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As Mayoral Candidates Get Fresh Taxpayer-Funded Payouts, Campaign Finance Board Withholds Money From Shaun Donovan

David Cruz

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Gwynne Hogan

Published Apr 15, 2021

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Shaun Donovan, at the podium with an aide holding an umbrella over his head, denies any coordination between his campaign and a super PAC his father started on his behalf.

Gwynne Hogan

David Cruz

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Gwynne Hogan

Published Apr 15, 2021

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While the top-tier mayoral candidates received a boost in taxpayer-funded payouts on Thursday, the city Campaign Finance Board withheld payments to former federal housing secretary Shaun Donovan. The CFB said it has questions related to the super PAC supporting his campaign, which was largely funded by his father.

The super PAC, called New Start NYC, has been largely funded by Michael Donovan, a wealthy executive in the advertising technology sector and the father of the mayoral candidate. So far, state campaign finance records show the elder Donovan wired $2 million in contributions to the super PAC in two separate transactions since February.

"The Board is deferring its decision on whether to pay public funds to the Donovan campaign today, but it has not made a determination on public funds payments nor on whether there has been a violation,” Frederick Schaffer, CFB chair, said in a prepared statement Thursday. “The Board will seek further information in this matter from the Donovan campaign and from New Start NYC and will review that information promptly."

A spokesperson declined to elaborate over the CFB's inquiry.

“I was surprised by the delay this morning. We are absolutely gonna work closely with the CFB. And get them any further information that they need. We’ll do that very quickly," Donovan said at an unrelated news conference on Thursday. "I expect this to resolve favorably in a very short time."

CFB rules bar super PACs—independent expenditure committees that can spend unlimited sums of cash that highlight a candidate or an issue, often in the form of advertisements—from directly coordinating with campaigns. When pressed about the super PAC at a press conference Thursday, Donovan said running for office was a decision he'd made in consultation with members of his family including his father, but the consolation stopped there

"I absolutely had conversations with my dad about whether I would do this in the first place. But I have no conversations whatsoever about the independent expenditure, and to be very clear I learned about the money that he put in from news reports," Donovan said. "My dad's a computer programmer, not a political strategist."

The elder Donovan previously told the NY Times that he created the PAC to help “level the playing field" for his son's race to City Hall. Brittany Wise, the super PAC’s treasurer, did not respond to a request for comment.

The withholding of the funds comes just as the mayor’s race has started to heat up, with mayoral candidates launching even sharper attacks on one another despite the era of ranked-choice voting and its propensity to promote more collegial campaigns. On Wednesday, mayoral candidate and attorney Maya Wiley indirectly criticized the extra boost that Shaun Donovan received from his father, mocking candidates with “PACs & Daddies with dollars.”

Wiley was among six mayoral candidates who received fresh matching funds, with just over $906,000. Other candidates receiving monies include Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams with $317,295, former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia with $2,265,561, former housing nonprofit director Dianne Morales with $2,247,681, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang with $3,724,112. The contributions are part of the record $72 million the CFB has doled out, the highest amount the Board has ever contributed.

While most of the top-tier candidates are participating in the CFB’s 8-to-1 matching funds program—the exception being former Wall Street executive Ray McGuire—Donovan is participating in the 6-to-1 matching funds program, allowing him to match eligible small-dollar donations six times their amount instead of eight. Donovan claimed to have raised $281,576 in matching funds, which would have translated to $1.6 million in funds. This would have been added to the $2.2 million in total funds he’s raised, bringing his campaign coffers to just under $4 million. The contribution would be a much-needed relief for Donovan, whose campaign coffers are down to just under $1 million just as campaigns typically begin spending more on campaign advertisements.

"We’ve had thousands and thousands of New Yorkers who have contributed based on what is the most progressive best campaign finance system in the country," Donovan said. "And we look forward to participating when we get a favorable determination from the CFB."

Tagged

election 2021

shaun donovan

David Cruz

David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gwynne Hogan

Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.

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