Where Delgado's PAC got its money and where it's gone, This Week in New York History
Plus: Hochul has signed her first round of bills after this year's legislative session.
Good afternoon — it’s Monday, and Postal Worker Day.
MONDAY, JULY 1, 2024
TODAY’S CAPCON:
Lt. Gov. Antonio DELGADO is running a political action committee that’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Where has it come from and where has it gone?
Gov. Kathy HOCHUL has signed her first round of bills after this year’s legislative session. See how many she has left.
This Week in New York History: the New York woman who faked being a man to enlist during the Revolutionary War and more.
☀️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Mostly clear, mid-50s. New York City: Mostly clear, high 60s. (National Weather Service)
💵 Where Delgado’s ‘new’ PAC got its money and where it’s going
🏃 The L.G. says he’s running a new political action committee to elect Democrats who ‘reject extremism’ to Congress.
Delgado is taking on an unpaid side hustle outside his full-time gig as the state’s second-highest ranking elected official: a political action committee.
Delgado is taking the reins of VOICE PAC, which he described Monday as an effort to elect Democrats who won’t sow chaos in Congress.
“I’ve launched VOICE PAC to elect more Democrats in Congress who reject extremism and are committed to solving problems instead of creating chaos,” Delgado said on X, formerly Twitter.
His post made it sound like it’s a new PAC but filings with the Federal Elections Commission show it’s not.
VOICE PAC filed its statement of organization with federal election officials in February 2023, those filings show.
I thought for a moment I was looking at the wrong PAC but the filing lists its address in Rhinebeck, where Delgado lives.
We don’t know who Delgado plans to raise funds for specifically.
But we do know who has been funding it since it was formed and where that money has flowed.
💰 Where has the money come from?
VOICE PAC has raised $399,600* since it was organized last February, according to filings.
Of that, about $180,000* were small dollar donations collected through ActBlue, an outside firm Democrats use to solicit donations.
The names of donors who give less than $200 don’t have to be disclosed, so they’re all lumped together and sent to the candidate or committee as a lump sum.
* Just a note that I got these from adding up each contribution listed by the campaign. The financial summary page shows a different number for some reason.
We don’t know the identities of any of the small donors who gave through ActBlue but we do know some of who else has given to VOICE PAC.
A big chunk came from attorneys employed by law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, which has locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities across the country.
$49,000 was given by 12 partners at the law firm. Most of that was given in late 2023.
Three of those partners — Michael Asaro, James Benjamin and Charles Johnson — gave the bulk of it. Each contributed $10,000.
You might recognize that firm if you’ve been following Delgado since he first ran for Congress in 2018.
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