According to a report by investigative journalist Wayne Barrett, Mitt Romney has accepted around $1.5 million in campaign contributions that stem directly or indirectly from two men who were involved in the graft that plagued the International Olympic Committee before Romney was charged with cleaning it up. But this being an arms race made entirely out of sweet, sweet "speech," who doesn't have connections to less-than-savory donors? more ›

The Obama campaign likes to tout that much of their war chest comes from small donors, people who give less than $250. But $250 only wins you the chance to win an awkward dinner with the president, and the joy of cleaning out your inbox every few hours. Want a roughly 75% of meeting the man in the White House? That'll be $100,000. No word on how much it'd cost to share a cigarette with the president. more ›

In the wake of Comptroller John Liu's campaign finance scandal that has landed one of his bundlers and his campaign treasure in hot water with the feds, the NYC Campaign Finance Board is trying to clarify how exactly campaign finance works legally. The NY Times reports, "The workshop was requested by a new coalition of community groups, the Asian American Civic Alliance, which was formed after the fund-raising woes of the comptroller, John C. Liu, who had been regarded until recently as a likely candidate for mayor, came to light." more ›

Last month it was revealed that the charity of a mystical rabbi to the stars spent $77,000 on a three-week rental in the Hamptons. Now, the Times reports that the followers of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto were allegedly strong-armed into illegally donating over $500,000 to Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm's campaign fund. Ah, so that's how mysticism works. more ›

City Comptroller John Liu is weathering a campaign finance scandal that has resulted in a federal investigation and the arrest of a fund-raiser, plus near-daily articles about the scandal and how his mayoral aspirations are dunzo. So yesterday, Chinese-American leaders held a "hastily convened news conference" to, as the NY Times reports, to "[compare] the federal inquiry into his campaign fund-raising to what has been called a hazing campaign before the death of Pvt. Danny Chen." Yes, they went there. more ›

The hits keep coming for Comptroller John Liu. His approval ratings are plummeting, the investigations into his campaign finances continue (and continue to look worse) and now he is said to be on "a paranoia-fueled snitch hunt" to the point that he reportedly tore down cubicle walls last week to better prevent his underlings from talking to reporters. Of course, he fervently denies it. more ›

Even though he's continuing to point out where the city may be overspending or losing money, the recent news that his campaign finances are being investigated by the feds is not helping City Comptroller John Liu. A recent poll from Quinnipiac shows his approval ratings from fallen from 57% in May to 38% now. more ›

With NYC Comptroller John Liu's campaign finances under scrutiny by the federal authorities (they arrested one fund raiser), the media has been trying to shed light on who has been helping him build a significant war chest to compete in the 2013 mayoral race. And it turns out it's two women—two CHINESE women. And we know how they can be. more ›

Ah, now that the federal authorities are investigating some questionable donations made to his mayoral campaign, NYC Comptroller John Liu has started to return some of those possibly shady funds. A spokesman for Liu told the NY Times that about $20,000 has been refunded; the Times adds, "Much of that has been sent back to people connected to companies highlighted in an investigation by The New York Times in October into Mr. Liu’s campaign disclosure reports. The inquiry found that some people listed as his campaign donors insisted that they had never given money." more ›

Even though the federal authorities are investigating his campaign finances, even though a fund raiser was arrested, and even though his political future is up in the air, NYC Comptroller John Liu still thinks he's got a shot at being mayor in 2013. He reportedly told a group of Chinese supporters, "I want to run for the highest office in New York City... Of course, there will be many challenges, some expected, some unexpected, on the election road." more ›

NYC Comptroller John Liu's hopes of running for mayor in 2013 are being thrown into question as the federal authorities' investigation into his campaign fundraising has resulted in the arrest of one of his fund raisers on fraud charges. Liu said, "I am saddened by what I read today. If it is true, then the conduct was clearly wrong and my campaign was not told the truth." more ›

Last month, the NY Times questioned City Comptroller John Liu's fundraising after "[c]anvassing...nearly 100 homes and workplaces of donors listed on Mr. Liu’s campaign finance reports... Some two dozen irregularities were uncovered, including instances in which people listed as having given to Mr. Liu say they never gave, say a boss or other Liu supporter gave for them, or could not be found altogether." Now, the federal authorities are taking a looking at Liu's fundraising. more ›

Last week, Democrat Andrew Cuomo announced he had nearly $24 million in the bank for his gubernatorial campaign. This number was especially astonishing given that the Republican nominee, Rick Lazio, had less than $700,000 in the bank (his team emphasized Lazio had raised $3 million overall). So why does Cuomo need so much money? Yesterday, the Attorney General explained it was all because of Carl Paladino. more ›

In his race for a third term, the richest man in New York City spent an astounding $102 million of his $17 billion fortune. New filings reveal that Mayor Bloomberg shelled out about $174.53 per vote in his narrower-than-expected victory over Democratic challenger Bill Thompson, far exceeding his expenditures of $85 million in 2005 and $74 million in 2001, according to the Times. more ›

