The good news for Republican Congressional candidate Lee Zeldin is that he has raised $184,000 for his campaign, and a campaign finance report filed last week shows he has $70,989 cash on hand.
The bad news is that Zeldin is also showing $70,760 in unpaid loans and campaign bills — leaving him a net total of $229.
But the report, filed with the Federal Elections Commission, also has a silver lining because it lists Zeldin as getting 8 percent interest on his $44,000 personal loan he made to the campaign. The first repayment was $7,762.
Richard Schaffer, Suffolk Democrat chairman, lambasted Zeldin....
Rick Brand
...saying, ”For someone claiming to represent working class people, he’s figured out a way to personally benefit from the system.”
In response, Zeldin said that he was advised by a lawyer that specializes in FEC law to include the interest rate and said the 8 percent was lower than the 12 or 15 percent banks were charging for unsecured loans. He also said he needed the repayment on the loan to help his family survive while he campaigns.
Asked if he was profiting on donations, Zeldin, after conferring with advisors, said the loan was “to provide seed money to help the campaign get off the ground, not to make a profit.” He said the terms will be changed to make it a no interest loan.
Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-Southampton), meanwhile, has amassed $821,269 for the upcoming campaign after raising $166,852 in the past quarter and spending only $56,571.
While his net is nearly nil, Zeldin said, “The numbers are deceiving.” He said expects to spend the $70,000 remaining to wage his campaign and expect more money to come in to pay off unpaid debts and bills. “I’m very pleased with the numbers,” he said, noting 3,800 have already made donations and he expects to have 5,000 donors by the June, people who he expects will give again. He also said a number of house parties are planned for June and July, further fueling fundraising for a media campaign this fall.
Zeldin’s problem is he’s spent $100,000 to solicit 200,000 potential givers, only two percent of which are giving and 75 percent are outside the congressional district. That means only 50,000 district voters have gotten any mail from him.
“What it means is that he has no support,” said Schaffer.
Comments (2)
Lee Zeldin is a man of integrity and honor. He is a Father, War Veteran, Husband & and a member of our community not a politician. He understands the needs of our district; I have heard him talk twice now, once in East Hampton and a few weeks ago in Smithtown. I highly doubt that he was looking for ANY way to profit from his campaign and for someone to make that conclusion is illogical and wrong. Running for office can be very challenging especially as an underdog middle class man from Shirley against a wealthy incumbent from Southampton, and I know he has is putting up the fight. He did not break any laws and for anyone to perceive him as making a profit off of a $44,000 personal loan he gave to the campaign is just ridiculous.
And what of Mr. Bishop and his profiteering from his campaigns? Free schooling for his daughters AND a consulting job! Why don't we hear more about that? Oh, that's right...this is Newsday.
It is this kind of muckraking that keeps promising leaders like Mr. Zeldin from ever entering the political arena in the first place.