Update: Giglio now leads pack in political fundraising efforts
UPDATE: Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio’s July 15 campaign finance disclosure forms have now been posted on the state Board of Elections website and, when combined with what she raised in the Jan. 15 reports, pull her ahead of fellow incumbent Republican Councilman John Dunleavy as having raised the most money for the coming town elections.
New July 15 reports were also posted Tuesday for Ann Cotten-DeGrasse, who is waging a Democratic primary for supervisor against committee nominee Angela DeVito.
Reports for North Fork state Assembly candidates Tony Palumbo, the Republican candidate, and Democrat John McManmon, are also now available.
Ms. Giglio’s July 15 filings report contributions of $17,309 and spending at $20,771.
In January, she reporting raising $22,755 and spending $13,055.
By comparison, Mr. Dunleavy raised $25,430 in July and spent $16,220, but in January, he only raised $500, and spent $2,395.
Thus, the combined totals for the two filings show Ms. Giglio having raised $40,064 and spent $33,826, and Mr. Dunleavy having raised $25,930 and spent $18,615.
Among the contributions Ms. Giglio received in the July filings were $500 from Saber Riverhead, which is building a new shopping center on Route 58; $840 from Mainstream House on Sound Avenue in Riverhead; $500 from West RAC contracting of Hauppauge; $500 from Kevin Gershowitz of Gershow Recycling; $500 from M-GBC LLC, which is a company headed by Jan Burman that owns land at EPCAL, and $630 from East End Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery of East Main Street.
Among Ms. Giglio’s expenditures were $3,000 to Outerbanks — a restaurant run by her husband at Suffolk County’s Indian Island Country Club — for fundraiser and $200 for snow removal for about 100 spaces at Outerbanks, according to the filing.
She also paid $989 to Campaigns Unlimited of Shirley for fundraiser invitations and professional services, and $1,378 to GMG Printing and Marketing Resources of Shirley for fundraiser invitations.
Mr. Dunleavy paid $729 to Minute Man Press of Riverhead for fundraising and $10,850 to the Baiting Hollow Club for fundraisers.
On the snow removal for Outerbanks, Ms. Giglio said Tuesday the job was needed to clear space for people attending a Feb. 12 fundraiser there, a day after the Blizzard of 2013 struck the region.
“The county employees were not coming to clear the parking lot that night, as they normally would, so I had to pay so the people coming to my fundraiser could have somewhere to park,” Ms. Giglio explained.
She also said the $3,000 checks for the Outerbanks fundraiser actually went to a catering company called Strategic Maneuvers, which was hired to help run the February fundraiser.
Supervisor Sean Walter’s January reports show only $6,100 raised and $1,085 spent. He was running for a county Legislature seat at the time.
Ms. Cotten DeGrasse, meanwhile raised $3,765 and spent $1,262, according to the July 15 reports.
The state Assembly race is close in the fundraising department
Mr. Palumbo raised $24,785 and spent $8,678, while Mr. McManmon raised $21,425 and spent $2,671.
Ms. Giglio’s rival in a Republican primary, Anthony Coates, reported raising $5,275 and spending $4,631. His campaign spending included $1,698 to the Riverhead Project for a fundraiser and $515 to PDQ Print of Taylor, Penn. for campaign brochures, according to the July 15 filings.
He also paid an AT&T cell phone bill out of campaign funds, according to the report.
(Scroll down for a complete roundup.)
JULY 16 STORY: The first campaign finance disclosure forms of the political season were due Monday, and Riverhead Councilman John Dunleavy is way out in front of everybody so far, with more than $25,430 raised between Jan 15 and July 15.
In the supervisor race, incumbent Republican Sean Walter is leading Democratic challenger Angela DeVito in the money-raising department, $18,077 to $13,930.
The reports, which are filed electronically and posted on the state Board of Elections website, were due Monday, although some candidates didn’t report any contributions or didn’t file on time.
John Conklin, a BOE spokesman, said workers there are filing the reports as they receive them, but that anything received after 5 p.m. Monday will not be posted until Tuesday, although anything received up until midnight Monday would not be considered late.
If a candidate is more than five days late, the BOE could launch a lawsuit against that person, and could possibly fine them up to $1,000, Mr. Conklin said.
Mr. Dunleavy and primary challenger Anthony Coates were the only town council candidates to have filed the July 15 reports on the state site so far, but Republican Councilwoman Jodi Giglio had reported $22,755 raised in the Jan. 15 reports.
