State Sen. Elaine Phillips (R-Flower Hill) continues to hold a financial edge over North Hempstead Town Councilwoman Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck) in the state Senate District 7 race, according to financial disclosures filed with the state Elections Board on Friday.
Records show Phillips topped more than $1 million in contributions, at $1.05 million, and Kaplan has gotten around $456,000 this year. Phillips has also vastly outpaced Kaplan in spending, the records show, $882,379.11 to $180,655.29.
Chris McKenna, a Phillips campaign spokesman, said: “This latest report once again shows the continued very strong support for Sen. Phillips and the good work she’s done delivering for the people and the communities of the 7th Senate District. We look forward to closing strong in this campaign and continuing to explain to voters all the results she’s delivered on.”
Tess McRae, a Kaplan campaign spokeswoman, said the latest fundraising reports do not showcase broad community support.
“The reason that special interests are investing a millions dollars in Elaine Phillips is payback for selling out our community by opposing common sense gun control and legislation to protect a right to choose,” McRae said.
Phillips aims to hold onto her seat in a district, which includes the Town of North Hempstead, Hicksville and Elmont, that is seen as competitive and a potential tipping point for the balance of the state Senate.
The Nassau County Democratic Committee is the biggest donor to the Kaplan campaign, having contributed $50,000 as of Oct. 22. Jay Jacobs, the head of the Nassau County Democrats, meanwhile donated $10,000 as an individual.
Also among Kaplan’s biggest donors are Maiden Lane Properties LLC in Lake Success, real estate developer Nader Ohebshalom, legal firm Harras Bloom & Archer, the Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York, Vote/Cope, the political fundraising arm of the New York State Union of Teachers, and Andrew Cuomo 2018 Inc.
Each of them donated the maximum $11,000 allowed under state law.
Of the money raised, the Kaplan campaign has spent $180,655.29.
The campaign’s biggest expense was payroll and wages, records suggest, with $38,078.59 going toward Paychex of New York LLC. The second-biggest expense is spending with the Parkside Group, which has provided $32,190.33 worth of polling and campaign literature.
Another large expense is with the New York Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, the records show, with $24,400.80 being spent with the group for postage.
Donations from Republican-affiliated groups to Phillips total more than the entire amount raised by Kaplan’s campaign.
The New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee alone directly donated $440,500 to the campaign, according to records, while Friends of John Flanagan and Cathy Young for Senate each donated $11,000 and the North Hempstead Century Club contributed $5,000.
Phillips’ campaign has also spent nearly five times as much as the Kaplan campaign, records show, having spent $882,379.11 so far this year as of Oct. 22, with the vast majority going toward advertising.
The Phillips campaign appears to have doubled its spending on advertising in less than a month, campaign financial disclosures suggest, with total spending with Brabendercox LLC having risen from $360,939 as of Oct. 1 to $758,118 as of Oct. 22.
Spending with CCC Enterprises, a go-to for Republican candidates for campaign mailers, also roughly doubled from $13,303.44 to $25,535.06 total this year.
Independent groups are also seeking to forge narratives for or against the candidates.
Fighting for our Future, which represents the New York State Union of Teachers, has spent $247,130.06 on mailers and television ads against Phillips, according to independent expenditure records.
New Yorkers Together, representing the Communications Workers Union of America, has put $67,380.99 toward digital advertising against Phillips. Meanwhile Empire State 32BJ SEIU PAC, which represents the service employees union, has spent nearly $100,000 total for anti-Phillips mailers as of Oct. 26.
Progress NYS spent $23,601.51 on mailers opposing Phillips as well.
Jobs for New York PAC, whose treasurer is listed as William Auerbach, the CFO of the Real Estate Board of New York, has so far spent $426,214 for advertising and consulting with the Phillips campaign, records show.
New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, a political action committee formed by the pro-charter school group StudentsFirst, spent $2.6 million on Phillips’ 2016 campaign against Adam Haber but does not appear to have directly invested money yet in the Phillips-Kaplan race.
