Liu Taps New Set of Donors For 2009 Citywide Run

John Liu, the first Asian American to be elected to the City Council, is tapping a new set of political donors for a campaign for citywide office that outpaced two mayoral candidates in fund-raising over the past six months.

Of the 44 donors who contributed $4,000 or more to his campaign since the last filing period ended in mid-January, 25 of them had never donated to a New York City campaign before, according to the New York City Campaign Finance Board's latest figures.

A political strategist, Eldin Villafane, said Mr. Liu's heritage has much to do with this success. The council member was born in Taiwan and moved to Flushing at age 5.

"Right out of the gate, he's already proven that he's a candidate who's planning to introduce new supporters into the political process," Mr. Villafane said. "Whether it's the Latino community, the African-American community, or the Asian community, if there's a historical candidate, then you see things like this."

Mr. Liu has raised more than $3 million for a citywide campaign in 2009. He has not said which position he is running for, but he is believed to be positioning himself to run for public advocate.

Council Member Melinda Katz, who is running for comptroller and represents parts of Queens, raised about $225,000 over the last six months, according to the Campaign Finance Board, for a total haul of $2.1 million. Ms. Katz gave birth to a son in May.

Ms. Katz, who is chairman of the Land Use Committee, pulled in at least $30,800 from real estate firms, a real estate law firm, and developers during the last fund raising period. She raised $7,660 from political action committees.

Council member David Weprin, a comptroller candidate who also represents parts of Queens, raised about $880,000 over the last six months, for a total campaign chest of $1.88 million.

Mr. Weprin, who is chairman of the Finance Committee, appears to be trying to lay campaign groundwork in Brooklyn, spending $500 of his campaign money on a donation to the Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman, Vito Lopez, and another $700 on the Kings County Democratic Party.

Council Member David Yassky, who is running for comptroller and represents parts of Brooklyn, raised nearly $470,000 over the last six months, for a total of about $1.4 million. He collected $11,000 from eight political action committees and $1,350 from unions, according to the Campaign Finance Board filings.

Speaker Christine Quinn, who is a likely candidate for mayor, raised about $614,000 over the last six months. Fund-raising figures for Comptroller William Thompson Jr. and Rep. Anthony Weiner were not available last night.