Council Member Liu Excelling In Fund-Raising for Unknown Race

City Council Member John Liu's aspirations may be a mystery, but his fund-raising abilities are clearly formidable — he's outpacing some of New York City's biggest heavyweights.

The Democrat of Queens said he has raised about $815,000 in the past six months for his campaign for an unspecified, citywide office. By contrast, the two top mayoral candidates, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Comptroller William Thompson Jr., raised about $620,000 and $625,000, respectively, in that period.

Even in the aggregate totals for their campaigns, Mr. Liu is coming out ahead of Ms. Quinn. He has now raised about $3.02 million, versus her $3 million. Mr. Thompson has raised about $4.8 million.

All candidates for city offices have to declare all of their current campaign finance activity tomorrow.

"It comes down to sheer hard work and persistence," Mr. Liu said of his fund-raising efforts. "There's no magic wand that's available."

Mr. Liu's numbers are dwarfed by those of Rep. Anthony Weiner, another mayoral candidate, who raised about $1.4 million in the past six months, bringing him to a total of about $5 million.

Given that Mr. Liu has not yet declared what citywide office he will seek, he could potentially be in the running for comptroller, which would put him in a tight contest that's pulling in nearly as much money as the mayoral race.

One declared comptroller candidate, Council Member David Weprin, said he has raised about $1.9 million in his campaign, with about $336,000 gained in the past six months.

Council Member Melinda Katz could not be reached for comment, but she had raised $1.88 million by January 15 in her comptroller effort. The president of the Bronx, Alfonso Carrión, also could not be reached for comment, but he had raised $1.74 million by that same date.

Council Member David Yassky's campaign declined to disclose its totals in advance of the deadline, but he had raised $928,912 by the January date. Assemblyman James Brennan said he has raised $507,000.