In October 2005, two members of Eliot Spitzer’s gubernatorial campaign emailed the Hawk Moon Soaps Shop in Varysburg, N.Y., asking about possible gift ideas for a fundraising event. There weren’t many stipulations other than that the items had to be small and fit the campaign’s “Made in New York” theme. The shop’s owner, Cindy Blair, knew exactly what they were looking for.
“I had the idea of Buffalo Lips Cards,” Blair said of the store-brand she recommended. “I didn’t question it too much, I was just glad to get the order.”
A few days later the purchase was finalized. Spitzer’s office had just spent $1,024.65 on more than 400 sticks of lip balm.
Expenditures like these were not uncommon during the Spitzer campaign. Despite facing a negligible threat, Spitzer spent three times as much on getting elected—more than $34.4 million—than his opponent, Republican John Faso, raised during his entire candidacy. During his run for governor of New York, Spitzer used campaign funds to, among other things, travel the state and country on chartered jets, host fundraisers in Las Vegas, Vail and Beverly Hills and dine at some of New York’s most upscale restaurants. He also spent more than $30,000 on plants and flowers.
He authorized the purchase of $1,570 worth of tackle boxes—an item typically associated with fishing but used in this instance as table favors—from the Cortland Line Shop in Cortland, N.Y., as well as $1,425 in “office supplies” from Dykes Lumber Company in Union City, N.J.
The culinary tastes of the Spitzer campaign were both expensive and peculiar. Spitzer paid more than $31,000 for meals at the Waldorf Astoria in July 2005. Four months later, he spent $4,085.74 at the Kosher Bagel Hole on Avenue J in Brooklyn. Other notable expenditures include $840 for Mr. Ding-a-Ling Ice Cream on Niskayuna Road in Latham, N.Y., and $191 for cheese at Jewett’s Cheese House on Earlville Road in Earlville, N.Y.
“It was likely New York State cheddar aged over 10 years,” said Terri Jewett Larkin, the shop’s owner.
All of these purchases were perfectly legal, even if they don’t seem politically relevant. According to New York State Board of Elections ethics laws, candidates can accept donations of $5,000 from corporations and $50,100 from individuals, and disburse that money for any lawful purpose, provided it’s related to the campaign. Moreover, the items Spitzer bought all served a function. Often they were part of a greater effort to raise more campaign funds.
“That characterization is correct,” said Christine Anderson a spokesperson for Spitzer during his campaign and as governor. “For example, right away you have to pay a fundraising staff, so automatically you are spending money to raise money. In our circumstance, we had a tremendously successful fundraising effort. The expenses we made were all part of the job.”
But did these purchases come at a price? Governor Spitzer built his candidacy on the pledge to reduce the preponderance of money in politics. His mantra, quite famously, was that “On day one, everything changes,” and he has already introduced ethics reform to Albany. Yet, expenditures like the lip balm bought at Hawk Moon Soap Shop suggest that while on the campaign trail, it was politics as usual.
PAY TO PLAY
The cost of winning a gubernatorial race in New York has more than quadrupled over the last two decades, often, observers claim, to the detriment of the democratic process.
“The escalating cost of campaigns shut the door, by making it seem prohibitively expensive, to people considering a run for office,” said Megan Quattlebaum, associate director of open-government group Common Cause New York. “For candidates, spending money is a sign to the public and potential rivals that you are leading the horserace and likely to lead the electoral race.”
Spitzer’s candidacy was the third most expensive ever waged for the state’s executive office. Only former Republican Governor George Pataki in 2002 and Thomas Golisano, as a self-financed Independent that same year, ran pricier campaigns.
While much of the money was spent on wages, office space, and administrative functions, the majority was devoted towards generating publicity. New York’s media market is the priciest in the nation, forcing politicians to raise huge amounts of money to get their names on the airwaves or risk being political non-factors. Of Spitzer’s $41 million-plus campaign war chest, more than $18 million was doled out for television advertisements. It was a state media strategy that would make the Hilary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani presidential campaigns proud.
“For the city media market there is clearly a lot of fundraising that goes into running a competitive race,” said Anderson. “Upstate is less expensive to advertise in. But it was critical for us and we put a lot of money there.”
