Democratic Rep. Joseph Morelle’s campaign coffers have grown to more than $1 million, with donations from supporters in his district—but also contributors in several downstate counties including Westchester, Suffolk, Queens and the Bronx.
In contrast, his opponent in the 25th Congressional District race, Republican George Mitris, has mostly self-funded his campaign, which has accumulated $51,700.
This data, gathered from the Federal Election Commission, can be found on the newly launched Rochester Beacon Election Dashboard. The Beacon has partnered with HiGeorge, a data visualization company based in California, which offers localized, interactive datasets to publishers.
Supporters in Monroe County have contributed the most money to Morelle’s campaign—$149,000—while New York County accounted for the second-largest sum, nearly $50,000, followed by Albany and Nassau counties. Mitris has raised $3,323 in Monroe County.
Most of the dollars for Morelle’s campaign—65 percent—came from political action committees. Thirty-five percent came from individuals with the remaining 5 percent from loans and self-funding. Nearly all of Mitris’ funds come from his pocket and loans.
Jennifer Cunningham, Rochester Regional Health’s Hugh Thomas, Thomas Wilmot of Wilmorite Construction, Julian Goldstein from Navitar Inc., and Thomas Richards are among those who gave more than $5,000 to Morelle’s campaign. Mitris’ donors include himself, Peter Lovenheim (Rochester Beacon Washington correspondent) and Naftali Friedman.
More than 93 percent of Monroe County residents have registered to vote in the 2020 election. Statewide, over 50 percent are registered Democrats, nearly 22 percent are registered as Republicans, with the remainder independents or unspecified.
On the presidential campaign front, Joseph Biden, the Democratic candidate, has raised $541 million, compared with Republican incumbent Donald Trump’s $476 million. Biden has $181 million on hand, while Trump has $121 million to spend.
More than half of Biden’s campaign dollars came from individuals who itemized their contributions, followed by 38 percent un-itemized and 10 percent from PACs. Trump’s reelection campaign got 51 percent from PACs, with the rest from individuals, itemized and un-itemized.
In Monroe County, Timothy Sheehan from Midwest Inc. was the top donor to Trump with $3,000, followed by SRS Distribution’s Arthur Finocchario at $2,800. Jody Fleischer gave $15,600 to Biden while Sallie Wilmot contributed $11,200.
In nearly every county in New York, Biden has outraised Trump, with the exception of Orleans, Wyoming, Genesee and Lewis counties.
Follow the Rochester Beacon Election Dashboard to get updates in real time.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor.