New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino was recently down to negative $567.50 in campaign funds, according to his latest filing through August 30. Since the filing, Paladino, who has pledged to donate up to $10 million of his own money to his campaign, has given a cash infusion of about $500,000.
Paladino’s primary opponent Rick Lazio has reported about $500,000 cash on hand, leaving the two Republicans on roughly equal footing heading into the September 14 primary.
According to The New York Daily News, Paladino started with $150,000 for this period, took in $113,000 in contributions, and loaned his campaign $220,000. But he spent $484,379.31. That emptied his war chest — until he loaned his campaign another $500,000.
Lazio, for his part, raised $265,606.90, giving him a total $502,368.60 cash on hand. This puts him in better shape than he was back in July, when he lent his campaign $200,000.
As we reported, Paladino has been gaining some ground over Lazio in the polls, with Lazio leading 46.3%-34.8% according to the TPM Poll Average. Both are still trailing Democratic nominee Andrew Cuomo in the general election, with one recent Siena poll showing Cuomo trouncing Lazio and Paladino, 56%-19% and 56%-12%, respectively.
