Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin (NY) has outraised New York’s scandal-ridden Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the latest fundraising quarter.
Cuomo was outraised by Zeldin, his presumed Republican opponent, with an outstanding amount of more than $4 million to $2.3 million, according to the Zeldin campaign.
The campaign emphasized that Cuomo has been able to raise this much money since January, while Zeldin has outpaced the Democrat in half the time and three times the fundraising pace. After launching his campaign in April, Zeldin stated he was able to raise one million dollars the first day.
Zeldin’s team reported he was able to rake in more than $4 million from over 9,000 donors. The campaign also said the donors came from 62 counties in New York and over 12,000 donations in total. Additionally, 94 percent of the donations are less than $250, and the campaign is left with $3.198 cash on hand.
He said in a statement, “New Yorkers are fired up and passionately all in the Save our State, and they’re taking action. They know Cuomo’s Gotta Go, and it’s going to take a new generation of leadership to get the job done”:
He continued:
Over the last 3 months, together, we have built a groundswell of grassroots support from every corner of our state, filled with New Yorkers who believe we have what it takes to Fire Andrew Cuomo in 2022. Now, we have more support than ever before to prove it.
Since announcing our campaign, we have gone full speed, pedal to the metal, every single day, visiting every county in New York, and, the best part is, this is the lowest gear we have. We’re not slowing down until election day 2022, when we and Andrew Cuomo’s rain and restore New York to Glory.
Even though Cuomo’s fundraising slowed down in the quarter, the Washington Examiner reported that the governor who is in his third term has $18.5 million cash on hand. This is $15 million more than what Zeldin has.
The report noted that Zeldin can use his time to build a team and campaign around the state while investigators are questioning Cuomo on Saturday. The New York state attorney general’s office is interrogating him about the sexual harassment accusations leveled against him.