BEHIND THE HEADLINES
State Senate candidates making 'interested' friends
Hefty last-minute donations pile up as Republicans and Democrats wage heated battle for control of State Senate.
ALBANY — In political campaigns, an easy way to determine your friends is to look for those opening up their wallets the widest in the final hours of a hot race.
The contest for control of the State Senate has produced a long, long line of friends.
Over the past week or so, hundreds of thousands of dollars a day have flowed into Senate campaigns — from Buffalo and Rochester to Queens and Long Island — from individuals and groups with a keen interest in the outcome of the races Tuesday.
Wednesday alone, $1.1 million in various kinds of donations were tossed into different Senate efforts.
Contributors include hunters from Western New York, landlords from New York City, unions, gay rights groups, doctors, insurance companies, lobbyists, beer wholesalers, lawyers and others with business before the state.
“I wouldn’t call them friends of the candidates. It’s more of a commercial transaction. They’re forking over the money when the candidates desperately need it, and they’re expecting to collect when the Legislature comes back into session,” said Blair Horner, lobbyist for the New York Public Interest Research Group.
In local races, the biggest chunk of last-minute money went to Sen. William T. Stachowski, a Lake View Democrat, who brought in $87,000 the last 10 days. Much of it came from fellow Democratic politicians. Other donors included nurses, public employees unions, communications workers, bricklayers and a teachers political action committee. Dennis A. Delano of Cheektowaga, Stachowski’s GOP opponent, reported no late contributions.
Joe Mesi, the Town of Tonawanda Democrat running to succeed retiring Sen. Mary Lou Rath, a Williamsville Republican, has received about $47,000 in donations the past 10 days or so. His biggest contribution — $9,000 — came from Robert Soros, son of billionaire liberal activist George Soros.
Michael H. Ranzenhofer of Amherst, Mesi’s Republican opponent, brought in $39,000, with big donations from New York City landlords and the National Rifle Association.
State Sen. Dale M. Volker, a Depew Republican, took in $42,500. His opponent Kathy Konst, a Lancaster Democrat — reported no donations.
In the past week-and-a-half, Senate campaigns have had to report to the state Elections Board every donation of more than $1,000 within 24 hours of getting the money. The money rush does not include spending by Democratic and GOP central campaign accounts on behalf of candidates — and those numbers will be huge when reports come out after the election.
Overall, Democrats have brought in more money each day since about Oct. 21. But the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee received $800,000 as loans. Another $881,000 came from Senate Democrats facing relatively easy re-election. Direct donations totaled about $300,000.
Republicans, meanwhile, have capitalized on their status as the majority in the Senate to bring in the big cash. The Republican Senate Campaign Committee, the main GOP account, has attracted more than $550,000 in direct donations. Already far ahead in the overall money race, the Republicans have not had to take out loans in the past few weeks.
Donations to the Senate GOP have been especially large and often came from groups normally thought of as Democratic leaning in philosophy. The powerful health care union known as 1199SEIU, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, recently donated $94,200 to the GOP, while an AFL-CIO political action group gave $15,000. Three New York City landlord and real estate groups tossed in $178,000. A doctors trade group donated $9,200, while Fairport-based Constellation Brands, the alcohol beverage company, donated $25,000. Even the Western New York Safari Club gave $2,500, while the National Rifle Association’s Political Action Fund gave $25,000.
Not surprisingly, Republicans said the money indicates that donors are confident enough to dig deep so late because the GOP will keep intact its seven decades of Senate dominance. “The last 10 days has been pretty remarkable,” Sen. Thomas W. Libous, a Binghamton Republican who heads the Senate GOP committee, said of the rush of money.
Democrats, not surprisingly, say they are surging and will win despite the money disadvantage. About a half-dozen seats are considered in play in the chamber that now has a 31-29 Republican majority, with two vacancies.
The biggest single donation to the Senate Democrats in the past week came from the Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay rights group that gave $102,000. The Democrats also got money from groups representing accountants, auto dealers, building trades unions, cable TV stations, anesthesiologists and various business interests, mostly downstate.
The many reasons for the donations include political appreciation for past deeds by lawmakers. Some contributors may be trying to influence what does — and does not — get cut when lawmakers return for an emergency budget-cutting session Nov. 18 to deal with the state’s fiscal crisis. The hedge bet donations consist of timely cash gifts in case the recipients come out on top next week.
Asked if the $94,200 donation to the GOP by signaled a hope the Republicans maintain control of the Senate, Leah Gonzalez, 1199SEIU spokeswoman, said the cash was “part of our routine support for incumbent allies who have worked with our members to protect health care in the state.”
The Civil Service Employees Association, which represents government workers, early last month gave $94,000 to the Senate GOP and $20,000 to the Senate Democrats. This week, its parent, the Washington, D.C.-based American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, gave the Senate GOP $50,000.
Stephen Madarasz, a CSEA spokesman, said the union has not endorsed any Democratic challengers to incumbent Senate Republicans or any Republican challengers to Democratic incumbents. While Danny Donohue, the union’s president, was a superdelegate at the Democratic National Convention last summer, Madarasz said ideology does not drive the union’s donations.
“We base it on the relations that we have with people usually over an extended period of time,” he said. And the GOP-led Senate, as Madarasz said, has been good for the union. “We’ve had very good relations,” he said. Still, it also is chipping in help to Democrats like Stachowski.
Horner, of NYPIRG, said the donations are not made out of special affection for the candidates. The key, he said, is what contributors expect in return. Within weeks, big donors to Senate Republicans will become big donors to Senate Democrats if they take over.
“Typically, people forking over money at the last minute are part of the political elite that funds campaigns. They do it not because they feel charitable, but because they want to get something in return,” Horner said.
