Media Should Reveal Campaign Finances Of Candidates In Every District-- Here's Staten Island

A photo that probably won't help Grimm much anymore

By asking the question Where are Staten Island's congressional race donations coming from? Staten Island Live is making a civic contribution media outlets should follow everywhere. Their intentions are good, even if their knowledge of the subject leaves something to be desired.

I grew up in a neighborhood that has become part of this district in recent years. I lived on East 17th Street near Avenue P in Brooklyn. The northeast corner of NY-11 is now Avenue P and East 15th Street. A little background: the district is basically Staten Island, a world unto itself. But the south Brooklyn part of the district has been growing. It's a part of Brooklyn that was once the liberal heartland of Brooklyn. Now a bastion of right-wing Russian immigrants, much of it went strongly for Trump in 2016. Over the last 2 years, the PVI has gone from R+2 to R+3. Trump won the district-- the only one in NYC he did-- by early 10 points, 53.6% to 43.8%. It's a very Italian district and it's also a district with a very cozy relationship with the Mafia. It never hurts Republican politicians to be associated with organized crime and Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm, the last congressman-- before he was thrown into prison-- was a violent mobster. He's out of prison now, a born-again Trumpster, who is challenging GOP incumbent, a law and order, ex-District Attorney, Daniel Donovan. Donovan's voting record is moderately conservative, just as Grimm's was when he was in Congress. Now Grimm is playing the neo-fascist extremist.

As of the December 31 FEC filing deadline, 5 candidates-- Donovan, Grimm and 3 Democrats-- had raised over 6-figures. One of the Democrats, Boyd Melson, already dropped out. These are the top fundraisers remaining:

• Dan Donovan (R)- 870,636
• Max Rose (Blue Dog)- $658,433
• Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (R)- $176,217
• Omar Vaid (D)- $137,822, of wick $105,532 (76.6%) is self-funded

Here are the industries contributing most heavily to each candidate:

Donovan

• Real Estate- $63,216
• Wall Street- $54,750
• Transportation Unions- $51,833
• Leadership PACs- $51,500
• Automotive- $38,800
• Building Trades Unions- $36,500
• Insurance- $32,250
• Public Sector Unions- $31,000
• Health Professionals- $24,500
• Oil and Gas- $23,800

Rose

• Business Services- $36,020
• Lawyers/Law Firms- $34,145
• Democratic/Liberal- $24,952
• Retired- $21,330
• Internet- $19,600
• Wall Street- $15,825
• other- $11,575
• Misc Services- $11,350
• Leadership PACs- $11,000
• Misc Business- $10,950

Grimm

• General Contractors (Mafia)- $22,350
• Special Trade Contractors (Mafia)- $17,600
• Real Estate- $15,700
• Retired- $12,718
• Lodging/Tourism- $6,900
• Lawyers/Law Firms- $5,900
• Misc Manufacturing & Distributing (Mafia)- $3,700
• Health Professionals- $3,500
• Business Services- $3,450
• Construction Services (Mafia)- $3,450

Clifford Michael, the SILive reporter, makes the point that much of the money financing the campaigns comes from outside the district. He doesn't mention that that's the case in almost every congressional campaign in America. "Some of the top candidates," he wrote, "have raised the majority of their money from outside the congressional district, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings."

Of Rep. Daniel Donovan's 966 campaign contributions, 271 come from within the  district. The GOP congressman had 221 contributions from Staten Island and 50 donations from South Brooklyn neighborhoods within the district.

His primary opponent Michael Grimm, a former congressman, had 72 campaign contributions from Staten Island and 12 from Brooklyn.

However, Grimm's in-district donations were $91,620 in comparison to Donovan's $75,375, a difference of $16,245.

Max Rose, who has drawn attention from national Democrats to his campaign in part for his prolific fundraising, has the smallest number of in-district contributions, with 36 contributions coming from Staten Island, four coming from South Brooklyn, and 1,209 coming from outside the district. Of all the Democratic candidates, Rose has raised the most money out and inside the district.

About 35 percent of Donovan's donations in this election cycle has come from political action committees (PACs) as well as a handful from other campaign committees.

Among some of Rose's other donations, the veteran received 67 donations from California, including from tech executives from Google and Facebook. He also has 30 contributions coming from Illinois and 16 from Florida. His 220 donations from Manhattan addresses feature a slew of attorneys, financiers, and executives, including an NBC Universal Vice President, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Rose has also raised $397,000 through the digital political fundraising platform, Act Blue, and has made a pledge to never take corporate PAC money.

I'm sure you noted where union money is going in this race-- and it isn't to the DCCC choice among the Democrats.