To pay for his State Assembly campaign, Democrat Al Stirpe is getting a lot of help from his fellow Democrats.
As of Oct. 25, Stirpe had raised $210,076, according to campaign reports filed with the New York State Board of Elections.
Stirpe’s campaign began with a fundraising event put together by his former Democratic Assembly members. “They wanted to show me there was support in the community to bring me back and strengthen our CNY delegation,” he said.
Stirpe is challenging incumbent Assemblyman Don Miller, R-Clay. The 127th New York Assembly District includes the towns of Clay, Cicero, Manlius, Pompey, Fabius and Tully.
The election is Nov. 6.
From 2006 to 2010, Stirpe held the Assembly seat in the then-121st State Assembly District. In 2010, he lost to Miller by 900 votes. After state-wide redistricting in 2012, the district was renamed the 127th State Assembly District and its new area gives the Republicans a slight advantage in voter enrollment. Of the district’s 90,624 voters, 31 percent are registered Democrat, 34 percent are registered Republican, and 25 percent are unaffiliated with a political party.
Raising a lot of money is important in a district where voter enrollment does not favor him, Stirpe said. “It takes resources to reach all the voters. You have to give people a reason to vote for you, especially if they’re from the other party,” he said.
Here is an overview of Stirpe’s fundraising from the financial disclosure reports filed with the New York State Board of Elections:
- Of the $210,076 Stirpe has raised, 54 percent – or $114,225 –came from the New York State Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee and other Democratic politicians.
- Most of that – 88 percent or $100,000 – came from the state party’s campaign committee.
- The other 12 percent – or $14,225 – comes from other Democratic politicians. That includes $3,000 from Assemblywoman Addie Jenne Russell of Theresa, N.Y.; $2,000 from Audrey Pheffer, the Queens County clerk; and $1,925 from Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse.
- 14 percent – or $30,200 – came from unions. Those include $4,600 from Local 43 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; $4,100 from the New York State Nurses Association; and $4,100 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
- 14 percent – or $29,062 – came from named individuals. Those include $3,000 from Michael Falcone, chairman of The Pioneer Companies of Syracuse; $1,200 from Christopher Whyland, a lawyer, of Manlius; and $1,000 from John F.X. “Jack” Mannion, husband of Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.
- The campaign has spent $55,255.
- That leaves Stirpe’s campaign with $154,821 on hand.
Stripe is pouring money into television ads. His biggest expenditure was $19,500 to a television ad company. Other than going door-to-door, this is a way to reach more voters, Stirpe said.
“The last few weeks you’ll see a lot of ads on TV, therefor a lot of money spent,” he said. “We have to hope our ads resonate with the voters. There’s no guarantee.”
(Katya Rivera is a senior with dual majors in broadcast journalism and political science.)
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