SD-11: Gennaro's excellent fundraising
In our quest to win the State Senate SD-11 is a district that I have been pushing for, though many have thought it is too much of a long shot. Well, it looks like it might not be such a longshot! It may well be one of the top pick up chances. Democrat Jim Gennaro's campaign reports some excellent numbers.
First, the latest figures from the state Board of Elections show that in the SD-11 district 85,860 registered Democrats to 32,669 registered Republicans. Come on folks. THAT should make this winnable right there!
Second, it looks like Gennaro is raising money quite effectively. Here's the latest press release from the Gennaro campaign:
Gennaro Raises Well Over Half-Million Dollars,
Has Over $400k On Hand...Councilman Gennaro, who is preparing a challenge to Senate District 11's Republican incumbent Frank Padavan in Eastern Queens, has raised a total of $615,497.35, including $233,479.02 since the last such scheduled filing in January. The Gennaro for New York committee has a total of $406,965.01 cash on hand.
"The fact that we are seeing so much support for the Gennaro for New York campaign is concrete evidence that there is a real hope and desire for change in the 11th Senate District and New York as a whole," Councilman Gennaro said.
Councilman Gennaro, Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee, is a former college professor and one of the City Council's most prolific authors of legislation, much of it dedicated to green issues like promoting alternative energy, reducing greenhouse gases and keeping New York City's water clean and safe.
I have written about Gennaro before, focusing on some alternative energy activism he has been involved with that I liked. You can donate to Gennaro's campaign (as well as to State Senate candidates Jimmy Dahroug, Donald Barber, Darrel Aubertine, as well as a couple of incumbents) through my NY State Act Blue site.
election 2008 | State Senate | Jim Gennaro














Poor Frank Padavan
While Gennaro raised $233K over the last six months, Republican incumbent Padavan could only manage $50K. Also, while Gennaro has over $400K in the bank, Padavan only has about $116K. What's more, early on Gennaro benefited from the support of Eliot Spitzer, but since that became ... somewhat less of a benefit ... his fundraising has not lagged.
Of course, Padavan is the incumbent, and he is extremely well liked in the district. His office handles constituent services extraordinarily well, and has for a long time. In addition, Gennaro isn't even well-known in the district, as his City Council district barely overlaps.
So Gennaro has his work cut out for him, and needs the monetary advantage. It could be a real barn-burner.