To fill his re-election bank account, Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, is raking in more money this year than in his campaigns over the last decade for the 120th state Assembly District.
That’s not surprising, given the anxiety by political parties and candidates over voters’ frustration with incumbents, said Jeff Stonecash, a political scientist at Syracuse University. “This is a year where I’m sure party organizations have told every candidate ‘You’d better get out there and work. You’d better raise some money because this could be a dangerous year for Democrats’,” he said.
Magnarelli faces Republican Rick Guy, a former Syracuse Common Councilor in the November election. As of mid-October, Magnarelli had raised a total of $172,659 since he lost won re-election in 2008, according to campaign finance reports filed with the New York State Board of Elections. Guy has raised a total of $38,200.07.
The 120th state Assembly District covers the city’s Northside, Westside, Eastwood, Strathmore and Valley, as well as the towns of Van Buren and Geddes. The election is Nov. 2.
Despite Magnarelli’s lead in fundraising, his political bank account is not big, said SU political scientist Stonecash. “It’s not a lot of money. It’s very expensive to run a campaign,” he said. Candidates have to pay for offices, phones, signs and even snail-mail, Stonecash said.
Another political scientist at SU, Kristi Andersen, said Magnarelli may be ahead regardless of money. “The fact that he’s an incumbent,” she said. “There are no horrible scandals about him.” People tend to vote for familiar people in most years, Andersen said. Groups, firms and people want to be heard, Andersen added, so they typically contribute to incumbents who have been in power already.
As of mid-October, here’s an overview of Magnarelli’s fundraising, from reports filed with the state Board of Elections:
- Magnarelli has raised a total of $172, 659 since the last election on Nov. 4, 2008. That’s an average of $241 per day.
- Of that, the most — 39 percent, or $67,703 — came from named individual donors.
- His biggest donation from a named individual is $3,600 Robert J. Congel of Syracuse. Congel is the founder and managing partner of Pyramid Companies—a developer of shopping malls, including Carousel and Destiny USA in Syracuse.
- 12 percent — or $21, 325 — came from 29 law firms. The biggest contribution from a law firm was from Green & Seifter Attorneys of Syracuse, which gave $3,900.
- 20 percent — or $34,200 — came from political action committees, or PACs. Those are groups formed to raise money for issues or candidates. His largest PAC donations are $3,600 from SEIU 1199 NYS, better known as United Healthcare Workers East, a union of active and retired healthcare workers; $3,000 from HANYS PAC, which raises money from the healthcare industry to support state candidates.
During this reelection bid, Magnarelli’s campaign has spent $128,258. That’s nothing compared to his first two races in 1998 and 2000, Magnarelli said. In 2000, he spent three times that amount — close to $455,000.
As of mid-October, here’s an overview of Magnarelli’s expenditures, also from reports filed with the state Board of Elections:
- Magnarelli has spent a total of $128,258.91 since the last election on Nov. 4, 2008. That’s an average of $179 per day.
- Of his total expenditures, the most — 17 percent, or $22,215 — was spent on printing. The largest amount spent on printing was $19,816 at Kinaneco Printing Systems in Syracuse.
- 16 percent — or $21,066 — was spent on fundraising events.
- 9 percent — or $11,609 — were Magnarelli’s political contributions elsewhere. The largest amount was $2,500 that Magnarelli gave to the Onondaga Democratic Committee.
For the fundraising, Magnarelli acknowledged that this is his highest totals in a decade. But, Magnarelli said, this increase is not a reaction to the general Republican Party threat. Instead, he said, it’s because he has an opponent who’s actively campaigning against him.
“If I want to get my message out,” said Magnarelli, “I have to raise money.”
(Rebecca Shabad is a senior with dual majors in broadcast journalism and political science.)
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