Observers got their first official glimpse this week at how candidates in the 6th Congressional District stack up in terms of fund raising.
April 15 was the deadline to file quarterly finance reports with the Federal Election Commission that cover all fundraising up to March 31.
The three main contenders in the Democratic primary—Assemblywoman Grace Meng, Assemblyman Rory Lancman and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley—laid out their numbers.
Meng led the pack by a wide margin. Her campaign, which is backed by the Queens Democratic Party, managed to collect more than $360,000.
The Lancman campaign’s pockets are now the second deepest in the race. He took in just under $190,000.
Lancman also threw some of his own skin into the game. He closed the gap a little more by personally loaning his campaign $50,000 bringing his total receipts to around $240,000.
Crowley rounded it the three, collecting just more than $100,000.
Crowley came in well behind the other two candidates, but called her efforts as a success weeks ago when she gave a preview.
On April 2, her campaign sent out a statement saying it raised that $100,000 in 10 days’ time—framing it as momentum for her candidacy, which came as a surprise after the party backed Meng.
“Support for Elizabeth Crowley is growing rapidly because people believe we need an independent voice for Queens neighborhoods in Congress,” Eric Yun, a campaign spokesperson, said in the release. “No one will run a more competitive campaign.”
As far as funds are concerned though, she has a sizable hill to climb compared to Meng and Lancman.
All three campaigns spent minimal amounts, leaving the bulk of the money sitting—hopefully to be added to—and ready to spend on what’s shaping up to be a hotly contested primary.
Along with surprise candidate Jeff Gottlieb, two others—Juan Sheng, and Robert Mittman—filed petitions to get on the ballot, which would make it a six-way primary on June 26.
The three did not file with the FEC and were presumably not fundraising before March 31.
The winner of the primary will take on Republican Councilman Dan Halloran, who so far is the only GOP contender and has yet to start fundraising.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com
