Saturday, October 15, 2011

An Expensive Mayoral Contest Funded by Out Of Town Donors

The mayoral contest, between Sebastian Giuliano (R), Dan Drew (D), and Christine Bourne (I) is shaping up to be at least twice as expensive as the race two years ago. As of October 10th, Drew has raised about $66,000, Giuliano about $54,000, and Bourne about $4,000. This amount of money dwarfs what was raised in 2009, when Giuliano raised $34,980, and Drew less than $30,000.  

The race is attracting cash and interest from throughout the state. The major candidates have hired campaign managers from elsewhere, Geoff Luxemberg of Manchester is managing the Drew campaign, and Chris Healy, until recently the statewide Republican chair, is managing the Giuliano campaign.  

Both of the major candidates are financing their campaigns with large donations from outside of Middletown. Many more of these large donations from out of town are going to the Drew campaign. 

In the most recent reporting period, Drew received 84 individual donations from people outside of Middletown, compared to 30 out-of-town donations for Giuliano. The difference in number of donors from Middletown was considerably less, Drew received 67 donations from Middletown residents, compared to 52 for Giuliano.  

In addition to individuals outside of Middletown, the Drew campaign drew on statewide political action committees, garnering 10 separate donations.

Both campaigns relied heavily on large donations.  Of the 151 donors to the Drew campaign, 86 gave $100 or more, and of the 82 donors to the Giuliano campaign, 42 gave $100 or more. 

Jump below the break to see more detail
The  tables below list all donors who gave $500 or more to each campaign (the second column lists occupation, the 3rd column lists employer).

Top Donors to the Giuliano campaign
Wendy Josephs(blank)(blank)1000
Kelly Landinon/an/a1000
Brian FayeLoan OfficerNewEngland HomeMtg1000
Luis LinaresOwnerSpartan1000
Robert WesterlundRetiredRetired1000
Bernie Tricheselfself1000
Andrew ChesterSr. Vice PresidentGreenskies Renewable Energy1000
Michael SilvestriniPresidentGreenskies1000
Robin LinaresReal Estate Agent(blank)1000
Robert OwensReal Estate ManagementO,R&L500



Top donors to the Drew campaign
Hamilton SouthFounderHLGroup Partners LLC2000
Kourosh MechanicengineerPrime Engineering, Inc1000
Ruel ManuelengineerPrime Engineering, Inc1000
Shashikant PatelengineerPrime Engineering, Inc1000
Mark ScheinbergadministratorGoodwin College1000
Rubina IslamSecretary AI Engineers1000
Robert DrewPhysicians AssistantBrochton Hospital1000
John StafstromAttyPullman & Comley1000
John McClutchyChief ExecutiveJMH Group1000
Abul IslamCivil EngineerAI Engineers600
James CanleyPolitical Consultantself500
Krishan SachdevaEngineerC.S.C.500
Kathryn PatenaudeSalesIroquois Group500
Alphonse Marottaretired(blank)500
Zaheer SharafReal estatebrokerWorld Properties International500
Peter CiminiLobbyistCapitol Strategies500
Jacqueline CiminiHomemaker(blank)500
Jeffrey ZyieshiLobbyistGaffney, Bennett and Associates500
Stephanie HernandezOperations ManagerAI Engineers, Inc500

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let me just add that Ted Raczka donated $250 to Dan Drew. I wonder what was promised to him. The Superintendent is helping Drew, Raczka is outwardly helping Drew and the democrats threw a city worker out of her job for Mrs. Raczka (an attorney who works as secretary...hhhmmm) to take the job. Be careful who you support in the upcoming election - it looks like Drew owes a lot to the BOE!

Anonymous said...

Let me just add that Ted Raczka donated $250 to Dan Drew. I wonder what was promised to him. The Superintendent is helping Drew, Raczka is outwardly helping Drew and the democrats threw a city worker out of her job for Mrs. Raczka (an attorney who works as secretary...hhhmmm) to take the job. Be careful who you support in the upcoming election - it looks like Drew owes a lot to the BOE!

Anonymous said...

This reporting is much appreciated.

I wonder who all these out of state companies are and what they have to gain from supporting municipal elections.

I also wonder what they will be spending the money on? If it is more flyers like the one I got today (Dan Drew) the spending may back fire.

What exactly did Dan Drew do to lower taxes?

Anonymous said...

What exactly are Dan Drew's qualifications to run this city? Did he ever manage anything?

Anonymous said...

So basically Malloy supporters are trying to get another Dem into office to back him-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZZuy_mqIY4

Dan was on O'Riley Factor in 2002 and defended a sexual show called "I DID YOUR MOTHER>"

Anonymous said...

The Dems are out of control! Dan has been to my door twice and promised everything and claimed anything. He seems to blame everything on SG which is insane.

I wrote this down after he left the 2nd time. Arbutus Street.

1) Seb raised taxes: How? He doesn't vote on the budget. Blank stare and repeat.
2)Seb caused lawsuits/BOE higher taxes- Huh, the mayor stood up against Haynes, and Freschette and their illegal practices. No, he is doing that for political reasons. Me: Wouldn't it be easier to just agree with the BOE and hopefully get their vote. Dan: Well, Seb's like that, he hires his cronies. ME; What about you guys, your party has been in power since 1991. What's the difference? If you get in, you will be a salve to Serra and his son will get the promotion.
Dan: I don't see it that way. Please consider me on November 8.


END OF VISIT

Anonymous said...

Let's see how qualified the current mayor is when he tries to sweep the police chief scandal under the rug! Curious what that will do to Mr. McKeon's referendum.

Anonymous said...

How about the democratic party walking around getting Wesleyan students to register to vote. How nice of them to think about the college students. Afraid they can't win with the citizens of this city? I remember a while back when they did this and Paul Gionfriddo beat Seb Garafolo thanks to the students. Didn't that work out swell for Middletown. We can't allow that to happen again. I'm all for Wes students voting as long as they are educated about who they are voting for and realize it effect real people even if they move in 4 years-

Paul Gionfriddo said...

Hey, Anonymous, why bring me up after 20 years? I don't think my term as Mayor was so bad for Middletown. We started the Main Street revival, purchased and preserved open space, froze city hiring, cut spending in my second year (look it up!), restored the City to financial health at the time (at least, that's what the bond rating agencies said), worked with everyone who came through the door,and served the City honestly. We politicians may not always have agreed in those days, but we all - Dems and Reps - worked hard and did our best. If you don't like the people who want to represent you today, why not state your name and stand for office yourself?

Tree Fanatic said...

He's right, you know.