front cover revised.ai 1 8/28/2014 12:22:32 PM By the People: The New York City Campaign Finance Program in the 2013 Elections New York City Campaign Finance Board Copyright © 2014 New York City Campaign Finance Board 100 Church Street, New York, NY 10007 All rights reserved. Printed in North Carolina. Board Members and Staff Rose Gill Hearn | Chair Art Chang | Board Member Richard J. Davis | Board Member Courtney C. Hall | Board Member Mark S. Piazza | Board Member Amy M. Loprest | Executive Director Kitty Chan | Chief of Staff Sue Ellen Dodell | General Counsel Eric Friedman | Assistant Executive Director for Public Affairs Peri Horowitz | Assistant Executive Director for Campaign Finance Administration Daniel Cho | Director of Candidate Services Onida Coward Mayers | Director of Voter Assistance Rhonda Gaskins | Chief of Document Processing Jonnathon Kline | Director of Auditing & Accounting Diana Lundy | Chief of Records Management Kenneth O’Brien | Director of Systems Administration Jesse Schaffer | Director of Special Compliance Matt Sollars | Press Secretary Trade Stevens | Director of Human Resources & Administrative Services Elizabeth A. Upp | Director of Communications Hillary Weisman | Director of Legal Unit Board Members and Staff i Administrative Services Candidate Services Special Compliance Eric Armstead Joanne Bianco Laura Bram Dolores Fisher Jack Beeson Joe Catania Man Wai Gin Hannah Egerton Francisco Pardo James Graham Lindsay Halperin Lillie D. Holley Systems Gail Pickett Communications Marina Bardash Mary Young Jing Cao Jinhui Bao Crystal Choy Shawn Crawford Auditing & Accounting Winnie Ng Ruslan Gendelman Andrew Arrieta Karina Schroeder Edgar Gorodetsky Sauda Chapman Anne Guo Christopher Cruzcosa Document Processing Suzanne Kizis Angel Daniels Justin Brown Cheryl Laner Glynis Fuentes Rudy Castro Viktoriya Lyubeznik Hannah Golden Chelsea Jackson Madhusudan Naidu Denise Gordon-Smith Kiko Nesbitt Jennifer Jones Executive Staff Tommy Ng Sonia Kubica-Simoes Cathy Calandra Christopher Perrone Melody Lee Susan Di Muria Mohee Uddin Alison Levy Simon C. Wu Nailaja Mingo Legal Selene Muñoz Emily Forgione Voter Assistance Kevin Ramnaraine Mark Griffin Stewart Armstrong Corey Schaffer Katharine Loving Sabrina Juarez Ciara Scott Giovanni Mejia Chyann Sapp Hormis Thaliath Donna Ng Yasmin Vega Christopher Oldenburg Danielle Willemin Bethany Perskie Danica You Campaign Finance Administration Press Chris Dragotakes Justin Epstein ii 2013 Post-Election Report Report Team Editor Contributors Matt Sollars Stewart Armstrong Jack Beeson Deputy Editor Laura Bram Joe Catania Bonny Tsang Daniel Cho Crystal Choy Art Director Audrey Crabtree-Hannigan Winnie Ng Christopher Cruzcosa Sue Ellen Dodell Online Production Chris Dragotakes Hannah Egerton Jing Cao Justin Epstein Emily Forgione Appendices & Data Eric Friedman Shawn Crawford Danny Frost Anne Guo Hannah Golden Mohee Uddin Mark Griffin Lindsay Halperin Peri Horowitz Andrew Jacob Maps Sabrina Juarez Center for Urban Research, Jonnathon Kline The Graduate Center/CUNY Jordan Movinski David Burgoon Onida Coward Mayers Adam Davidson Giovanni Mejia John Mollenkopf Christopher Oldenburg Steven Romalewski Francisco Pardo Bethany Perskie Chyann Sapp Jason Schachter Jesse Schaffer Karina Schroeder Elizabeth Upp Lauren Vincent Hillary Weisman Danielle Willemin Danica You Report Team iii Foreword Welcome to the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s report on the 2013 elections. The Campaign Finance Act, as enacted in 1988, requires that the Board “review and evaluate the effect of [the Act] upon the conduct of election campaigns in the city and shall submit a report to the mayor and the city council” containing the substance of its review, and recommendations for changes to the law. This is the Board’s ninth such report, and my first as Chair. These reviews have provided the public with a broad, transparent view of the way that money is raised and spent in City elections, and they have helped strengthen the city’s Campaign Finance Program even as dramatic changes in the legal Rose Gill Hearn, Chair, and political landscape have time and again threatened it NYC Campaign Finance Board with upheaval. Along with its review of the elections, the report provides a review of the CFB’s own work and describes in detail some of the steps we’ve taken to improve the administration of the Program. The thoughtful efforts by lawmakers past and present to shape the Act, and the strong work of CFB staff to administer it, together provide a solid foundation for the Board’s proposals for further reforms, detailed within. Thank you for your interest in the work of the Board. Rose Gill Hearn Chair September 1, 2014 Foreword v Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................1 1 | The Impact of the Campaign Finance Program ...............................................5 MAYOR ....................................................................................6 Democratic Primary. 