Among some of the larger contributions for Mr. Dunleavy were $1,000 from town building inspector Sharon Klos; $1,000 from Mainstram House, an alcohol rehab center on Sound Avenue; $900 each from Riverhead Ford Lincoln and Mattituck Sanitation; $737 apiece from Kevin and Marnie Gershowitz, of Gershow Recycling; $500 from Ron DeVito, who is proposing an assisted living project on Mill Road, and $675 from Jefferson Consultants, headed by Mark Lyons of Port Jefferson, who is working on that project as well; $500 from Giorgio’s Catering in Baiting Hollow; $900 from Bob Scheiner of H2M Engineering; $900 from builder Richard Wiedersum of Wiedersum Associates; and $900 from Jaral Riverhead, which owns the Holiday Inn Express on Route 58.
Mr. Dunleavy, a retired town police officer who was re-elected to a second term in 2009, said almost all of his contributions came from a golf fundraiser he held on July 9.
He said he thinks he received the support because people are happy with the job he’s done, not because they are looking for favors from the town.
“I work with everybody,” he said. “I don’t care if you give me $100 or you give me nothing. A lot of people gave me nothing but I work with them.”
Mr. Walter’s biggest contribution came from the Riverhead Republican Committee, which gave him $3,000. He also got $1,000 from George Regini of Giorgio’s Catering; $1,000 from Suffolk County Probation Officers; $500 from Apple Honda owner Irwin Garsten, who is seeking to build a shopping center next to Riverhead Centre on Route 58; and $500 from West RAC contracting of Hauppauge. He also got $500 from Green World Marketing of Northport and he reported $2,985 in contributions under $100 from a July 9 event. Those contributions are not required to be reported by name.
Ms. DeVito, (who is not related to the aforementioned Ronald DeVito) worked with a builder’s union for many years and received a lot of campaign contributions from unions, including $1,000 apiece from the Political Action League of two Ironworkers’s unions and $500 apiece from a Sheetmetal Workers union PAC and from Bricklayers Local Union 1.
Ms. DeVito also got $705 from Paulette DeVito of Rocky Point; $500 from Amy and Jim Csorny of Wading River, who had been in court with the town over breach access disputes; and $300 from George and Christine Prete of Flanders. Ms. Prete had served with Ms. DeVito on the Riverhead Board of Education.
Among the larger contributors to Ms. Giglio’s campaign in the Jan. 15 report were $1,000 from Irwin Garsten; $800 from engineer Dennis Kelleher of H2M, which has worked for the town for many years; $525 from Henry Chlupsa, the president of consulting firm Dvirka and Bartilucci; and $500 apiece from Syp Industries of Manorville; $500 from Sypher Construction of Manorville, and Bench Strength Partners of Floral Park.
Mr. Coates’ biggest contribution was $1,000 from Stacey Polites and $500 from Lia Polites, who is one of the owners of the Jedediah Hawkins Inn. He also received $500 from Mainstream House.
The Riverhead Republican committee got a $250 donation from Ronald DeVito, but most of its contributions were not larger than $200.
The Riverhead Democratic Committee had not filed the July 15 report, but the Jan. 15 report showed the Democrats owed $6,862.
There were no campaign committees listed for Riverhead Democratic council candidates Millie Thomas and Bill Bianchi.
Anne Cotten DeGrasse, who is challenging Ms. DeVito in a primary for the Democratic supervisor nod, had a committee but did not report any campaign finance activity.
More by the numbers:
Friends of Sean Walter
raised $18,077
spent $16,239
Angela DeVito for Supervisor
raised $13,930
spent $9,956
Friends of John Dunleavy
raised $25,430
spent $16,220
Vote Coates 13 (Anthony Coates)
raised $5,275
spent $4,631
Riverhead Republican Committee
raised $6,115
spent $7,172
Riverhead Town Democratic Committee
raised $6,205
spent $5,548
Councilwoman Jodi Giglio
July
raised $17,309
spent $20,771
January
raised $22,755
spent $13,055
Councilman John Dunleavy
July
raised $25,430
spent $16,220
January
raised $500
spent $2,395
Ann Cotten-DeGrasse
raised $3,765
spent $1,262
Tony Palumbo
raised $24,785
spent $8,678
John McManmon
raised $21,425
spent $2,671
