Silver, Bruno Edging Out Governor

Since becoming governor, Governor Spitzer has spent more than $4 million in campaign funds, amassing expenses that outmatched his intake of contributions during the same period.

He has less money in the bank than his main Albany adversary, the state Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, and half that of the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver.

According to Board of Elections filings for the past six months, Mr. Spitzer's rate of spending was unusually high for a governor who is not up for re-election for more than three years, a reflection of his tumultuous first months in office marked by a fierce public battle with a major interest group and conflicts with lawmakers over the budget.

At the current pace, Mr. Spitzer will spend more than $30 million by the end of his first term in 2010. The governor's failure to raise more money than he exhausted — he picked up $3.7 million in the period — suggests he will likely have to find a new strategy for dealing with resistance to his budget priorities if he is to remain solvent.

The campaign deficit also raises questions about his ability to raise enough money while sticking to his self-imposed pledge to refuse to accept individual contributions of more than $10,000, less than a fifth of the legal limit. Hundreds of Mr. Spitzer's donations totaled $10,000, suggesting that contributors would have given the governor more money had he not imposed the cap.

Mr. Spitzer has tried to make up for the cash cap by encouraging donors to bundle contributions, a practice that has drawn criticism from Mr. Bruno and other lawmakers who have accused the governor of hypocrisy. The filings also showed multiple cases of donations coming from the same household that collectively exceed $10,000, pointing to another way the governor has sought to overcome his self-created handicap.

Many of the big contributors to Mr. Spitzer came from the fields of finance and law. Corporate executives, hedge fund managers, real estate developers, and investment bankers were well represented on the list, which also included partners at several lucrative Manhattan law firms.

Between February and April, Mr. Spitzer paid Global Strategy Group, a Manhattan-based consulting firm that advised his gubernatorial campaign, more than $3 million, much of it for a string of television ads defending his budget from a well-financed attack campaign waged by the state's largest health care employees' union, 1199 SEIU, and a major hospital association. The amount also includes $500,000 Mr. Spitzer spent from his personal fortune.

It's not clear how much Mr. Spitzer benefited from the ad buy. The final budget passed by the Legislature restored a large chunk of the cuts to hospitals and nursing homes that Mr. Spitzer sought.

Mr. Spitzer also paid $100,000 to the New York Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the local chapter of a national organization that represents low-income residents, which also backed the governor during his budget battle.

Among the governor's contributors were publicist Howard Rubenstein; Albany lobbyist Patricia Lynch and her husband; Donald Trump; a supermarket magnate who is a possible mayoral hopeful, John Catsimatidis, and designer Kenneth Cole, all of whom gave $10,000.

At least $60,000 in contributions came from people connected to the real estate giant Tishman Speyer, which is expected to place a bid to develop the Hudson Rail Yards. President and CEO Jerry Speyer gave $10,000. Three members of the Tishman family gave donations totaling $25,000. A partnership listed to Chairman Robert Tishman's address, Fulbright and Jaworski LLP, gave $25,000.

Mr. Spitzer also returned $10,000 checks from developer Steven Roth and his wife, as well as a $10,000 check from an Albany lobbying firm, Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman and Dicker. An employee of the governor's campaign committee said the money was returned because the donors were "involved in a significant way" with state business. Mr. Roth is part of Excelsior Racing, a group bidding to manage the state's horseracing tracks.

Mr. Bruno, the Senate majority leader and the most vocal critic of the governor's leadership, has $1.6 million in his re-election account, having raised more than $200,000 and spent more than $500,000.

Mr. Bruno spent close to $5,000 on more than 20 visits to Jack's Oyster House, an upscale Albany restaurant close to the Capital building. The Senate leader, whose business interests are being probed by federal investigators, paid about $100,000 in legal fees to Dreyer Boyajian, a law firm in Albany.

Mr. Silver has $2.9 million in his re-election account.

The Republican state party, which endorsed Mayor Giuliani for president, has more than $500,000 in its operating account, having received a $60,000 donation from Paul Singer, a hedge fund executive and major fund-raiser for Mr. Giuliani.