It is pretty daunting to be trying to run for office when your opponent is drowning you in special interest cash. Alessandra Biaggi faced that in last month’s primary for NY-SD-34. The numbers are in, and Gotham Gazette reports that former Independent Democratic Conference leader traitor Jeff Klein spent over three million dollars in a losing campaign. This sum, $207 per vote received, might be a record for a losing campaign. Mike Bloomberg “only” spent $183 per vote in his winning mayoral re-election campaign in 2009. Biaggi was outspent by about nine to one, but still won — while keeping $133,000 in her campaign fund in case she gets a serious challenge in the general election. The photo shows some of what her money paid for — the yard sign in front of my house! There are three other candidates on the ballot — Klein, on the Independence Party line; Richard Ribustello, on the Republican line; and Antonio Vitiello, on the Conservative Party line. Klein's campaign site does not appear to have been updated since his primary loss a month ago today, and neither Ribustello nor Vitiello appear to have campaign sites on the internet. I have seen no evidence of a general election campaign from any of the three, but this is New York and you never know what can happen.
There is a warning here for us nationwide. We are doing pretty well in fundraising across the country. But elections are more than money. We need to work hard to get our message out and to get our voters to vote. We need to fight the attempts by the Republicans to steal elections in Georgia, North Dakota, Florida, Texas, and probably other places and these challenges and workarounds cost both money and time. We need to up our contributions and we need to up our campaigning. And like Alessandra Biaggi, we can win!