SCHENECTADY — Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy holds a sizable financial advantage in the city’s mayoral race over his Democratic primary challenger City Council President Marion Porterfield, who missed the state’s pre-primary financial disclosure deadline by 12 days, according to records from the New York State Board of Elections.
According to financial disclosure filings, McCarthy’s campaign had $98,362 in cash-on-hand as of its May 26 filing, while Porterfield’s campaign had $4,388 in its coffers in advance of the June 27 Democratic primary.
The state’s 32-day pre-primary filing deadline was May 26, with McCarthy’s campaign filing its disclosure on that day. McCarthy said his campaign also plans to comply with the 11-day pre-primary filing, which is due on June 16.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, Porterfield had yet to file the 32-day pre-primary with the state Board of Elections. In response to an inquiry from The Daily Gazette regarding the status of the filing, Porterfield said she was unaware that the disclosure had not been submitted to the state.
“I don’t do those personally,” Porterfield said.
Porterfield said she would investigate the matter with her unnamed campaign treasurer.
The financial disclosure was subsequently filed with the state at 3:32 p.m.
The first filing reported that Porterfield’s mayoral campaign had $7,032 in cash-on-hand. Porterfield’s campaign then filed amended disclosure forms at 4:48 p.m. and 5:35 p.m. that list the campaign as having $4,388 on hand as of the latest filing.
Porterfield did not return requests for comment on Thursday regarding the financial filings.
Under state election law, all candidates are required to file a minimum of two campaign financial disclosure statements per year, with candidates who are running in elections in a given year required to file pre- and post-election reports.
State election law stipulates that the penalty for failure to file a required report, including filing it late or omitting information required by state law, subjects the political committee, treasurer and candidate to civil penalties for a maximum of $1,000 for each report.
“She’s not very good at paperwork,” McCarthy said of Porterfield on Thursday. “We lost the grant for Weed and Seed under her and she didn’t take care of some exemptions on property that she resides in. This is just another example with the election filings not being done in a timely manner.”
In 2010, the federal government cut off funding to the city’s Weed and Seed crime reduction program after then-project coordinator Porterfield did not complete performance reports for the program in 2008 and 2009.
Last fall, Porterfield denied accusation from the Schenectady GOP that claimed that she was utilizing tax exemptions granted to her deceased mother on her Strong Street residence, noting in September that the process of settling her mother’s estate, which included the home, was still ongoing.
“You have to be familiar with the rules of campaign finance to run for office and you’ve got to have people around you that can ensure you meet those deadlines,” Republican mayoral candidate Matt Nelligan said of Porterfield’s disclosures. “That implies a certain lack of professionalism and disorganization in her campaign that shouldn’t exist for somebody running a serious race. That said, those things are correctable and she corrected it. On that level, she did what she needed to do, but those should be done on time and done correctly.”
In Nelligan’s periodic filing that was submitted on the Jan. 17 deadline, his campaign reported $1,287 cash on hand. Nelligan says his campaign will show robust fiscal growth by the next periodic filing deadline on July 17.
“I’ve got a lot more money in the bank today and when the July filing comes I expect to file a good number,” he said. “I’ll file more than Porterfield for sure. [McCarthy] is the incumbent mayor and if you look at his filing you’ll see lots of money from the Galesi Group and other developers who are taking money and subsidies from the city and Metroplex.”
McCarthy’s May 26 filing reports a $500 contribution from the Galesi Group real estate company.
In McCarthy’s January periodic disclosure, which was filed on Feb. 3 and subsequently amended on Feb. 16, he had $92,108 on hand. Porterfield’s campaign filed a no-activity report on Feb. 7 for its January periodic filing, indicating no financial activity for the reporting period.
The mayor’s May 26 filing reports $5,922 for the three months prior to the filing, with campaign contributions of $1,870 coming from the CHA Consulting construction management firm and $1,500 from former Price Chopper CEO Neil Golub.
“It reflects the community’s investment in my campaign,” McCarthy said. “It’s large donors and small donors. People across the community, I believe, want to continue the policies I have in place and the team I have in place and the financial contributions reflect that.”
Contact Ted Remsnyder at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @TedRemsnyder.
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