6 Republican Primary .......................................................................11 General Election ..........................................................................12 Analysis (Full Election Cycle) ...............................................................13 COMPTROLLER .............................................................................15 Democratic Primary. 15 General Election ..........................................................................17 Analysis (Full Election Cycle) ...............................................................17 PUBLIC ADVOCATE .........................................................................18 Democratic Primary. 19 Runoff Election ..........................................................................20 General Election ..........................................................................21 Analysis (Full Election Cycle) ...............................................................21 BOROUGH PRESIDENT .....................................................................22 Manhattan ..............................................................................23 Queens ................................................................................25 CITY COUNCIL .............................................................................26 Council District 5 — Manhattan — Upper East Side . .28 Council District 6 — Manhattan — Upper West Side. .29 Council District 15 — Bronx — Fordham, Central Bronx .........................................30 Council District 19 — Queens — Auburndale, Bayside, College Point, Douglaston, Little Neck, Whitestone ..............................................................................31 Table of Contents vii Council District 27 — Queens — St. Albans, Hollis, Cambria Heights, Queens Village. 33 Council District 36 — Brooklyn — Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant ...........................35 Council District 38 — Brooklyn — Red Hook, Sunset Park. 36 Council District 48 — Brooklyn — Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay ...37 Council District 50 — Staten Island — Mid-Island ..............................................40 THE PROGRAM AT WORK: PARTICIPATION — COMPETITION — TRANSPARENCY ....................41 Small Contributions, New Contributors ......................................................41 Contributions from Around the City ........................................................42 Program Participation ....................................................................45 Demographics ..........................................................................47 Fostering Competition ....................................................................48 Public Funds. .48 Transparency ...........................................................................50 2 | Independent Expenditures ...............................................................69 DISCLOSURE OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES IN NEW YORK CITY ............................69 Local Law 15 of 2013 .....................................................................70 CFB Rules for Disclosure of Independent Expenditures: An Overview ...........................71 Enabling Timely, Complete Disclosure. 71 DISCLOSURE OF SPENDING IN 2013 .........................................................72 Where the Money Came From. 74 How the Money Was Spent . 75 Effectiveness of Independent Expenditures ................................................ 77 3 | NYC Votes .............................................................................81 THE VOTER GUIDE ..........................................................................81 Print ...................................................................................82 Video ..................................................................................82 Online .................................................................................83 NYCVotes.org. 83 Candidate Participation in the Voter Guides. 84 2013 DEBATE PROGRAM ....................................................................84 Primary Election Debates .................................................................87 Challenges .............................................................................89 viii 2013 Post-Election Report VOTER ASSISTANCE ........................................................................91 Registering New Citizens ..................................................................91 2013 National