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De Blasio Fundraising Tops Republican Massey in Mayoral Race

By Nicholas Rizzi | May 16, 2017 1:06pm
 Mayor Bill de Blasio raised $663,049 in the past two-months, $118,233 more than Paul Massey.
Mayor Bill de Blasio raised $663,049 in the past two-months, $118,233 more than Paul Massey.
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DNAinfo/Colby Hamilton

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio out raised Republican challenger Paul Massey for the first time in his re-election bid, netting $663,049 in donations over the past two months, according to campaign finance disclosures.

De Blasio brought in $118,223 more than Massey in the latest disclosures released Monday, bringing his war chest up to $4.7 million in the race and climbing ahead other challengers in the race, Campaign Finance Board records show.

"Our campaign’s focus on grassroots, small-dollar donors has powered us to more than 11,000 contributions, and we are now fully funded for a primary campaign," Elana Leapold, finance director for de Blasio's campaign, said in a statement.

"Under Mayor de Blasio, crime is at record lows, jobs are at record highs, and the city is building affordable housing at a record rate."

The latest filing puts de Blasio's total ahead of Massey's $3 million. The incumbent has also spent less than Massey, having an estimated $2.5 million in his war chest compared to Massey's $607,963.

Independent candidate Bo Dietl — who was recently blocked from running on the Republican party's line —  came in third place in the latest filing with $189,586 raised in the most recent period, for $580,058 total.

Newcomer Nicole Malliotakis raised $94,624 for her race to get the Republican nod. Despite her low numbers, Malliotakis celebrated her campaign's efforts and said it exceeded her campaigns' internal goals.

"While I am extremely happy with our results and the potential they show, I am also well aware that we have a lot of catching up to do to match the stockpile of ‘pay-to-play’ donations in Bill de Blasio’s campaign coffers," Malliotakis said in a statement.

"While he’ll continue to be funded by the special interests and the business as usual crowd, my campaign will remain focused on donations from hard-working New Yorkers who share the core belief that Bill de Blasio and his progressive policies are progressively bad for New York."

De Blasio avoided charges in probes into his 2013 campaign fundraising efforts because he was depending on advice from his lawyer's at the time, prosecutors said. A New York Post analysis from Monday found that his biggest bundlers of donations got special treatment from City Hall. 

Malliotakis, who sued the city to retain IDNYC records, announced earlier this month that she would run for mayor on the Republican ticket, seeking to defeat front-runner Massey, and vowing to be a voice for taxpayers around the city.

Since she hit the campaign trail, she's come under fire for falsely claiming rape has been up 33 percent since de Blasio took office and returned previous campaign contributions from Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour.