UPPER EAST SIDE — Ed Hartzog might not like talking to the ladies about his campaign finances, but that apparently hasn't hurt his fundraising efforts, recently released documents indicate.
Hartzog, who's running for Jessica Lappin's soon-to-be-vacated District 5 City Council Seat, has raised $20,128 since submitting his candidacy in mid-December, according to the New York City's Campaign Finance Database.
That's more than a $12,000 jump from the amount listed on the last quarterly campaign finance filing in January 2013.
At that time, Harztog reported a total of $7,953 in donations.
Those donations drew attention as almost half of them — 10 out of 21 — hailed from out of state though intended for a local political race.
When asked about these facts on the finance documents, Harzog told a DNAinfo.com New York reporter: "What's a pretty girl like you doing reading those?"
WIth regard to that comment, Hartzog later added: "I hope for goodness sake that my flippant comment isn't going to be part of the story. I was just sort of being something. I hope you didn't take offense by that. I didn't mean to be offensive."
Further pressed on the issue, Hartzog then said that "When you run for office, the first people [are from] the friends-and-family list," who are not necessarily from the city.
"Once we have a chance to do a full filing period to do fundraising, I think that'll be different," Hartzog continued. "I think you'll see a lot of community support.
Hartzog's second quarter 2013 report suggest, however, that nearly half of the 74 listings — 38 — still hail from out of the area.
Some of his local donors, however, include Department of Education specialists
Hartzog's competitors include Ben Kallos, Assembly Member Micah Kellner, and Hill Krishnan who have raised $63,288, $123,678, and $2,965 respectively, according to the database.