But the crux of the Spitzer campaign’s media outreach wasn’t simply ad buys. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were also spent on consultants who helped package his candidacy for television, radio and print. Global Strategies Group, a major New York-based consulting firm, received more than $14 million to assist with Spitzer’s advertisements, public opinion research, and marketing. The team of advisors wasn’t limited to the traditionally political. Clive Jacobson, an award-winning graphic designer whose client list includes the National Football League and Citibank, was paid more than $45,000 to, in his words, help make New York’s newest governor “look progressive, up-to-date and cutting edge.”
Such expenditures aren’t unique to Spitzer. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spent more than $9.5 million on
consulting fees in 2003 and 2004, according to the investigative journalism group Center for Public Integrity. Nevertheless, the presence of high-priced consultants does raise concerns among some political observers.
“Consulting fees push up the costs of campaigns which, of course, wind up being funded by special interests,” said Sandy Bergo, a senior writer at the Center for Public Integrity. “It tightens the bond between those who can afford to contribute to campaigns and the candidate.”
Just how tight the bonds are between Spitzer and his donors will be determined during his time in office. He has consistently pledged to end the “pay-for-play” culture prevalent in Albany. There are, however, several campaign expenditures made by Spitzer in which he directly aligned himself with potential favor-seekers.
MILE-HIGH CLUB
In May 2006, Spitzer and an aide, needing to travel quickly from Phoenix to Tucson to Cincinnati, were given use of casino developer Richard Field’s corporate jet. Under Board of Election guidelines the campaign was asked to only pay the equivalent of first-class airfare for the flight, which it did—cutting a check for $4,301 to the Coastal Development Group in New York City on July 10, 2006. The incident carried the foul order of influence peddling. A registered lobbyist, Fields is part of a group that is bidding to take over New York’s Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga racing tracks, a process New York’s governor must sign off on. After his election, however, Spitzer distanced himself from any appearance of a possible quid pro quo, returning more than $100,000 in campaign donations from Fields and reopening the process to determine racetrack ownership.
Earlier in 2006, Spitzer paid more than $21,000 for the use of Four M Investment Inc.’s jet in April 2006. The CEO of that company, Dennis Mehiel, not only has business interests before the state—Four M is a one of the largest full-service producers of shipping containers in the country—but, as a candidate for lieutenant governor of New York in 2002, he has a clear political agenda as well.
“Any time a politician takes a trip on someone’s jet, it gives off the appearance of some sort of favor, and that the jet owner would get something in return,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the non-profit research group, Center for Responsive Politics. “If you are trying to portray yourself as different from the run-of-the-mill politician, then you shouldn’t take trips on corporate jets.”
The political costs and necessities of these expenditures are still not entirely clear. Spitzer’s election as New York’s 54th governor seemed fated long before the first primary votes were cast. If one candidate didn’t have to spend obscene amounts of money, or make obscure purchases like $1,400 at the Sunfeather Natural Soap Co. in Potsdam, N.Y., it was him. And while Spitzer has, since his election, pledged to unilaterally stop accepting campaign contributions greater than $10,000, he could have profoundly quieted critics had he adhered to similar restrictions during his initial run for governor. As Michael Long, chairman of the Conservative Party of New York State, is quick to note, “It does seem a little hypocritical to spend and raise that much money and then, after the campaign, when you have four years to build the war chest, you say you’ll limit your fundraising.”
On the other hand, supporters of Spitzer point to the size of his electoral victory as well as his post-election reforms, as signs that he is serious about changing New York’s political culture and won’t be beholden to special interests while in Albany.
“We’ve handled this question many times before,” said his spokesperson, Anderson. “He ran a competitive race so that he could bring the type of reform to the state that people are looking for.”
Already, Spitzer and state legislative leaders have announced vast changes to New York’s ethics policies, including banning gifts to public officials and merging the committees tasked with lobbying and executive branch oversight. It remains to be seen if these changes will be effective in lessening the importance of money in New York politics, or whether Spitzer is merely putting lipstick, er—lip balm—on the pig.
“I had the idea of Buffalo Lips Cards,” Blair said of the store-brand she recommended. “I didn’t question it too much, I was just glad to get the order.”
A few days later the purchase was finalized. Spitzer’s office had just spent $1,024.65 on more than 400 sticks of lip balm.
