Republican Kate Murray and Democrat Madeline Singas are in a dead spending heat in the race for district attorney as the Nov. 3 election approaches, according to recent campaign finance documents.
The filings, required at the 11-day mark leading up to the election, show Acting District Attorney Singas outspent Hempstead Town Supervisor Murray by a little more than $3,000 — $602,769.98 to $599,300.33.
Murray’s campaign spent 93 percent of that money on television advertisements, paying a total of $557,000 to Blauvelt-based firm McLaughlin & Associates for production services this month.
About half of Singas’ expenses were for TV ads. Her campaign paid New York City-based AKPD Message & Media $299,448.66 to produce them.
Singas outdid Murray in individual contributions, raising $148,069 to $111,117.01.
But Murray’s campaign was bolstered by $400,000 in contributions from the Nassau County Republican Committee.
The boost left Murray with $203,829.67 in her war chest with less than two weeks before the election ‚ about $70,000 more than Singas, who closed with $134,762.97 on hand.
Murray also received $20,175 in corporate donations and $61,200 from “other” donors, such as limited liability companies and political committees, for a total of $592,492.01 in campaign receipts since the end of September.
Singas got $13,550 in corporate donations, $9,162 worth of in-kind donations and $85,200 from “other” donors, including limited liability companies and political committees, bringing her campaign’s total income since the end of September to $255,981.03.
Town of North Hempstead
Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth, a Democrat, raised $25,698 over the past month, $19,648 of which came from individual donors.
Her campaign spent $26,147.01, closing the period with $363,211 on hand.
Bosworth’s Republican opponent, Carle Place school Trustee Anthony Bulzomi, did not file a report last Friday.
But the Nassau County Republican Committee’s filings say it gave $7,093.50 to his campaign, and the North Hempstead Republican Committee contributed $6,132.98.
Republican Mary Kay Barket, Councilwoman Anna Kaplan’s (D-Roslyn) challenger for the Fourth District seat on the Town Board, also got $7,093.50 from the NCRC and $4,221.23 from the NHRC.
But she did not herself file an itemized report.
The same was true for Republican Henry Golis, Town Councilman Peter Zuckerman’s (D-East Hills) challenger for the Second District seat.
Golis, who has the NCRC listed as his authorized campaign committee, got $7,093.50 from that group and $4,221.23 from the North Hempstead Republicans.
Those donations put them ahead of their opponents in terms of income for this period — Kaplan’s campaign brought in $9,601, and Zuckerman’s raised $4,725.
Kaplan spent only $608.62, but closed with $24,688.99 in her war chest.
Zuckerman, who is running for his first full term in office, spent $1,630 and had $6,097.55 on hand at the end of the period.
Councilwoman Dina DeGeorgio’s (R-Port Washington) campaign to keep her Sixth District seat brought in just $475.
But she far outspent her Democratic opponent, Emily Beys, with $14,664.91 in expenses to Beys’ $278.92.
Beys, though, raised $10,086 over the past month and closed with $41,227.16, almost three times DeGeorgio’s balance of $16,059.
Nassau County Legislature
Dean Hart, the challenger for Donald MacKenzie’s (R-East Hills) 18th District seat in the county Legislature, is the only candidate who can say he is free from outside financial influence — because he’s funding his own campaign.
The only gifts listed on the Oyster Bay optometrist’s Oct. 23 filing were a pair of $25,000 contributions in his own name.
He also made two loans to his campaign committee, Friends of Dean Hart — one for $15,000 that was forgiven and another for $10,000 that remains outstanding.
Hart spent $69,551.56 over the past month, leaving him with a balance of $9,158.44.
On Oct. 15, he paid NYC-based firm BerlinRosen $36,778.42 for campaign literature — the same week he called for an investigation into misleading mailers that the Republican party sent out on MacKenzie’s behalf.
MacKenzie’s filings were more modest — he took in no donations and spent $1,982.26, closing with $26,783.28 on hand.
The filings don’t reveal much about the race for the 10th District seat between incumbent Ellen Birnbaum (D-Great Neck) and Republican Lisa Benjamin.
Birnbaum did not file a report, and Benjamin filed an “in-lieu-of-statement” document, meaning she neither raised nor spent more than $1,000 over the past month.
The NCRC did give $8,807.72 in support of Benjamin, the committee’s filings say.
There was a large spending gap between Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove), the incumbent in the 11th Legislative District, and her Republican opponent Matthew Connolly.
The legislator had $7,776.19 in expenses over the past month, which included a $300 refunded donation; but Connolly spent nothing.
DeRiggi-Whitton also out-fundraised Connolly $3,400 to $2,700. His closing balance, though, stood at $13,159, more than twice DeRiggi-Whitton’s balance of $6,069.69.
In the Ninth District race, incumbent Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) took in $10,395 and spent $2,129.98.
His expenditures included donations to the NCRC and the Town of Hempstead Republican Committee, as well as two reimbursements to Republican Nassau County Richard Nicolello totaling $494.
Democratic candidate Mal Nathan did not file a report.
Legislator Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) took in $8,840 in her campaign to return to the 16th District seat, $4,750 of which came from political committees and labor unions.
Jacobs spent $3,301.12 over the past month and closed the period with $15,917.50 on hand.
Her biggest expenditure was $2,451.12 to hold a fundraising event at the La Famiglia restaurant in Plainview.
Her Republican opponent, Angel Cepeda, did not file a report.
