A super political action committee (Super PAC) supporting former New York Governor Cuomo, “Fix The City,” raised as much as $1.26 million in the past week, setting a new record for the largest single-week fundraising by all mayoral candidates’ affiliated Super PACs since the Democratic primary.
This substantial amount of funding includes a $500,000 donation from former Estée Lauder CEO and billionaire William Lauder, a $250,000 contribution from his family member and Lauder Group heir Jack Zinterhofer, $500,000 from former chairman and CEO of energy giant Hess Corporation John Hess, and a $10,000 donation from genetic testing company Natra Inc.
As Super PACs are legally independent of the candidates’ campaign teams and can accept unlimited large donations, these funds are seen as a strong boost for Cuomo in the final stretch of the election.
In comparison, in terms of fundraising for regular campaign accounts, Democratic nominee and Democratic Socialist Mamdani raised $1.05 million in the past five weeks, nearly double that of Cuomo ($507,000), and surpassing the current mayor Adams ($460,000) and Republican candidate Sliwa ($407,000).
There are also reports indicating that the Super PAC supporting Mamdani, “New Yorkers for Lower Costs,” recently received a $250,000 donation from philanthropist Elizabeth Simons, daughter of the late hedge fund mogul James Simons.
Chairman of “Fix The City” and long-time ally of Cuomo, Steve M. Cohen, revealed that more old friends and new benefactors will be joining to support Cuomo in the next 30 to 45 days.
Since there are limits on direct campaign donations to candidates, the existence of “Fix The City” allows Cuomo to raise substantial amounts through “big donors,” maintaining the financial competition with Mamdani. The organization raised over $25 million for Cuomo during the primary, including an $8 million donation from former New York City Mayor Bloomberg alone.