Democrat Andrew Cuomo already has nearly $600,000 more on hand than Republican Jeanine Pirro in the race for state Attorney General but he’s leaving nothing to chance, tapping his party’s best fundraiser, former President Bill Clinton, to spur more contributions.
Clinton headlined a nighttime reception Monday for Cuomo in the Rainbow Room atop the NBC Studios tower in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center. About 250 people were expected with Clinton, touting his former cabinet secretary’s record of cleaning up the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Wendy Katz said the reception’s timing was aimed at raising money and energizing Democratic voters. “No one gets out the vote better than President Clinton!” she said.
James T. Madore
The fundraiser comes as recent campaign finance filings show Cuomo raised $1.1 million in the 21 days ending Oct. 23 compared with Pirro’s $342,714. Cuomo also spent more — $1.85 million compared with Pirro’s $485,800. Still, he had $1.7 million left in his treasury on Oct. 24 compared with her $1.1 million.
The Cuomo camp, however, was upset Monday by a tabulation snafu at the state Board of Elections that initially showed the campaign running a $950,000 deficit to Pirro’s surplus of $1.1 million. The error was corrected by mid-afternoon.
While Cuomo was collecting cash, Pirro began a campaign swing through the Albany area with an Independence Party event at the Cabernet Café in Albany.
Pirro has no plans for a fundraising gala on the order of the Clinton event. But her spokesman John Gallagher said there would be “cocktail-type receptions,” where between $25,000 and $50,000 is expected to be raised per event. “Jeanine continues to raise money from people around the state, from small grassroots contributions up to larger donors... She will remain financially competitive and we will have ads on television for the remainder of the campaign,” he added.
UPDATE: The Cuomo camp says the crowd eating hors d'oeuvres included fashion designer Kenneth Cole, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano and incoming Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith. In his remarks, Clinton said, "I'm so proud of Andrew, I could pop."