Donors can circumvent political contribution limits by giving to party accounts
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for New York State governor. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
ALBANY — Many of the state’s biggest political donors aren't directing their largest contributions to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican rival Bruce Blakeman themselves.
Instead, they are giving to the political parties and their array of related campaign accounts — where the donation limits are high, if not nonexistent.
On the Democratic side, there is the Greater New York Hospital Assoc. Management Corp., a healthcare lobby that gave $1.5 million to the state Democratic Party’s "housekeeping" account in June, according to state records.
Airbnb gave $270,000 to the same account. Buffalo Sabres and Bills owner Terry Pegula gave $138,600 to the state Democratic Party’s main campaign account. In addition, he and his wife also each gave Hochul’s campaign $18,000.
On the GOP side, James L. Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks, and six members of the Dolan family each gave $138,600 for a total of $970,200 to the Nassau County Republican Committee. The committee has transferred over $2 million to Blakeman’s campaign since the beginning of the year.
Newsday owner Patrick Dolan is not on the list of the family members who contributed.
Among the other six-figure infusions for the Nassau GOP, according to state elections records: David Mack, a Kings Point real estate developer, gave $100,000, as did Harry Adjmi of A&H Acquisitions, a real estate group.
The Nassau GOP is also the biggest contributor to the state GOP so far this year, transferring $169,000.
Donations from an individual to a candidate are capped by state law at $18,000. Corporations? $5,000.
But in New York, deep-pocketed donors can circumvent those caps by giving the money to political parties, watchdogs say.
The system, they say, allows wealthy individuals, corporations and unions to exert far greater financial influence than the candidate contribution limits allow.
"It’s an end run around our campaign finance laws," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a group that monitors elections and campaign contributions.
"Housekeeping" accounts draw criticism because there is no limit to the contributions they can receive. Lerner noted that housekeeping accounts are supposed to be used to pay to run party infrastructure, such as headquarters, offices and staffing, not to help political campaigns.
It’s also the place where the largest contributions go. Such as the GNYHA contribution to New York Democrats. Other big contributors to the Democrats’ housekeeping account were Verizon ($200,000) and DoorDash ($250,000).
As of July 15, the Democratic housekeeping account had a balance of $6.5 million four months before Election Day.
"Housekeeping accounts are supposed to be for political parties to build structure, not shore up incumbents," Lerner said. But the lines between party-building and assisting a campaign can be blurry.
There are limits to donations to the political parties — but the cap is generously set at $138,600.
It’s the highest such cap in the nation, said Blair Horner, senior policy adviser for the New York Public Interest Research Group.
"If you know what you’re doing, the sky’s the limit on contributions in the State of New York," Horner said. Among the problems with that is only the wealthiest individuals and groups in the state "can write checks like that."
The Dolan family's contribution, collectively, is the largest amount given to the Nassau GOP. The county party itself is the biggest single backer of Blakeman, providing over $2.2 million of the $8.4 million he has raised since launching his campaign.
On the Democratic side, the Comcast and NBCUniversal political action committee and the New York State Laborers' PAC gave the maximum $138,600 to the state Democratic committee.
As of July 15, the state Democratic Party had nearly $16 million on hand. Combined with its housekeeping account and Hochul’s own $21 million campaign account, the party has about $44 million for the final months of the election.
Hochul, running for her second full term, has raised $71 million since 2023, according to her campaign.
Blakeman, who began running in December, has raised more than $8 million. As of July 15, the candidate, the state committee and the Nassau GOP had about $5 million on hand.
'I've never seen fire sitting on the water' Three Newsday photographers talk to NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland about covering the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
'I've never seen fire sitting on the water' Three Newsday photographers talk to NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland about covering the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