There was some talk about a year ago that upon finishing out his second and final term, Mayor Bloomberg's plans were to ride off into the sunset and begin pouring some of the many millions he had accumulated into the philanthropic causes supported by his foundation. In the time since, Bloomberg has in fact found a way to open the vault on his fortune at a record pace—into winning an election that no one seems to believe will even be close. With a financial report filed this weekend, Bloomberg has already spent $18.7 million on his campaign for a third term, twice what he had spent at this point in 2005. It's also nearly ten times what challenger Bill Thompson has spent and triple what any possible contender can spend until September under campaign finance regulations. A public affairs expert tells the Times, “There appears to be very little downside to this kind of spending...It’s a shock-and-awe approach.” The paper also calls the mayor's treatment suspiciously harsh treatment of Anthony Weiner (who's not even in the race!) "a thuggish cast to Mr. Bloomberg’s Park Avenue-style campaign." more ›

After an audit by the Federal Election Commission, Al Sharpton is being forced to pay back almost $500,000 for what they have deemed illegal campaign contributions during his 2004 run for president. The FEC is nailing Sharpton for not delineating between donations for his campaign and money coming in for his National Action Network. The report says that "virtually no effort was made" to show which funds were for which. more ›

As the City Council reels from slush fund mess and other budget scandals, the NY Times found more 12 of the 51 City Council members, or approximately 25%, were using campaign funds to pay relatives or themselves. One aid to familial lining of pockets is the fact that taxpayers are filling campaign war chests with cash, even when Council Members are running unopposed or face barely credible challenges. more ›

Sure, the 2008 election is exciting, but hundreds of candidates are expected to run for city office next year. more ›

A lawsuit filed Monday against the City Campaign Finance Board seeks to overturn a recently enacted funding law that opponents assert will just make the City Council richer - and whiter. The recently-enacted campaign finance restrictions reduces the contributions from companies who do business with the city by a whopping 92%. Translation: In a mayoral race, the individual limit on giving is now $400, versus $4,950; in City Council races, it's $250, down from $2,950. more ›

Andrea Schwartz, the Brazilian ex-pat who settled in Manhattan and became a madam with powerful clients, is back in the news. And she's as saucy as ever, this time denying that she's a lesbian. Tell us more! more ›

Gothamist hopes that you'll take time to go and cast votes for Mayor, Public Advocate, other politicians, and various ballot measures. If you have time to read up on candidates and measures before you head out, read these to make informed decisions: The Campaign Finance Board's 2005 Voter Guide and Gotham Gazette's Guide for the Last Minute Voter. more ›

Tomorrow, there are four ballot proposals that New York City voters will be able to cast a "yes" or "no" on. Unfortunately, many people don't know about them. So, Gothamist recommend you spend a little time reading about these ballot proposals before you head out and vote. The Campaign Finance Board site has descriptions of what each ballot measure says, as well as pro and con arguments for them: more ›

Just five days until election, and it's like there's one of those grey, rainy clouds over Fernando Ferrer's head. Not that he or anyone from his campaign or his supporters will admit it, but even the trying-to-be-upbeat words are veiled with gloom. For instance, City Councilman Lewis Fidler tells the Times, "I'd be a moron to tell you I was confident. I'm a Met fan and I've been a Met fan since 1962, so I am not adverse to being the underdog, and I always believe in miracles because I've lived through them." Ouch. And Ferrer was struck with uncanny timing and attentiveness from city agencies when he tried to campaign at a subway station and park in Harlem to show how dirty they were, only to have cleanup crews try to stuff the crap into the closet and under the couch before TV crews came. Then the Campaign Finance Board has been warning his campaign that the NY State Democratic party's emails on his behalf may be illegal. more ›

- We haven't even finished this years election and already we're seeing polls for next years. Anyway, and this shocked, , us, it seems that Hillary Clinton and Eliot Spitzer are the clear crowd favorites to win in their respective elections. Which might mean something if the election weren't a year away. more ›

-Finally, Tuesday's election is expected to have an anemic turnout. Prove them wrong and vote (y'know, if you're registered). more ›

The Campaign Finance Board's records show that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has not reimbursed her government drivers for driving her to campaign events. Newsday points out that Fields hasn't "paid for gas or parking used during those appearances" and that in the past week, only two of her many events were job-related. Fields' campaign manager, Chung Seto, claims that the drivers/city will be reimbursed, but she doesn't know why it's taking so long. Just like she didn't know why the flyer was Photoshopped, eh? Actually, the practice of using a city government car for campaign events is common, as long as the city is reimbursed is common (City Council Speaker had his police detail drive him around). Congressman Anthony Weiner's campaign took the opportunity to say that while he has a congressional car, Weiner uses his own hybrid car to get to campaign events. more ›

- Newsday reports the Parks Department is considering various ways to kill the dangerous snakehead fish. Hilariously, one of the suggestion is "salting" it (okay, it's just raising the saline level of the lake, but still). more ›

Oh, Mayor Mike. The Campaign Finance Board has its Finance Summary online now and, surprise, Bloomberg is once again set to outspend his competition by leaps and bounds. Of the $57 million total raised for all the campaigns in the city besides the Brooklyn and Manhattan District Attorney races (thats more than 200 candidates) Bloomberg has 40%. That's $23.6 million bucks that Bloomberg has given his own campaign. That's a lot of money, but the question still remains if its enough for Bloomie to keep the election a "snooze" for the next three months so he can stay in office. And just as interesting, will he outspend his record breaking $69 million from the 2001 election? more ›