Kerry Gets Nod from Key Aides of Bloomberg

Filings with the Federal Elections Commission show that two key officials of the Bloomberg administration have thrown their support, and their contributions, behind the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Kerry.The city’s commissioner of planning, Amanda Burden, a force behind the proposed West Side stadium and the push to lure the Olympics to New York, has donated $27,000 to a group called “Kerry Victory 2004.” That money was split up so that she gave $2,000 to “John Kerry for President” and $25,000 to the Democratic National Committee. Both contributions were made this June, according to FEC filings.The city’s consumer affairs commissioner, Gretchen Dykstra, gave Mr. Kerry’s presidential campaign $200 in May, the FEC filings said.Mayor Bloomberg, who is now a Republican and has himself been a frequent contributor to political campaigns, has made clear that he is supporting President Bush in November and has said so publicly and repeatedly. Several telephone calls requesting comment were placed to both Ms. Burden’s and Ms. Dykstra’s offices but went unreturned.While on the surface the contributions may seem to place the two commissioners at cross-purposes politically with their boss, analysts said Ms. Burden’s contribution could end up helping the mayor as he seeks re-election next year.She is a close aide and friend of Mr. Bloomberg’s but feels no pressure to stop contributing to the party of her choice.“It is an unintended way for him to prove that he really has a fusion government and politics are less important than ability,” a political consultant who works with Democrats, Hank Sheinkopf, told The New York Sun. “Actually it ends up giving him cover as he overtly supports the president. It makes it harder for the mayor’s critics and opponents to paint him as a complete Bush Republican.”A search through FEC filings for other contributions from Bloomberg administration commissioners yielded a roster of Democratic Party donations, but they date from past campaigns. There were no current contributions listed in the FEC filings.One of Mr. Bloomberg’s deputy mayors, Daniel Doctoroff, gave the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $20,000, for example, but that was in 1998 – a time when Mr. Bloomberg was a Democrat. In the 2000 campaign, Mr. Doctoroff supported Bill Bradley in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Through the latest FEC filings, which run through June, Mr. Doctoroff had yet to throw financial support behind any candidate.Similarly, deputy mayor Patricia Harris, a longtime Bloomberg aide, gave Mr. Bradley’s campaign $250 in 1999, but the federal agency has no record of political contributions from her in this election cycle.Mr. Bloomberg, who is said to be worth about $5 billion, has donated $275,000 to the Republican National Committee and at least $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, according to the latest FEC filings. The mayor, a lifelong Democrat who switched parties when he ran for office, has said Mr. Bush’s record on fighting terrorism is part of the reason for his support.Representative John Sweeney has been the only other recipient of Mr. Bloomberg’s political largesse this year. The Republican in New York’s 22nd Congressional district got a total of $8,000 from Mr. Bloomberg last June.Campaign contributions have been a habit for Mr. Bloomberg though his focus on Republican candidates is somewhat new. In the past he has supported causes and candidates across the political spectrum. He sent money to Vice President Gore; a Republican congressman from Connecticut, Christopher Shays; a Democratic senator from Connecticut, Christopher Dodd; Democratic Senators Jon Corzine of New Jersey, John Breaux of Republican, and Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, and Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona and Richard Shelby of Alabama.“Contributing to the Democrats is not the kind of behavior that would have been looked on well in Giuliani administration, and in Amanda Burden’s case we’re talking about a significant amount of money,” Mr. Sheinkopf said. “But Mike Bloomberg has always said he is about what people stand for, not their political affiliation, and these kinds of contributions help him prove that.”

Kerry Gets Nod from Key Aides of Bloomberg

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