Councilman Vincent Gentile" class="company-link">Vincent Gentile, a Democrat running for an open House seat in Brooklyn and Staten Island, raised nearly $200,000 and still has more than $100,000 in cash on hand with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, new filings with the Federal Election Commission show.
Mr. Gentile, a Brooklyn lawmaker, is facing Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, a Republican, in a special election. Mr. Donovan raised more than $600,000 and has just over $460,000 cash on hand, according a report in the Staten Island Advance.
“This campaign has been a grassroots effort from day one and that is something we are very, very proud of. We are running exactly the campaign we want to run,” said Justin Brannan, a spokesman for Mr. Gentile.
In a dig at Mr. Donovan, who is expected to receive more support from national Republicans and political action committees, Mr. Brannan added: “We are not relying on shadowy corporate donors, super PACs or people like the Koch Brothers to get our message out to the people of New York’s 11th congressional district.”
Unlike the last Democrat to run in the 11th Congressional District, Domenic Recchia Jr., Mr. Gentile did not receive any financial help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He raised $195,724 in total and spent $79,697.83, a far cry from the several million dollars Mr. Recchia raised and spent.
Congressional Democrats, at least locally, did come to Mr. Gentile’s aid. Campaign committees for Congress members Hakeem Jeffries, Jerrold Nadler, Eliot Engel and Carolyn Maloney each pitched in $1,000. Campaign committees and political action committees for Congress members Yvette Clarke and Joseph Crowley gave $2,000. Mr. Recchia’s old campaign committee donated another $1,000. Several labor political action committees kicked in cash as well.
Mr. Gentile’s City Council colleagues lent a helping hand. Donations flowed in from Council members David Greenfield, Peter Koo, Brad Lander, Andrew Cohen, Robert Cornegy and Margaret Chin. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams gave $1,000 and his predecessor, Marty Markowitz, also donated $1,000.
And Mr. Gentile was able to rely on at least one celebrity: radio morning show DJ Elvis Duran kicked in $1,000.
Filings show Mr. Gentile relied on Mr. Recchia, who was crushed by former Republican Congressman Michael Grimm last year, in other ways. Mr. Gentile paid Mr. Recchia’s campaign $5,000 for email donor lists, and his receipts also show a $2,000 in-kind donation for e-mail donor lists.
Mr. Gentile’s longtime campaign consultant, the Advance Group, also received more than $10,000. His campaign also paid $4,000 to a fundraising consultant, Christensen & Associates, Inc.