Expenditures like these were not uncommon during the Spitzer campaign. Despite facing a negligible threat, Spitzer spent three times as much on getting elected—more than $34.4 million—than his opponent, Republican John Faso, raised during his entire candidacy. During his run for governor of New York, Spitzer used campaign funds to, among other things, travel the state and country on chartered jets, host fundraisers in Las Vegas, Vail and Beverly Hills and dine at some of New York’s most upscale restaurants. He also spent more than $30,000 on plants and flowers.
He authorized the purchase of $1,570 worth of tackle boxes—an item typically associated with fishing but used in this instance as table favors—from the Cortland Line Shop in Cortland, N.Y., as well as $1,425 in “office supplies” from Dykes Lumber Company in Union City, N.J.
The culinary tastes of the Spitzer campaign were both expensive and peculiar. Spitzer paid more than $31,000 for meals at the Waldorf Astoria in July 2005. Four months later, he spent $4,085.74 at the Kosher Bagel Hole on Avenue J in Brooklyn. Other notable expenditures include $840 for Mr. Ding-a-Ling Ice Cream on Niskayuna Road in Latham, N.Y., and $191 for cheese at Jewett’s Cheese House on Earlville Road in Earlville, N.Y.
“It was likely New York State cheddar aged over 10 years,” said Terri Jewett Larkin, the shop’s owner.
All of these purchases were perfectly legal, even if they don’t seem politically relevant. According to New York State Board of Elections ethics laws, candidates can accept donations of $5,000 from corporations and $50,100 from individuals, and disburse that money for any lawful purpose, provided it’s related to the campaign. Moreover, the items Spitzer bought all served a function. Often they were part of a greater effort to raise more campaign funds.
“That characterization is correct,” said Christine Anderson a spokesperson for Spitzer during his campaign and as governor. “For example, right away you have to pay a fundraising staff, so automatically you are spending money to raise money. In our circumstance, we had a tremendously successful fundraising effort. The expenses we made were all part of the job.”
But did these purchases come at a price? Governor Spitzer built his candidacy on the pledge to reduce the preponderance of money in politics. His mantra, quite famously, was that “On day one, everything changes,” and he has already introduced ethics reform to Albany. Yet, expenditures like the lip balm bought at Hawk Moon Soap Shop suggest that while on the campaign trail, it was politics as usual.
PAY TO PLAY
The cost of winning a gubernatorial race in New York has more than quadrupled over the last two decades, often, observers claim, to the detriment of the democratic process.
“The escalating cost of campaigns shut the door, by making it seem prohibitively expensive, to people considering a run for office,” said Megan Quattlebaum, associate director of open-government group Common Cause New York. “For candidates, spending money is a sign to the public and potential rivals that you are leading the horserace and likely to lead the electoral race.”
Spitzer’s candidacy was the third most expensive ever waged for the state’s executive office. Only former Republican Governor George Pataki in 2002 and Thomas Golisano, as a self-financed Independent that same year, ran pricier campaigns.
While much of the money was spent on wages, office space, and administrative functions, the majority was devoted towards generating publicity. New York’s media market is the priciest in the nation, forcing politicians to raise huge amounts of money to get their names on the airwaves or risk being political non-factors. Of Spitzer’s $41 million-plus campaign war chest, more than $18 million was doled out for television advertisements. It was a state media strategy that would make the Hilary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani presidential campaigns proud.
“For the city media market there is clearly a lot of fundraising that goes into running a competitive race,” said Anderson. “Upstate is less expensive to advertise in. But it was critical for us and we put a lot of money there.”
But the crux of the Spitzer campaign’s media outreach wasn’t simply ad buys. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were also spent on consultants who helped package his candidacy for television, radio and print. Global Strategies Group, a major New York-based consulting firm, received more than $14 million to assist with Spitzer’s advertisements, public opinion research, and marketing. The team of advisors wasn’t limited to the traditionally political. Clive Jacobson, an award-winning graphic designer whose client list includes the National Football League and Citibank, was paid more than $45,000 to, in his words, help make New York’s newest governor “look progressive, up-to-date and cutting edge.”
Such expenditures aren’t unique to Spitzer. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spent more than $9.5 million on
consulting fees in 2003 and 2004, according to the investigative journalism group Center for Public Integrity. Nevertheless, the presence of high-priced consultants does raise concerns among some political observers.
