With less than four months remaining until the September primary, New York City campaigns are starting to heat up. With the June 10 deadline for candidates to join the Campaign Finance Program, the overwhelming majority of candidates stepped forward to accept voluntary spending limits and become eligible to receive public matching funds. Those candidates have started to campaign in earnest; an analysis of recent filings with the Campaign Finance Board shows that campaign spending has increased considerably since the start of 2009. In the last two months (March 12-May 11, 2009), in fact, overall campaign spending by all candidates grew exponentially—more than four times over—compared with the two months prior (January 12-March 11, 2009).
Participation in the Program is high as ever: Candidates stepped forward last week in extraordinary numbers to be part of New York City’s signature good-government reform program. By joining the Campaign Finance Program, candidates agree to limit their spending. In return, they are eligible to receive public matching funds that increase the value of small contributions to their campaigns.
As of the June 10 deadline, 246 candidates submitted certifications to join the Campaign Finance Program, representing 89 percent of all candidates with active campaigns.
Participation in the Campaign Finance Program, Active Candidates, 2009 Elections
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* four candidates who submitted certifications to join the Program have subsequently terminated their campaigns with the CFB
In 2005, by comparison, 73 percent of candidates on the ballot (155 of 211) joined the Campaign Finance Program. In the historic election of 2001, the Program’s high water mark, 79 percent of candidates listed on the ballot (280 of 355) were participants. While petitioning has just started, and ballots for the primary elections will not be set until August, the initial indications are that candidates are making the choice to enter the Campaign Finance Program in greater proportions than ever before.
The importance of small donors is still growing: The Program’s mission is to amplify New Yorkers’ small contributions by matching them with public funds, reducing the perception of corruption associated with large contributions and unlimited campaign spending. As the election draws nearer, and campaigns look to qualify for matching funds, candidates for every office are intensifying their outreach to small donors. Even as spending grows, the numbers of small donations—less than $250—are increasing. Over the last two months, candidates at every level of office are relying more heavily on small contributors than they had previously.
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Spending jumps: The rapid growth in campaign spending among all candidates over the filing period for Disclosure Statement #8 dwarfs the rate of spending growth during the same period of the previous election cycle. In 2005, the March-May disclosure period saw an .bmp)
increase of about $1.9 million from the two months previous; in 2009, campaign spending among all candidates increased by about $13.8 million.
Not surprisingly, it is campaign spending by mayoral candidates that has grown the most rapidly. Candidates for mayor spent $3.2 million for the first two months of 2009, compared with $16.3 million during the two months that followed, accounting for the largest part of the overall increase. By contrast, in 2005, spending by mayoral candidates increased from $5.1 million to $6.5 million over the same period of time.
While spending among candidates for mayor showed the largest increase by far, the trend towards increased spending is apparent among candidates for other offices as well. For example, spending for City Council races during March-May 2009 more than doubled from the previous two-month period (see chart below).
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For more information or detail about campaign fundraising and spending, please visit the CFB website’s financial summary page or the searchable online database.