Candidate Shaun Donovan’s long-shot bid to replace Mayor Bill de Blasio next year got a financial shot in the arm Thursday when the Campaign Finance Board voted to award nearly $1.5 million in public matching funds after receiving sworn statements that a super PAC bankrolled by his dad was not coordinating with his campaign.
Last week, the CFB withheld matching funds to Donovan after saying it was investigating the relationship between the campaign and an independent group seeking to boost the former Bloomberg and Obama insider’s flagging bid for City Hall.
Campaigns are barred from coordinating with outside groups.
Donovan’s father, Michael Donovan, donated $2 million to the pro-Donovan New Start NYC Super Pac.
Donovan served as housing director to former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and later served in the Obama Administration, first as housing secretary and then as budget director.
The CFB said Thursday it had received sworn affidavits from both Shaun and Michael Donovan assuring that there was no coordination between the campaign and the independent expenditure group, which is nearly entirely bankrolled by the candidate’s dad to aid his campaign.
“After reviewing additional information, including statements from Shaun and Michael Donovan, the Board voted to approve a public funds payment to the New Yorkers for Donovan campaign today. The campaign will be subject to an ongoing, post-election audit, just like all campaigns in this election,”. said CFB chairman Frederick Schaffer.
“We have implemented among the strongest disclosure regulations around independent expenditure groups in the country. This means that city voters will know more about who is behind the political advertising that they see.”
Schaffer said the creation of several “single-candidate” outside groups like the pro-Donovan New Start NYC threaten to subvert the goals of the city’s campaign finance system to have candidates get matching funds for collecting more money from low-dollar private donations, and relying less on big bucks from wealthy donors.
“The CFB may address these issues after the election in connection with its recommendations for changes in the law and in amendments to its rules dealing
with the factors that define independent expenditures on the one hand and coordination between campaign committees and PACs on the other hand.”
But Schaffer also said any changes have to abide by the US Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision that bars any restrictions on campaign donations that run afoul of speech rights under the First Amendment.
One government watchdog group said the pro-Donovan Super PAC bankrolled by his dad “blows a hole in the campaign finance system.”
“CFB needs to change the rules as soon as possible,” said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany.
The Donovan campaign applauded the release of the funds.
“We are grateful for the CFB’s swift action to resolve this issue, as well as to the thousands of New Yorkers who donated their hard-earned dollars to support our campaign of ideas. This decision upholds New York City’s unique, progressive campaign finance system as a model for the nation,” said Donovan campaign manager Brendan McPhillips.
Candidates are eligible for public dollars for the first $250 of a contribution received from a donor. The matching funds for those donations is 8 to 1.
There are three more reporting periods before the June 22 primary.
The CFB has already released a record-shattering $74 million in matching funds, more than double the amount spent in any prior election.
Other mayoral candidates have received more than $20 million combined in matching funds, led by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, civil rights lawyer and former top City Hall legal counsel Maya Wiley, former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and social services advocate Dianne Morales.
