Post by Bozur on May 6, 2005 21:12:07 GMT -5
NYTimes.com > New York Region > Metro Campaigns
Politics May Be Local, but Fund-Raising Is Going National
By JONATHAN P. HICKS
Published: May 2, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, April 25 - He is one of 150 members of the New York State Assembly, and his name is little known outside his home district of Astoria, Queens. But there was Michael N. Gianaris in an elegant home in a fashionable quarter here, where wealthy donors, many of them Greek-Americans, were eager to add tens of thousands of dollars to the $1.6 million he has already raised in his uphill battle to become New York attorney general.
Mr. Gianaris's effort to succeed Eliot Spitzer has generated excitement in Greek-American communities around the nation, and that has meant enormous amounts of cash for his campaign. By tapping a network of wealthy Greek-Americans for contributions, Mr. Gianaris's fund-raising prowess has made him the envy of potential opponents, including Andrew M. Cuomo, a onetime housing secretary; Mark Green, a former New York City mayoral candidate; and a half-dozen other possible candidates.
Mr. Gianaris's success is an extreme example of how candidates for local offices have used ethnicity in seeking campaign money around the nation. Fernando Ferrer, who wants to be New York City's first Hispanic mayor, has planned fund-raisers in Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Backers of Antonio Villaraigosa are using excitement over his Los Angeles mayoral campaign to draw contributions from Hispanics on the East Coast. "We have tapped into what we call a band of brothers to help support his campaign and other campaigns of Latinos all over the country," said Alvaro Cifuentes, a Washington lawyer and political consultant who is also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee's Hispanic Caucus. Mr. Cifuentes was recently host to an event in his home where he raised $40,000 for Mr. Villaraigosa's campaign.
"You will find that after the Villaraigosa race, we will focus a lot of our attention on Freddy Ferrer's campaign in New York," Mr. Cifuentes said. "And then, after that, we'll turn our efforts to Bill Richardson's campaign for governor of New Mexico."
At Mr. Gianaris's fund-raiser in New Orleans, about 50 people gathered at the Audubon Place home of a local Greek-American businessman, John Georges, to meet Mr. Gianaris, who represents a district nearly 1,350 miles away.
The guests included some of the best-known names in this city, including Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Representative William J. Jefferson. Mr. Georges, the chief executive of a food distribution company, invited several of his fellow Greek-American business leaders. Amid the drawl of several Louisiana politicians, the room was peppered with the conversation of businessmen talking among themselves in Greek.
Mr. Georges said that he was deeply involved in national Greek-American philanthropy and that he had met Mr. Gianaris about three years ago through mutual friends. "I liked him and told him that I would do whatever I could to help his campaign. In our community, we try to help each other."
Mr. Gianaris is hardly alone among New Yorkers in raising money outside the city. Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat from Upper Manhattan, is planning a fund-raising event this spring in Providence, R.I., where he plans to tap into the financial resources of the growing Dominican-American community in that area.
Councilwoman Yvette D. Clarke, who is of Jamaican descent and was enthusiastically endorsed by a number of Caribbean groups, received the fund-raising assistance of a Trinidadian businessman in Atlanta who was host to an event for her unsuccessful campaign for Congress in Brooklyn last year.
A spokesman for her campaign made it clear that she intended to use a network of Caribbean donors in New York and elsewhere. Ms. Clarke is running for re-election to the Council this year and is considering another race for Congress next year.
National fund-raising is not bound by ethnicity. Sean P. Maloney, one of Mr. Gianaris's rivals for state attorney general, has been tapping into the network he established during his years as aide to President Bill Clinton. In addition to events held by his Clinton-era colleagues, Mr. Maloney said gay donors eager to support an openly gay candidate for statewide office in New York have held events to help his campaign.
Mr. Ferrer's mayoral campaign hopes to take advantage of the fact that prominent Hispanic candidates are running for mayor in two of the nation's largest cities. His campaign aides said their national fund-raising events were aimed at getting Democratic support across the board. But, they added, many Hispanic business leaders have taken an interest in the Ferrer campaign, just as they have in Mr. Villaraigosa's race for mayor of Los Angeles.
"Antonio Villaraigosa and Freddy represent a fascinating trend in politics," said Leo Hindery, Mr. Ferrer's finance chairman. "Plus, there is a realization that we can't run a credible campaign against Mike Bloomberg without money."
Evan Stavisky, a political consultant who works with several Democratic candidates in New York State, including Mr. Gianaris, said more New York candidates were likely to turn to other states for fund-raising.
"The fact is that no matter how much money is raised in New York, there will always be a desire to raise more," Mr. Stavisky said. "The desire for money in politics is a thirst that can't be quenched. The creative folks more and more are looking to go to people other than the same old donors and to broaden their appeal. And that often means they are going outside of New York."
Few have been as aggressive or as successful as Assemblyman Gianaris, who said the New Orleans event was likely to bring more than $20,000 to his campaign. Furthermore, he said, of the money he has raised, about $250,000 has been from fund-raising events in other cities like Houston, St. Petersburg and Washington, many of them held by Greek-American benefactors.
Another Gianaris fund-raiser will occur later this spring in Boston, held by Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate,
"I've had tremendous support from the Greek-American community throughout the country," Mr. Gianaris said. "They have been very kind to me."
