After squeaking by in 2022, Pheffer Amato leads GOP challenger in fundraising race
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Incumbent Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato and Republican Tom Sullivan both raised sizable campaign contributions in their rematch for the 23rd Assembly District in Queens. Photos via New York State Assembly/Twitter
By Ryan Schwach
Less than two years ago, Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato’s election night returns party wasn’t the most joyful place to be on the Rockaway peninsula.
Just a few blocks away, attendees tentatively celebrated at the watch party for her opponent, military vet and Republican Tom Sullivan, who was leading the incumbent in the early count of the race. Sullivan had – at that moment – ridden a high Republican turnout toward an apparent victory.
However, in the subsequent months, legal challenges to the count eventually led to a Pheffer Amato victory – a meager 15 vote win not announced until early January.
Now, in July 2024, the two candidates are poised for a rematch, a race that is expected to be the most closely watched local general election in Queens.
On Monday, locals got their first look at how the next few months of campaigning for Pheffer Amato and Sullivan might shake out after both submitted their donation numbers to the state’s Campaign Finance Board.
Pheffer Amato currently holds a financial advantage over Sullivan, bolstered by political PACs and unions, like the Police Benevolent Association and the Hotel and Trades Council of New York.
Both of those groups gave Pheffer Amato $3,000 during this filing period, and other law enforcement and fire department groups from Queens and Long Island have also donated to her campaign.
As of the most recent filing deadline, Pheffer Amato has gathered $127,000 in contributions, and holds $296,000 in her campaign account at the end of the filing period.
“I feel freaking fantastic,” Pheffer Amato told the Eagle about her fundraising numbers. “It's an overwhelming feeling.”
Pheffer Amato was first elected in 2017 to the seat her mother, Audrey Pheffer – now the Queens County Clerk – held previously.
“People want me to be in office,” she said. “So, they're putting their money where their emotions are and their feelings are.”
Despite his disadvantage, Sullivan has been pulling campaign cash in, as well. The U.S. Army veteran and small business owner has more cash on hand than any Republican in Queens, and more than some of the borough’s Democratic incumbents.
As of Tuesday, Sullivan has brought in a little over $20,000 in contributions, and has $167,000 left in the war chest.
Most of his funding has come through smaller donations, mainly from district residents in his native Breezy Point – a gated community at the tip of the Rockaway peninsula.
Sullivan has also received the backing for the Queens GOP, and some of their benefactors like former Long Island Congressmember – and former Sunnyside resident – Peter King.
King gave Sullivan $500 in April, according to the filing.
“I think it's just one indication of our efforts and the community's efforts,” Sullivan said about his contribution numbers. “They see that I am not going away, that I haven't given up after the first and second times. I'm still building name recognition.”
Sullivan says he has built on his efforts in 2022, and that his campaign and fundraising have been “easier” this time around.
“We've done a lot more smaller, more intimate engagements as far as fundraising goes, which is why we met the number of donations and the amount to qualify for matching funds very early on,” he said.
This is Sullivan’s fourth attempt at elected office after two attempts to unseat an elected official that’s part of a different Southeast Queens political dynasty – State Senator Joseph Addabbo, who Sullivan challenged in both 2018 and 2020.
Sullivan came closest to winning office in 2022, when he lost to Pheffer Amato by a few more than a dozen votes.
Sullivan says his campaign this year has been legitimized by his near-win two years ago.
“There are a lot more people, a lot more individuals, a lot more civic leaders, a lot more community leaders reaching out to the campaign to have a discussion,” he said. “We're out there quite a bit more than we were last time.”
However, potentially the biggest effect on the race won’t be related to either candidate, or Rockaway, but what – or who – sits at the top of the ticket.
In 2022, Republicans in Rockaway turned out exponentially higher than Democrats as the GOP rallied behind the pro-law and order message of Lee Zeldin, the Republicans’ gubernatorial candidate.
Although Democrats were able to stave off the predicated “red wave,” several Democrats, including and especially Pheffer Amato, saw some close calls.
“That trickles down to me,” she said of the Republican Party’s energy during the 2022 election cycle. “I’m a casualty of that.”
This year, an even bigger name sits atop the Republican party line – presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Both candidates are expecting a higher turnout with the presidential race, but whoever galvanizes more voters to the polls, Trump or President Joe Biden, could influence races lower on the ballot.
“We're certainly expecting more people to come out in a presidential year,” said Sulllivan.
However, Pheffer Amato isn’t putting as much stock in the effect the 2024 presidential election will have on their small town Queens race.
“This is a local race for me, this is about local representation,” she said. “It has nothing to do with the federal ticket on top.”
Election Day is Nov. 5, 2024.
