City Comptroller John Liu raised $995,000 this over the last six months
City Comptroller John Liu raised $995,000 this over the last six months – pumping his warchest up to $1.4 million – predominantly by tapping into ethnic pride.
Our Erin Einhorn reports:
Liu, who would be New York’s first Asian-American mayor, has taken the vast majority of his contributions for his 2013 mayoral campaign from people with Asian last names, including 98 contributors named Chen and 121 named Lee or Li.
“That’s the natural base,” said campaign adviser Chung Seto.
“That would be our first reach of the supporters. But while most of the main focus has been the Asian community, we also have a broad reach regionally across the city and other communities as well.”
Liu’s reach isn’t just limited to the city.
More than 400 of Liu’s 1,524 contributions in the last six months – more than a quarter – came from non-city residents. Of those, 276 were from out of state.
Liu, took the unusual step of limiting contributions to just $800 per contributor – a fraction of the $4,950 he’s allowed to receive. Three-quarters of his contributions were for exactly $800. He even refunded $20 to someone who gave $820.
The amount was selected because 8 is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture. Liu is a Taiwanese immigrant.
The limit also has another advantage in a public financing system that matches 6:1 the first $175 of each contribution: By gathering more small donations, Liu may generate more matching funds.
In the last six months, $157,000 of his contributions are matchable, meaning they’re worth up to $943,000.
In his filing, Liu does not name atribute any contributions to bundlers or fundraisers, though large groups of contributors had the same employer and donated around the same time, suggesting they gave in an organized way:
Twenty employees of a Maspeth plumbing supply business, Super Plumbing and Building Supply, including several who listed their occupation as “worker” all gave $800 to Liu, mostly on June 8.
Nineteen employees of a Fresh Meadows construction company all gave $800, mostly on May 5 or 6. And 12 employees of a Flushing supermarket – including cashiers – all gave $800 between July 8 and July 11.
Unlike his predecessors in the comptroller’s office, Liu’s contributions show relatively few of the bankers and bond lawyers who typically try to influence the city’s top financial officials.
Liu vowed when he came into office to not accept contributions from anyone seeking to do business with his department.