Stressed Spitzer Raises Funds In Manhattan

Governor Spitzer raised an estimated $1.5 million at a Manhattan fund-raiser last night, helping to replenish a campaign war chest dangerously low in cash.

The fund-raiser, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th Street, drew other Democratic officials, including Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, all of whom Mr. Spitzer thanked by name before addressing the crowd.

Tickets ranged between $1,000 and $10,000 and attendees were served a three-course dinner of salad with grilled apples and goat cheese, free-range chicken with broccoli rabe and roasted vegetables, and cookies, brownies, and petits fours for dessert. The dishes came from New York farms.

Addressing an audience of about 700, Mr. Spitzer finished off his speech with an anecdote about a recent visit to the doctor, where he was advised to take a stress test.

"I said, 'Doc. Where have you been for 11 months?'" Mr. Spitzer said, drawing laughter from the crowd. Mr. Spitzer is considered vulnerable in 2010, with a recent poll from Siena College that found almost half of New Yorkers say would prefer to elect someone new to the position.

While introducing her husband, Silda Wall Spitzer also acknowledged some of the trials of her husband's first year in office, but praised his administration for "bringing passion back to Albany." "I think that all of us in this room recognize that this year has been filled with far more than the focus of the media coverage," Mrs. Spitzer said. "I think that you understand that sometimes the very measure of success in effecting an agenda to move things forward is the ferocity of the pushback and you are here tonight because you recognize that."

Mr. Spitzer's re-election account held roughly $1.5 million in July, according to the most recent figures available, although he raised about $3.7 million during his first six months in office. Most of the money raised at the start of his term went to the Global Strategy Group, a political and corporate consulting firm.