Golisano gives $3,800 to opponent of Hoyt
Kavanaugh called ‘pawn’ of Pigeon
ALBANY — The initial shots from Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano have been fired in the direction of Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, according to campaign finance filings made public Monday.
Golisano on July 10 donated $3,800 to Barbra Kavanaugh, a former Buffalo Common Council member who is running against Hoyt. The donation helped fill an otherwise lackluster fundraising cycle for Kavanaugh, who raised, with Golisano’s money included, a total of $7,300. Another $500 came her way from a political action committee run by Steve Pigeon, the former Erie County Democratic Party chairman and Golisano adviser.
The Golisano money to Kavanaugh came from his own bank account and not from Responsible New York, the committee he formed last week with $5 million of his own money to support candidates that he says will back his ideas to change the ways of Albany.
The campaign filings for Hoyt were not yet in with the state Board of Elections. But Hoyt Monday afternoon said his filing will show he has about $120,000 in the bank, compared to just $6,500 for Kavanaugh.
Hoyt dismissed the support by Golisano for Kavanaugh as an arrangement by Pigeon, with whom the assemblyman has never shared a close relationship. “She’s a pawn of Steve Pigeon,” Hoyt said of his primary opponent.
“If Mr. Golisano is making his decisions based on the merits, I will have his support,” he added.
Kavanaugh dismissed Hoyt’s claims, saying she had not seen Pigeon in a couple of years. She said only once has she met Golisano, about 10 years ago.
Kavanaugh noted Golisano’s desire to change Albany, and criticized Hoyt as a “creature of Albany.”
“If [Golisano] sees me as part of that change, I think that’s great,” Kavanaugh said.
Kavanaugh said she raised so little money because she did not want to solicit donations while she was serving as a confidential law clerk to State Supreme Court Justice John F. O’Donnell, a job that ended last week. She opened her campaign headquarters Saturday.
“I am running against an incumbent, so it makes sense that he has a hell of a lot more money than I do,” she said of Hoyt.
Pigeon called Hoyt the “poster child of what’s wrong with Albany.”
“Barbra Kavanaugh represents the type of candidate that we believe can change New York because Sam Hoyt has had 16 years where he has talked about reform but really has done nothing in 16 years to change Albany. He’s been all talk, all press releases and no real change,” Pigeon said.
Also donating to Kavanaugh in her first campaign filing was the Buffalo Teachers Federation PAC, which gave $1,000, and developer Carl Paladino, who gave $500 through several companies.
Golisano has been making rumblings about supporting other challengers to incumbents, though he has identified no specific candidates for his cash. Last week, he spoke kindly of Kathy Konst, a Democrat running against veteran Sen. Dale Volker, R-Depew, and there are increasing signs he will back Joe Mesi, a former boxer, in the Democratic primary for the post held by retiring Sen. Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville.
The campaign filings of those candidates were not yet listed on the state Board of Elections Web site.
