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Cuomo, Hochul spent $5.9 million in stretch drive for primary races [The Buffalo News, N.Y.](Buffalo News (NY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 23--ALBANY -- They were never worried about their Democratic Party primary challengers earlier this month, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his running mate, Erie County's Kathy Hochul, insisted over and over again. Worries aside, Cuomo and Hochul spent about $5.9 million in the final couple of weeks and days immediately following their recent closer-than-expected Democratic primary contests. New campaign finance filings with the state Board of Elections show that the governor spent $5.6 million, much of it on television ads, during the primary campaign in which he faced political newcomer Zephyr Teachout, a Fordham law professor who captured 34 percent of the Democratic vote against Cuomo. Cuomo, who is running against Republican Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive, in the general election, has spent an average of $151,000 a day on his re-election efforts since his July campaign reporting period with the Board of Elections. In July, he had $35 million in his account; as of the weekend, the balance was $25.8 milllion. While Teachout was his primary opponent, Cuomo much of his money's focus was seemingly focused on Astorino. His ads, like his own lips, never mentioned the name "Teachout." Because he did not have a primary, Astorino has not been required to file financial-disclosure reports since July, when his account was reported to have $2.4 million on hand. Hochul, who defeated Columbia law professor Tim Wu in the primary for lieutenant governor, spent $284,000 in the final days of the campaign. Wu got 40 percent of the vote against Hochul, a former congresswoman and county clerk. Hochul reported a sizable balance after her primary run: $904,000. Democratic Party officials said Hochul would be transferring money over to the Cuomo account, which, unlike a primary, will now be the central account for both Cuomo and Hochul since they are running as a ticket. Officials did not say whether the full $904,000 was going to be transferred. After heavily relying on money from Western New York donors at the start of her bid over the summer, Hochul, by the end of the primary reporting period, was getting a number of big donations from contributors who have also been reliable donors to Cuomo. Among them was $19,700 from Manhattan hedge fund billionaire John H. Simons and $9,600 from John E. Petry, another hedge fund executive from New York City who, like others in that industry, is also an influential force in the charter school movement. Deborah A. Rechler, the wife of a Long Island developer, made a last-minute donation to Hochul of $19,000. Teachout's final campaign filing was not available late Monday. Wu's last report showed him spending $284,000 during the last couple of weeks of the campaign, with $30,000 left in the account. Meanwhile, the Erie County Democratic Party, which ran a recent ad criticizing Astorino for being a Miami Dolphins fan -- leading to a video response from Astorino's 11-year-old son -- reported Monday that it recently spent $30,000 on advertising with a Chicago firm whose other clients include the Cuomo campaign. As Astorino spent the day Monday questioning Cuomo's economic-development claims in Central New York, Cuomo had no public schedule. Cuomo is due in Buffalo this morning for a groundbreaking event for a solar manufacturing firm at RiverBend, the clean-energy and technology hub on the site of the former Republic Steel plant in South Buffalo. Cuomo administration officials would not discuss the reason for the governor's visit except to say that it is a "governmental" announcement, meaning that his campaign will not be paying the tab. Monday, Hochul was in the Albany area, where she and Cuomo did not fare well in the primaries. Among other issues, Hochul pushed a stalled package of bills that backers say would advance a women's equality agenda. She called it "a disgrace" that the package has not been passed in its entirety. email: [email protected] ___ (c)2014 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |