Andrew Cuomo is not a candidate typically low on cash.
While the city’s campaign finance board shut down his request for matching funds last week, the former governor has a state campaign account from his previous runs for governor.
What You Need To Know
- Cuomo still has more then $7 million in his state campaign account
- He is unlikely to use it on his run for mayor
- He has spent more than $11 million since leaving office, including more than $13,000 on meals at restaurants, a nearly $800 dinner in 2023 with a potential donor and another $800 at a five-star Beverly hills hotel
- Experts say state law is specific on what you can and cannot use campaign funds for
In total, that account has more than $7.7 million left in it, according to the latest filing in January.
Experts say it would be difficult to use it for his run for mayor.
A Cuomo campaign spokesman said the former governor has no plans to, nor does he plan to transfer it to an independent expenditure group that is backing his campaign, known as Fix the City.
Still, Cuomo has been tapping into this cash significantly since he resigned while facing sexual harassment allegations in August 2021.
A review of spending by Cuomo’s state campaign account since his resignation shows he has spent $11.2 million since leaving office on legal fees, trips and television ads to rehabilitate his image.
While state taxpayers have been covering the bulk of Cuomo’s legal fees related to sexual harassment complaints made against him, his state campaign account has been picking up the tab for some of those costs as well.
Since 2021, Cuomo has paid nearly a dozen law firms to represent him in multiple inquiries, racking up a total cost of $5.8 million. Some of that has been reimbursed by the state.
A Cuomo spokesman said the campaign account would not be paying for a defamation claim against one of Cuomo’s accusers, Charlotte Bennett. But that spokesman declined to say how Cuomo would be paying for it.
Much of his spending is an attempt to lay the groundwork for a political comeback.
He paid thousands of dollars for a private jet to fly to Buffalo following the 2022 shooting at a Tops supermarket. He spoke at a local church.
He spent more than $13,000 on meals at restaurants, including a nearly $800 dinner at Il Postino on the Upper East Side in 2023 with a potential donor. The campaign would not say with who.
He spent another $800 at a five-star Beverly hills hotel, L'Ermitage, last summer when he appeared on the "Real Time with Bill Maher" TV show, his spokesman said.
Experts say state law is specific on what you can and cannot use campaign funds for.
“And it’s not supposed to be used for personal expenses,” Susan Lerner of Common Cause New York said. “It’s supposed to be used only for expenses that relate to a political campaign or to your duties as an officeholder.”