“Consulting fees push up the costs of campaigns which, of course, wind up being funded by special interests,” said Sandy Bergo, a senior writer at the Center for Public Integrity. “It tightens the bond between those who can afford to contribute to campaigns and the candidate.”
Just how tight the bonds are between Spitzer and his donors will be determined during his time in office. He has consistently pledged to end the “pay-for-play” culture prevalent in Albany. There are, however, several campaign expenditures made by Spitzer in which he directly aligned himself with potential favor-seekers.
MILE-HIGH CLUB
In May 2006, Spitzer and an aide, needing to travel quickly from Phoenix to Tucson to Cincinnati, were given use of casino developer Richard Field’s corporate jet. Under Board of Election guidelines the campaign was asked to only pay the equivalent of first-class airfare for the flight, which it did—cutting a check for $4,301 to the Coastal Development Group in New York City on July 10, 2006. The incident carried the foul order of influence peddling. A registered lobbyist, Fields is part of a group that is bidding to take over New York’s Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga racing tracks, a process New York’s governor must sign off on. After his election, however, Spitzer distanced himself from any appearance of a possible quid pro quo, returning more than $100,000 in campaign donations from Fields and reopening the process to determine racetrack ownership.
Earlier in 2006, Spitzer paid more than $21,000 for the use of Four M Investment Inc.’s jet in April 2006. The CEO of that company, Dennis Mehiel, not only has business interests before the state—Four M is a one of the largest full-service producers of shipping containers in the country—but, as a candidate for lieutenant governor of New York in 2002, he has a clear political agenda as well.
“Any time a politician takes a trip on someone’s jet, it gives off the appearance of some sort of favor, and that the jet owner would get something in return,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the non-profit research group, Center for Responsive Politics. “If you are trying to portray yourself as different from the run-of-the-mill politician, then you shouldn’t take trips on corporate jets.”
The political costs and necessities of these expenditures are still not entirely clear. Spitzer’s election as New York’s 54th governor seemed fated long before the first primary votes were cast. If one candidate didn’t have to spend obscene amounts of money, or make obscure purchases like $1,400 at the Sunfeather Natural Soap Co. in Potsdam, N.Y., it was him. And while Spitzer has, since his election, pledged to unilaterally stop accepting campaign contributions greater than $10,000, he could have profoundly quieted critics had he adhered to similar restrictions during his initial run for governor. As Michael Long, chairman of the Conservative Party of New York State, is quick to note, “It does seem a little hypocritical to spend and raise that much money and then, after the campaign, when you have four years to build the war chest, you say you’ll limit your fundraising.”
On the other hand, supporters of Spitzer point to the size of his electoral victory as well as his post-election reforms, as signs that he is serious about changing New York’s political culture and won’t be beholden to special interests while in Albany.
“We’ve handled this question many times before,” said his spokesperson, Anderson. “He ran a competitive race so that he could bring the type of reform to the state that people are looking for.”
Already, Spitzer and state legislative leaders have announced vast changes to New York’s ethics policies, including banning gifts to public officials and merging the committees tasked with lobbying and executive branch oversight. It remains to be seen if these changes will be effective in lessening the importance of money in New York politics, or whether Spitzer is merely putting lipstick, er—lip balm—on the pig.
| To be sure, Spitzer’s campaign dollars were allocated on items other than lip balm, flowers and private jet travel. Here’s a list of some of the other notable expenditures made by Spitzer during the road to—and even after—his election. • Nearly $4.5 million was devoted to wages for his campaign staff. • The Spitzer campaign dished out more than $1,000 for fundraising expenditures to the Venetian Hotel and Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas, Nev., on September 23 and November 5, 2005. • More than $470 was spent for a fundraiser at the Manor Vail Lodge on East Vail Valley Drive in Vail, Colo., on April 27, 2006 • $461.47 was spent on a fundraiser at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Calif., in December 2004. • The Spitzer campaign paid singer Mary McBride $1,800 on October 18, 2006 for fundraising purposes. • To celebrate his election on November 7, 2006, Spitzer’s campaign spent more than $200,000 on everything from hotel fees and lighting to entertainment and office supplies (including a $175.96 purchase at the Sports Authority). |
