New York – As Paterson’s campaign funds are dropping, Cuomo’s funds are soaring. He started the six-month filing period in July with $10 million in the bank and increased it by $6.8 million in contributions. He spent about $836,000, according to his campaign.
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Paterson, meanwhile, has $2 million less in the bank than in July, dropping from $5 million to $3 million after spending about $3 million on television ads late last year. His campaign said he spent about $4 million during the six-month period.
Despite the huge financial disparity between the two, Paterson has vowed to run for a full four-term term, even if Cuomo challenges him for the Democratic nomination in a primary.
“It’s another obstacle for him,” Lee Miringoff, a Marist College pollster, said of Paterson. “If you’re not well known you need a lot of money to get known. That’s not Paterson’s problem. Paterson’s problem is the positioning and convincing, and that’s what you also need money for.”
Paterson’s poll numbers sunk to historic lows last year, prompting the White House in September to urge him to not run for election for fear it could hurt other Democrats on the ticket.
The full campaign-finance reports for Paterson and Cuomo were expected to be filed with the state Board of Elections later today.
Cuomo campaign said he had about 2,530 different donors during the six-month period and nearly 5,000 during the election cycle. He had about 810 small donors who gave $500 or less, the officials said.
And a source close to the Cuomo campaign said the reports will show some prominent Republicans who contributed to Cuomo: Peter Kalikow, former chairman of the MTA, former western New York Rep. Thomas Reynolds and J. Patrick Barrett, a well-known Republican Syracuse businessman and former state GOP chairman.
Very good let them go and tear them self apart so the republican candidade can go ahead and win
I think that Paterson is a good leader. Not a popular one but one who takes the lead. He has my vote.
Since obamas approval rating is down low, maybe patterson should call the white house and ask him to step down? 🙂
Paterson has a bigger problem now. Like most Democrats he has a problem with conforming to the vows of his marriage & nuchamul last night was caught in NJ mit emitzir vus iz NISHT zayn frau.
I was a supporter of Governor Paterson until his State of the State message. Much of it was spent lecturing the Senate and the Assembly. Not that they didn’t deserve it, but it was obvious that he and the legislators are no longer on speaking terms. If that is the case, then he can’t do anything meaningful in Albany for anybody, and must be replaced. It seems that his replacement must be A-G Cuomo, since, in today’s political climate, the only Republicans acceptable to their party bosses are those who think like Sarah Palin, and it will be a cold day in August before that conservative a Republican is elected dog-catcher in this State, let alone Governior.