Andrew Yang hauled in $2.1 million in just two months in his outsider bid for Gracie Mansion — and half of it came from donors who live in New York City, campaign finance filings show.
The municipal political novice outpaced every other candidate in the race save for former Wall Street executive Ray McGuire, who is forgoing the spending limits attached to the city’s public financing program.
Half of Yang’s money, $1.1 million, came from donors who live in the five boroughs, providing evidence that his support in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary may run deeper than many observers believed — with some arguing that his high polling numbers were fueled by the name recognition he earned from his long-shot presidential bid last year.
McGuire reported raising another $2.5 million over the last reporting period, which stretched from Jan. 12 to March 11, bringing his total raised to $7.4 million. His campaign has spent $3.7 million so far, though he has failed to get much traction in recent polling.
No other candidates raised more than six figures over the two-month period — but several expect to remain competitive thanks to the city’s generous public financing program.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams raised another $330,000 for his $7.6 million war chest, which is bolstered by $5.2 million in public money.
Maya Wiley added another $322,0000 to her coffers during the two-month fundraising period and scored $1.9 million in matching funds.
Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, and nonprofit executive and lefty Dianne Morales, both declared they hit the thresholds to qualify for public funds, though the Campaign Finance Board has yet to sign off and release the money.
Garcia reported raising $283,000, while Morales brought in $210,000.
The news was less rosy for city Comptroller Scott Stringer, whose low polling performance appears to be bleeding over into his fundraising. The city’s top accountant netted just $221,000 in additional donations.
However, Stringer has $6.8 million in his campaign coffers to lean on as the primary enters its home stretch this spring.
All told, more than $23.3 million has been raised by the candidates in the race so far, according to the Campaign Finance Board. And another $11.8 million in public financing has been doled out.
The money chase will play a critical role in shaping the contours of the June 22 primary, from dictating how many staffers campaigns can hire to the number of ads they can afford to run.
Two candidates — McGuire and Shaun Donovan, the Bloomberg-era housing chief and federal budget director under President Barack Obama — are already plotting ad blitzes in a bid to boost their anemic poll numbers, sources previously told The Post.
The winner will be the favorite in heavily Democratic New York to win the November general election and succeed term-limited Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The new campaign finance data came days after a new survey of the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary contest revealed that Yang is still leading in the polls.
Yang — who has never voted for mayor and whose first campaign for any office was his 2020 White House bid — led the pack with 32 percent of the vote in the first round in the Emerson College/WPIX-11 survey.
Experts attributed his polling strength in the early days to his name recognition from his appearances at the 2020 Democratic presidential debates and subsequent commentary on CNN.
Adams — with his deep ties to Brooklyn and all-important black voters — placed second with 19 percent.
The former state lawmaker also recently scored endorsements from three major labor groups — the Hotel Trades Council, the municipal employees union, AFSCME District 37, and the service workers Local 32BJ — that further solidified his status in the top tier.
Emerson’s poll also showed that Wiley edged into third place with 9 percent of the first-round vote.
There was good news, too, for Garcia — the longtime bureaucrat whom de Blasio often leaned on to fix messes in city government — who notched 5 percent of the vote.
However, the survey showed that Stringer’s bid to move up to mayor from comptroller is still struggling to gain traction. The longtime Manhattan politician — who won citywide races in 2013 and 2017 — netted 6 percent of the first-round vote.
None of the other hopefuls managed to break 4 percent in the Emerson survey, which carried a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Here’s a list of the major candidates and the amounts they have raised from private sources so far — along with how much was raised between Jan. 12 and March 11:
- Ray McGuire: $7.4 million — $2.5 million since Jan. 12
- Andrew Yang: $2.1 million — $2.1 million since Jan. 12
- Eric Adams: $3.4 million — $329,819 since Jan. 12
- Scott Stringer: $3.5 million — $220,864 since Jan. 12
- Shaun Donovan: $2.2 million — $602,672 since Jan. 12
- Maya Wiley: $1 million — $322,221 since Jan. 12
- Kathryn Garcia: $590,162 — $282,708 since Jan. 12
- Dianne Morales: $547,985 — $209,956 since Jan. 12
