MANHATTAN — Presumptive mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio is surging in the fundraising race for the city's top office, raking in $1 million over the past six months to outpace the leader of the pack, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
It was the best fundraising period ever for de Blasio, the city's Democratic public advocate and former city councilman, according to his campaign's financial director. This brings his war chest for a likely mayoral bid to at least $2 million.
“This is big news,” he told supporters in an email Tuesday morning, adding that this means “we’ll have the resources we need to compete with anyone on a level playing field in 2013.”
Still, Quinn continues to lead the presumptive Democratic hopefuls in fundraising, banking $5.178 million so far, including $567,000 over the past six months, campaign consultant Mark Guma said.
With her public matching funds included, Quinn now has more than an estimated $7 million in her coffers, surpassing the maximum limit —$6.4 million — a candidate is allowed to spend during a primary.
“We’re excited to have reached our primary fundraising goal. It’s a huge achievement for Speaker Quinn to have be able to focus more on organizing and taking more to voters as we head into 2013,” Guma said.
While all top-tier candidates are eventually expected to hit the cap, Baruch College Professor Dough Muzzio said the total was an impresressive show of fundraising might.
“It establishes her as the leader in the money primary, the only thing we can actually count," he said.
Meanwhile, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has raised $3.27 million to date, bolstered by the $556,000 he banked in the past six months, Campaign Finance Director Catherine Butler said.
“That will put us in a strong position for second place,” she said, noting the $2.3 million he has collected since 2010 tops the funds raised by the other Democrats besides Quinn eyeing a mayoral run.
Others in the campaign also touted the total, which observers said was enough to keep Stringer in the race.
Meanwhile, City Comptroller John Liu was able to raise $513,000 over the past six months, even after his campaign was hit by a federal investigation into allegations of illegal fundraising, including the arrest of one of his campaign funding bundlers. That leaves him with $1.6 million in cash in his campaign's coffers, his filings show.
Former Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, the only candidate who has officially launched a campaign, also announced Tuesday that he has raised nearly $650,000 over the past six months, bringing his total close to $1 million, his campaign said.
“This filing represents a strong statement of support for my candidacy and I look forward to continuing the momentum in the coming months with fundraisers across the city," Thompson said. "I am confident that we will have the resources to mount a vigorous and winning campaign in 2013."
Manhattan Media CEO Tom Allon has also raised $123,000 in the past six months, new records show. But he’s spent nearly $117,000 so far, according to his filings, leaving him with just $6,000.
