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Yetta Kurland and Corey Johnson in Close Race for Quinn's City Council Seat

By Andrea Swalec | January 18, 2013 9:44am

MANHATTAN — New records show City Council hopefuls Yetta Kurland and Corey Johnson are neck and neck in their runs to fill the seat set to be vacated by Speaker Christine Quinn.

Campaign finance records filed this week show Kurland, the civil rights attorney who also ran for the District 3 seat in 2009, raised more than $50,000 in the past six months, bringing her total contributions to $124,986.

Combined with public matching funds, this latest batch of contributions brings her up to the $168,000 spending limit.

Kurland, 44, a Chelsea resident whose priorities include affordable housing and paid sick-leave, said maxing out on funding indicates the strength of her grassroots support in the district, which covers Greenwich Village, the West Village, the Meatpacking District, Hudson Square, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and Midtown.

"I'm just so grateful, in this kind of economy, for people to reach into their pockets and invest in this campaign," she said.

Johnson, 30, a Community Board 4 chair running on a similar platform, hit the maximum spending limit in July and currently has $168,501 in his account, records show.

"Now it's all about talking about my vision for the district," he said Thursday.

Kurland's endorsements thus far include public employee union District Council 37 and the Women's Democratic Club of New York.

Among Johnson's backers are State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank.