Queens council candidate at center of NYC matching funds debate
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Moumita Ahmed is running in the Democratic primary for Council District 24 after finishing second in the special election. She has received more than $180,000 in public matching funds for both campaigns. Photo via campaign/Facebook
By David Brand
After taking in more than $134,000 in public matching funds, Moumita Ahmed received about 15 percent of the vote and finished a distant second in a February special election for Council District 24. Earlier this month, she received another $52,569 in taxpayer cash as she runs in the June primary.
In the process, Ahmed’s campaign has emerged as something of an avatar for opposition to the city’s current public matching funds system, which has so far poured $26,657,242 into candidates’ campaign accounts, with primary day still two months away.
“We really need to reevaluate the prudence of spending public funds at these rates for what I believe are vanity projects,” said political strategist Patrick Jenkins.
Jenkins specifically questioned candidates who receive matching funds and spend a significant amount of money on out-of-state consultants. Ahmed, for example, paid a South Carolina-based consulting firm more than $95,000 leading up to the special.
“There should be some kinds of procurement rules,” Jenkins said.
This year’s council candidates are eligible for matching funds if they receive 75 contributions of between $10 and $1,000 from people who live in the districts they hope to represent. The first $175 of those qualifying contributions are eligible for an eight-to-one match, meaning a $10 contribution from a would-be constituent is worth $90.
The program is intended to incentivize small-dollar contributions from everyday New Yorkers, rather than the wealthy or influential special interests.
But critics say some candidates are exploiting the program to raise their own profiles in quixotic quests for public office.
“For $52,569 this city can pay for a voucher to house a family of four for two years, Instead it’s doling out matching funds to candidates who get more Twitter likes then votes and claim there’s a conspiracy to stop them,” tweeted Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program after Ahmed shared news about her latest matching funds haul.
Still, other candidates running in the Council District 24 special election received even more public money and fewer votes. Democratic District Leader Neeta Jain, higher education official Dilip Nath and Queens attorney Soma Syed each received more than $142,000 from the city. Combined, they claimed about 15 percent of the vote in the low-turnout election. None of the three are running in the primary.
The special election winner, Jim Gennaro, represented the district from 2002 to 2013. He received $142,500 in matching funds for the special and captured about 60 percent of the ballots from voters in Kew Gardens Hills, Briarwood, Jamaica Estates and other nearby neighborhoods. He recently received another $138,107 in matching funds for the primary.
In a response to criticism Tuesday, Ahmed said the matching program is essential for running a campaign powered by local residents. She contrasted the money to the financial support Gennaro received from a SuperPAC, known as an independent expenditure in New York City, backed by developer Stephen Ross. Gennaro’s former chief of staff Jeffrey Leb was listed as a treasurer of the group Common Sense NYC.
“Working-class families in Queens would benefit immensely if New York was NOT giving away $6 billion in tax breaks — and let’s call it exactly what it is: government assistance — to greedy billionaire developers like Stephen Ross,” Ahmed said, referring to tax incentives for Ross’ Hudson Yards development. “Then that same greedy billionaire donates $1 million to a PAC — run by our opponent Jim Gennaro’s former chief-of-staff — that attacks a working-class, immigrant woman who is fighting for housing justice.”
Left-leaning political consultant Benjamin Rosenblatt, who lives in the district, also pushed back against the criticism of the current matching funds model.
“Matching funds are vital for ensuring a level playing field. The fact that Moumita is able to get matching funds shows the system works,” Rosenblatt said. “It’s about ensuring candidates from all walks of life can run campaigns and do so on small-dollar donations.”
The city instituted the matching funds program in 1988, starting as a $1-to-$1 match on contributions under $100. The program has evolved over the years, becoming a $4-to-$1 match on contributions up to $250 for the 2001 election cycle, a $6-to-$1 match up to $175 per contributor for the 2009 election, and the current $8-to-$1 match up to $175 in 2019.
Over that same period, federal campaign finance restrictions have evaporated, with the U.S. Supreme Court striking down limits on SuperPAC spending in a landmark 2010 decision
Former Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, the head of the good government group Citizens Union, supported the matching funds program, and backed it during her time in citywide office, which she held from 2002 to 2009.
She said, however, that she worries how New Yorkers will respond to so many long-shot candidates receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in public money. Hundreds of hopefuls — many with little chance of winning — are running for city council seats, with the majority of sitting councilmembers term-limited. Twelve Democrats are vying for mayor and all but one have opted into the matching funds program.
The city has so far dispensed $21,819,080 in public funds to mayoral candidates, according to Campaign Finance Board reports.
“I’m concerned that will sway public opinion against matching funds,” she said.
