Mayor Intensifies Fund-Raising For Candidates Near and Far
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With less than two weeks to go until the midterm elections, Mayor Bloomberg is intensifying his support for a number of candidates running competitive races in and out of New York State by appearing in commercials and hosting last-minute fund-raisers.
The mayor is starring in a 30-second television commercial and a 60-second radio spot for Rep. Christopher Shays, a Republican who is locked in a tight race with Democrat Diane Farrell in Connecticut. Both of the spots hit the airwaves yesterday and will run until the November 7 election.
Mr. Bloomberg, a lifelong Democrat who became a Republican before running for mayor in 2001, is co-hosting a fund-raiser for Senator Lieberman in Chicago tonight. The mayor also has two more fund-raisers on his calendar for Mr. Lieberman before the election — one at his Upper East Side townhouse and one in Connecticut.
Mr. Lieberman, Vice President Gore’s running mate in the 2000 presidential election, is running as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary.
Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire who financed his re-election campaign with more than $80 million of his fortune, has also opened his home to raise money for moderate Republicans such as Governor Schwarzenegger of California and Governor Rell of Connecticut, as well as for an upstate GOP incumbent, Rep. John Sweeney. Mr. Bloomberg’s caterers have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen this political season.
Political analysts say bolstering the independent-minded candidates who mirror his style could make running for president in 2008 on a third party line a more credible plan for Mr. Bloomberg.
In 2004, Messrs. Bloomberg and Shays had a nasty public dispute when the Connecticut congressman said he wouldn’t go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve because of the possibility of terrorism. The two reconciled soon after.
In the television spot for Mr. Shays, Mr. Bloomberg calls the Republican “one of the best congressmen of either party,” and he stresses the incumbent’s independent credentials in connection with stem cell research, homeland security, and fiscal responsibility.
“Christopher Shays works on a bipartisan basis to do what’s right, without regard to politics or who he may offend,” Mr. Bloomberg says into the camera.
During a June fund-raiser for Mr. Shays at the Connecticut home of shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, Mr. Bloomberg suggested that he was contemplating a White House bid.
According to a Connecticut newspaper, the Hour, Mr. Bloomberg, when asked if he was considering a run, said, “Absolutely not.” Then he quickly added: “And anybody who’s running will say exactly that.”
With dozens of races throughout the country too close to call and the possibility that Democrats could win power of one or both congressional houses, the two main political parties are pouring money and resources into any race deemed up for grabs.
While Mr. Bloomberg has overtly distanced himself from his fellow Republicans on a range of high-profile issues such as gun control and stem cell research, New York Democrats condemned him yesterday for helping his party maintain control in Washington.
The New York State Democratic Committee said the mayor was “putting his party’s interests above those of the city by stumping for Republican House candidates.”
“It is an outrage that Mayor Bloomberg is working overtime to ensure that the GOP retains control of Congress,” a spokesman for the state party, Blake Zeff, said in statement. “That will mean weaker gun safety laws, abortion rights restrictions, failed policies in Iraq, and obstacles to stem cell research.”
The state party also chastised Mr. Bloomberg for backing Mr. Sweeney and Rep. Thomas Reynolds, both Republicans of New York.
In recent weeks, Mr. Reynolds has been dogged for not doing more to remove Rep. Mark Foley after he learned that the congressman sent sexually explicit e-mails to male pages.
Federal records show that in March Mr. Bloomberg gave $4,200 to Mr. Sweeney, who has pushed some of the city’s agenda items in the House Appropriations Committee. No contributions to Mr. Foley are listed.
The mayor has repeatedly criticized Congress for being too political and has singled out his own brand of politicians to support. In the case of Messrs. Lieberman and Shays, he has stressed that he doesn’t always agree with them, but that he respects their willingness to speak their minds.
“Congressman Shays is an honest person. He says what he believes, and that’s what representative government should be. He’s not told what to say by others,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters yesterday.
One political consultant, Joseph Mercurio, said the mayor’s support for politicians like Messrs. Shays, Lieberman, and Schwarzenegger could give him a boost if he decides to run for president.
He said Mr. Bloomberg seems to have “cherry-picked” candidates to back. He said some of those candidates will help push New York agenda items, while others could help the mayor navigate the electoral map if he runs in 2008.