cantwell, Mr. Stanzione, and Mr. Overton for town board, did not file its report until Tuesday.
“We tried to do it perfectly, to get every single contribution in, but we didn’t get our bank statement in time,” said the party’s co-chairwoman, Elaine Jones, in explaining the tardy filing.
The party showed total receipts of $11,118, expenditures of $9,299, and a balance of $4,295.
The East Hampton Town Republican Committee, Pro East Hampton, which also raises funds for G.O.P. candidates, and the East Hampton Conservators, which has typically backed Democratic candidates, did not file reports for the period.
Others showing no activity were Steve Lynch, who is running unopposed for town highway superintendent, and Carole Brennan, who is running unopposed for town clerk. Both candidates have been cross-endorsed by the major parties.
The campaigns of Job Potter and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who are the Democratic and Working Families nominees for town board, are being funded by Campaign 2013.
Campaign 2013 had the two biggest single donors during the reporting period. The actor Alec Baldwin and David Gruber, a Democratic activist who has long advocated against noise at and expansion of the East Hampton Airport, each donated $5,000.
Although the individual limit for donations to local candidate committees is $1,000, that limit does not apply to donations made to committees that back a full array of a party’s candidates, according to Christopher Kelley, the chairman of the Democrats’ campaign. And, the $1,000 limit on donations by an individual to a single candidate can be circumvented by a family contribution, which can be as large as $4,099, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
Other major donors to Campaign 2013 during the period ending Sept. 30 were David Kelley of Sag Harbor, who donated $2,500, and Janet Ross of New York and East Hampton, who donated $2,000. The committee also received a slew of $1,000 donations, including from its chairman, Mr. Kelley of Springs, Judith Hope of East Hampton, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby of Amagansett, Ronald Lauder of Wainscott and New York, Peter Lowenstein of Montauk, Frank Newbold of East Hampton, Katherine Rayner of East Hampton and New York, Andrew Hart of East Hampton, and Lyle Greenfield of Amagansett, who made two separate donations of $500.
Mr. Potter, of Amagansett, donated $1,000 to the committee and Ms. Burke-Gonzalez, of Springs, contributed $500.
The Friends of Larry Cantwell received $1,000 donations from Jeff Tarr of East Hampton and New York, William Hiltz of East Hampton and Brooklyn, Jeffrey Gates of New York, Nancy Shevell of East Hampton and New York, and Susan Gilmer of East Hampton and New York. Mr. Cantwell also donated $1,000 to his own campaign, and received a $500 donation from Mr. Baldwin.
He also received $500 each from George Walbridge Surveyors, Hamptons Locations, and the Cablevision Political Action Committee.
Mr. Stanzione’s coffers were bolstered by a $4,000 contribution from John Mannix of New York, who has a house on Bluff Road in Amagansett. Mr. Stanzione stressed that the donation was made on behalf of Mr. Mannix’s entire family.
He also received $2,000 in family donations from Kiri Borg of East Hampton, Paul Scheerer Jr. of Sag Harbor, Joseph Perella of East Hampton and New York and Irving Paler of Wainscott. He received $1,000 donations from Andrew Sabin of Amagansett, Bonnie Krupinski of East Hampton, Dr. Bruce Bistrian of Massachusetts, and Barry Bistrian of East Hampton.
On the corporate side, Mr. Stanzione received $1,000 from the Sabin Metals Corporation of East Hampton and $500 from Perry Duryea and Son of Montauk. He received $500 from Montauk Citizens Voice, Montauk East L.P., and the Cablevision PAC.
By contrast, Mr. Overton had only two $1,000 donations, one from Glen Olsen of Springs and the other from Harold McMahon Inc. of Amagansett. He also received $500 from Charles Durkin of East Hampton and New York, Margery Courtney of Springs, and Montauk Citizens Voice.
Mr. Bloecker’s campaign benefited from a total of $1,500 in contributions that he and his wife, Cheryl Bloecker, made, as well as $500 contributions from Supervisor Bill Wilkinson of Montauk, Bistrian Materials of East Hampton, Uihlein’s Marina and Boat Rentals of Montauk, and Montauk Citizens Voice.
The Independence Party received $2,000 from Mr. Perrella, $1,940 from Mr. Stanzione, $1,500 from Harold McMahon Inc., $1,044 from Marilyn Behan, and $1,000 from the East Hampton attorney Thomas Twomey, who is typically associated with Democratic causes. His law partner, John Shea, also of East Hampton, donated $500.
Campaign finances for the race for town justice are segregated from those for other campaigns.
Carl Irace, the Republican, Conservative, and Independence candidate, reported $9,983 in contributions and $3,495 in expenditures, leaving him with a balance of $7,943 for the last month of the campaign. Steven Tekulsky, the Democratic and Working Families candidate, has reported $7,928 in contributions and expenditures of $5,527, leaving him with $7,594.
Mr. Tekulsky reported a pair of $1,000 donations from Richard and Susan Friedman of New York City.