Queens candidates get more funds while Adams is spurred again

The Campaign Finance Board dolled out another round of matching funds to Queens candidates on Thursday. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

A handful of Queens candidates saw their campaign coffers grow following a Campaign Finance Board payout on Thursday.

Every mayoral candidate got some cash too, except Mayor Eric Adams, who was spurred yet again by the CFB.

The CFB’s eleventh payout of this election cycle comes just a little over two months before the general election, and as candidates both local and citywide start picking up the pace in their bids for public office.

If any Queens candidate is in need of any dollar their campaign can muster, its Democrat Benjamin Chou in Northern Queens.

Chou, an active duty firefighter, is making a bid to unseat Republican Councilmember Vickie Paladino in District 19, which includes the conservative streets of Whitestone, College Point, Beechhurst and Bayside.

The young Democrat’s bid against Paladino is a longshot.

Although Paladino has long been considered controversial by both Democrats and Republicans alike, she is well liked in her district and beat a more well-known candidate in Tony Avella in her last go around.

Regardless, Chou is still raising money and fighting for attention in the conservative district.

Chou pulled in $37,453 in public matching funds on Thursday, adding to the $151,512 he got during the primary where he beat Working Families Party candidate Alex Caruso.

Chou has already spent a lot of his money in his bid to beat Paladino. Since March, Chou has paid Democratic consulting firm North Shore Strategies more than $117,000 for consulting services and advertising.

Despite being the only Queens Democrat running with any chance of flipping a seat in the City Council, Chou has not received many high-profile Democratic endorsements except for State Senator John Liu, who threw his support behind the firefighter this week.

“As a lifelong resident of Northeast Queens and a public servant with real-world experience, Ben is exactly the kind of leader our city needs,” Liu said. “He’s a first responder who has served our community with courage and integrity. Ben knows what it means to show up for people, and I have no doubt he’ll do the same at City Hall.”

Paladino didn’t receive any payout on Thursday, but her campaign war chest is still seven times larger than Chou’s and totals around $220,000.

A few Queens Republicans are also taking shots at flipping seats, and a few of them got public funds to help with those efforts on Thursday.

Steven Wang pulled in $18,316 for his campaign against incumbent Councilmember Sandra Ung in Flushing-centered District 20.

Queens City Council candidate Benjamin Chou got some matching funds for his campaign as well as an endorsement from State Senator John Liu this week. Photo via the Chou Campaign

Ung did not receive a payout on Thursday, but is still massively outraising Wang and holds around $225,000 in her pocket to his $25,000.

Republican Bernard Chow, who is trying again to unseat incumbent Councilmember Linda Lee in District 23, which encompasses Glen Oaks, Bellerose, Fresh Meadows, Oakland Gardens, Floral Park and parts of Douglaston–Little Neck, Bayside, Hollis and Queens Village, also got some money.

Chow, who lost to Lee in 2023 by more than 4,000 votes, was given $98,173 by the CFB on Thursday, his first public funds payout.

Lee received $6,642 from the CFB on Thursday, but is still outraising Chow for her seat.

In Councilmember Bob Holden’s Maspeth-centered 30th District, his two staffers, Republican Alicia Vaichunas and Democrat Phil Wong, are competing in a contest of who will better carry on their boss’ legacy.

Both received funds on Thursday. Vaichunas to the tune of $12,122, and Wong pulled in $88,882.

Wong has massively outraised and outspent his co-worker after his tight three-way primary, but his spending has left him with less money in the bank.

Wong still has around $40,000 on hand to Vaichunas’ $166,000.

While the race has no clear frontrunner, it may not matter.

Both candidates are ideologically similar. Both have said they would hire the other if they win, and both are likely to vote in lockstep with the Common Sense Caucus, of which Holden is a co-chair.

A few candidates were also denied matching funds, including Republican John David Rinaldi, who was denied for several paperwork issues, and District 25 Republican candidate Ramses Frias, who did not meet the threshold.

The most notable city candidate to be spurred by the board was Mayor Eric Adams, who was once again denied by the CFB due to questions about financial improprieties involving his campaign.

"Regarding Mayor Adams, the Board determined Mayor Adams’ campaign has failed to demonstrate eligibility for public funds payment at this time on two grounds: one, failure to provide requested information, and two, reason to believe the campaign violated the law—the same two grounds that were the bases for the finding of ineligibility on August 6th, the Board’s last payment date," said Board Chair Frederick Schaffer on Thursday. "The Board’s investigation of the Adams campaign is ongoing."

Adams is in ongoing litigation against the CFB for their declining of matching funds for his campaign

“We strongly believe that the mayor’s rights must be treated fairly and equally, just as with every candidate in this race,” his campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro told amNY. “Mayor Adams has followed all proper procedures, put everything in order under the legal process, and filed accordingly. We remain confident that we are on the right road and will continue working through this process to ensure fairness and equal treatment under the law.”

But while Adams came up empty, his general election competitors did not.

Democratic Nominee Zohran Mamdani received the most with around $1.92 million pouring into his war chest on Thursday, Republican Curtis Sliwa pulled in around $1.4 million, former Governor Andrew Cuomo got $482,000, and before he dropped out, independent Jim Walden received $35,000.