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Spitzer Will Pay You $800/Day To Collect Signatures For Him
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 10, 2013
Modified Jul 10, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 10, 2013
Modified Jul 10, 2013
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Yesterday, candidates for citywide office were bragging about how many petitions they got to get onto the ballot. But the politician that everyone wants to talk about—disgraced former Governor Eliot Spitzer—is scrambling to get signatures in his bid to run for NYC Comptroller because the filing deadline is tomorrow. How desperate is he? Well, he's paying $800 a day to the brave souls who will gather signatures on his behalf.
Spitzer needs 3,750 signatures to get on the ballot, but those John Hancocks have to be valid—from registered Democrats who haven't signed any other Comptroller candidate's petition. The Love Gov said he hoped to gather 7,500 signatures, but there seemed to be way more press than potential signers to his petition at his first petitioning event. The NY Times reports, "[T]here were signs of desperation. On Monday, the campaign posted an ad on Craigslist and other job sites, offering to pay canvassers $12 an hour, a standard rate. By Tuesday, the campaign was reportedly willing to pay $800 a day. On Wednesday night, the Spitzer campaign plans to hold a 'petitioning party' at a Manhattan restaurant."
Hunter College Political Science Professor Kenneth Sherrill explained earlier this week, "Spitzer has to be very careful about petitioning. The rule of thumb is that you need two or three times the minimum number to get the required number of signatures. Trying to get 10,000 signatures in four days will mean a lot of work for unemployed actors and college students, but it also will mean a lot of errors." And Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, the other Democratic candidate for Comtproller, has collected 100,000 signatures.
The Daily News also confirmed the $800 figure as well, and a Spitzer insider told the News, "It’s a jump ball whether or not he’ll be getting on" the ballot.
Who knows—money buys lots of things.
Tagged
ballot access
Election 2013
eliot spitzer
money
NYC Comptroller
petition
scott stringer
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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