Politics May Be Local, but Fund-Raising Is Going National
By JONATHAN P. HICKS
Published: May 2, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, April 25 - He is one of 150 members of the New York State Assembly, and his name is little known outside his home district of Astoria, Queens. But there was Michael N. Gianaris in an elegant home in a fashionable quarter here, where wealthy donors, many of them Greek-Americans, were eager to add tens of thousands of dollars to the $1.6 million he has already raised in his uphill battle to become New York attorney general.
Mr. Gianaris's effort to succeed Eliot Spitzer has generated excitement in Greek-American communities around the nation, and that has meant enormous amounts of cash for his campaign. By tapping a network of wealthy Greek-Americans for contributions, Mr. Gianaris's fund-raising prowess has made him the envy of potential opponents, including Andrew M. Cuomo, a onetime housing secretary; Mark Green, a former New York City mayoral candidate; and a half-dozen other possible candidates.
Mr. Gianaris's success is an extreme example of how candidates for local offices have used ethnicity in seeking campaign money around the nation. Fernando Ferrer, who wants to be New York City's first Hispanic mayor, has planned fund-raisers in Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Backers of Antonio Villaraigosa are using excitement over his Los Angeles mayoral campaign to draw contributions from Hispanics on the East Coast. "We have tapped into what we call a band of brothers to help support his campaign and other campaigns of Latinos all over the country," said Alvaro Cifuentes, a Washington lawyer and political consultant who is also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee's Hispanic Caucus. Mr. Cifuentes was recently host to an event in his home where he raised $40,000 for Mr. Villaraigosa's campaign.
"You will find that after the Villaraigosa race, we will focus a lot of our attention on Freddy Ferrer's campaign in New York," Mr. Cifuentes said. "And then, after that, we'll turn our efforts to Bill Richardson's campaign for governor of New Mexico."
At Mr. Gianaris's fund-raiser in New Orleans, about 50 people gathered at the Audubon Place home of a local Greek-American businessman, John Georges, to meet Mr. Gianaris, who represents a district nearly 1,350 miles away.
The guests included some of the best-known names in this city, including Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Representative William J. Jefferson. Mr. Georges, the chief executive of a food distribution company, invited several of his fellow Greek-American business leaders. Amid the drawl of several Louisiana politicians, the room was peppered with the conversation of businessmen talking among themselves in Greek.
Mr. Georges said that he was deeply involved in national Greek-American philanthropy and that he had met Mr. Gianaris about three years ago through mutual friends. "I liked him and told him that I would do whatever I could to help his campaign. In our community, we try to help each other."
Mr. Gianaris is hardly alone among New Yorkers in raising money outside the city. Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat from Upper Manhattan, is planning a fund-raising event this spring in Providence, R.I., where he plans to tap into the financial resources of the growing Dominican-American community in that area.
Councilwoman Yvette D. Clarke, who is of Jamaican descent and was enthusiastically endorsed by a number of Caribbean groups, received the fund-raising assistance of a Trinidadian businessman in Atlanta who was host to an event for her unsuccessful campaign for Congress in Brooklyn last year.
A spokesman for her campaign made it clear that she intended to use a network of Caribbean donors in New York and elsewhere. Ms. Clarke is running for re-election to the Council this year and is considering another race for Congress next year.
National fund-raising is not bound by ethnicity. Sean P. Maloney, one of Mr. Gianaris's rivals for state attorney general, has been tapping into the network he established during his years as aide to President Bill Clinton. In addition to events held by his Clinton-era colleagues, Mr. Maloney said gay donors eager to support an openly gay candidate for statewide office in New York have held events to help his campaign.
Mr. Ferrer's mayoral campaign hopes to take advantage of the fact that prominent Hispanic candidates are running for mayor in two of the nation's largest cities. His campaign aides said their national fund-raising events were aimed at getting Democratic support across the board. But, they added, many Hispanic business leaders have taken an interest in the Ferrer campaign, just as they have in Mr. Villaraigosa's race for mayor of Los Angeles.
"Antonio Villaraigosa and Freddy represent a fascinating trend in politics," said Leo Hindery, Mr. Ferrer's finance chairman. "Plus, there is a realization that we can't run a credible campaign against Mike Bloomberg without money."
Evan Stavisky, a political consultant who works with several Democratic candidates in New York State, including Mr. Gianaris, said more New York candidates were likely to turn to other states for fund-raising.
"The fact is that no matter how much money is raised in New York, there will always be a desire to raise more," Mr. Stavisky said. "The desire for money in politics is a thirst that can't be quenched. The creative folks more and more are looking to go to people other than the same old donors and to broaden their appeal. And that often means they are going outside of New York."
Few have been as aggressive or as successful as Assemblyman Gianaris, who said the New Orleans event was likely to bring more than $20,000 to his campaign. Furthermore, he said, of the money he has raised, about $250,000 has been from fund-raising events in other cities like Houston, St. Petersburg and Washington, many of them held by Greek-American benefactors.
Another Gianaris fund-raiser will occur later this spring in Boston, held by Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate,
"I've had tremendous support from the Greek-American community throughout the country," Mr. Gianaris said. "They have been very kind to me."