Finance
Tom Suozzi running mate Diana Reyna owes $138K to NYC Campaign Finance Board
Rep. Tom Suozzi’s candidate for lieutenant governor, Diana Reyna, owes $138,658 to town Marketing campaign Finance Board for “excellent repayments of public funds,” the company informed The Put up.
The previous Metropolis Council member’s money owed stem from her third Council marketing campaign again in 2009 and have remained unpaid ever since.
New York Metropolis authorizes beneficiant taxpayer-funded matching funds to candidates for metropolis workplace, however the money comes with a blizzard of strings and reporting necessities.
“Campaigns should account for all public funds obtained by offering documentation (invoices, contracts, payroll, and many others) for expenditures that equal the quantity obtained,” stated Matt Sollars, spokesman for the NYC Marketing campaign Finance Board, including that Reyna’s roughly $31,000 in certified expenditures have been effectively wanting what she obtained.
Lengthy Island Democrat Suozzi tapped Reyna, a fellow Democrat who represented a swath of Brooklyn and Queens, in February as his working mate in his main battle in opposition to incumbent Gov. Hochul, citing her toughness and expertise. The pair have tried to nook reasonable and centrist voters by promising to roll again bail reform and minimize state earnings taxes.
“Diana all the time stated that she intends on paying again no matter is owed from a earlier marketing campaign,” Melisa Diaz, a spokeswoman for Reyna stated.
The arrears, nevertheless, are elevating eyebrows among the many state’s Democratic grandees.
“It begs the query did Tom Suozzi do a ok job vetting her earlier than selecting her for his lieutenant governor,” state Democratic Social gathering Chairman Jay Jacobs informed The Put up. “This is perhaps seen by some as a judgment query.”
As a member of the Metropolis Council, Reyna admitted to steering discretionary funds to a senior middle run by her mother-in-law. More cash was despatched to Placing Viking Story Pirates, a non-profit providing after-school actions co-founded by her sister-in-law.
Final month Hochul’s working mate, Lieutenant Gov. Brian Benjamin, resigned after being hit with bribery and corruption costs. This week Hochul tapped upstate Rep. Antonio Delgado to switch him.
The difficulty has been catnip for Suozzi, who has spent weeks utilizing Benjamin to deride Hochul’s judgment.
“Her lack of judgment and inexperience can price us every thing if Democrats don’t get up,” Suozzi stated Thursday in a tweet.