New York Fights to Be Repaid by Candidates
Posted by Brooklyn Young Republican Club
Source: Allison Leigh Cowan / New York Times
Few cities are as generous as New York when it comes to matching political contributions raised by candidates for public office.
In big election years, the city has given anywhere from $4 million to $42 million to candidates in an effort to limit the influence of special interests and level the playing field for candidates of modest means.
There were, though, supposed to be limits to the city’s generosity. Candidates who accepted taxpayer money and did not empty their campaign accounts in the course of their election fights were obliged by law to return all surplus money to the city.
But the city, while handing out a total of roughly $120 million to candidates over the years, has been unable to recover much of the money it is owed.
