Gillen collects more, spends more than D'Esposito while Lafazan spent more than either

                                                                               

from: Federal Election Campaign website

Democrat Laura Gillen has pulled ahead of Republican Anthony D'Esposito in their race for the Congressional District 4 seat being vacated by U.S Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) -- at least she's ahead in fundraising.

The latest Federal campaign finance reports which cover from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 show Gillen, a former Hempstead Town Supervisor,  raised a total of $1,210,935 in the nine-month period.

That compares to $942,504 raised by D'Esposito, a current Hempstead Town Board member and retired NYC detective -- with the caveat that D'Esposito entered the race later than Gillen.

The reports show that  Gillen has also spent more, with total expenditures listed at $900,224 while D'Esposito spent a total $696,036.

As of Sept. 30, Gillen had $310,710 cash on hand compared to D'Esposito's $246,468 in his campaign account.

Neither listed any debts or loans.

Gillen and D'Esposito at Newsday debate

 

Meanwhile, over in District 3, Republican George Santos leads Democrat Robert Zimmerman in total receipts in their race for this open Congressional seat; U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) decided against seeking re-election to the District 3 seat and ran an unsuccessful primary against Democrat Kathy Hochul for governor in June.

But Santos, who was defeated by Suozzi two years ago, came into the race with more money. 

Zimmerman, a national Democratic committeeman who runs a public relations firm, collected more contributions than Santos during the past nine months: $2.094,110 compared to Santos $1,285,535.

Santos reported more than $2 million in expenditures with $603,791 on hand at the end of Sept. But he also has $630,000 in loans and debt.

Zimmerman's total expenditures were just under $1.632 million. He had $511,710 in his campaign coffers with an outstanding loans of $76,000.

Zimmerman also faced a primary race against four other Democrats, including Nassau Legis. Josh Lafazan.

Lafazan finished third in the Democrat primary.

According to the latest report, Lafazan raised a total $1,976,156, which include $166,000 in loans to himself.

He spent a total $1,879,851 -- more than Gillen or D'Esposito in District 4, the reports show.  Because his campaign ended when he lost the primary Aug. 23, that means Lafazan spent $338 for every vote he got. (5,554 total votes)

It's harder to calculate Zimmerman's spending per voter because he continued to raise and spend money after the primary. He received nearly twice the number of votes than Lafazan (10,074 votes)

Second place finisher, former North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman spent about $102 for every vote. He spent $738,000 and received 7,242 votes.

Lafazan's report also states he made no loan repayments during the nine-month period. 

His cash on hand on Sept. 30 was $96,305. But his total debts and loans were listed at $204,283.

According to his October quarterly report, inthe three weeks in August leading up to the Aug. 23 primary, Lafazan paid the Tucker Green campaign consulting firm more than $260,000 for tv ads and advice.

Josh Lafazan

The New York Post in early August questioned a loan of as much as $100,000 that Lafazan received from a billionaire Manhattan couple. Lafazan reported on his federal disclosures this year that he received the money in 2020 as a "student loan."

But he did not report the loan on his Nassau County financial disclosures until this Sept. -- after he lost the primary.

County law requires officials to disclose their debts of more than $5,000 but Lafazan did not report the loan on his 2020 or 2021 disclosures. Record show he finally amended the reports on Sept. 7 of this year to show the loan.

The County Administrative Code says the Nassau Board of Ethics may impose as much as a $10,000 fine for incomplete reporting on financial disclosure forms, which also can be to punishable as a Class A misdemeanor.

Unlike Suffolk County, Nassau has never prosecuted anybody for filing incomplete or incorrect financial disclosures.