By Michael Goot: October 16, 2020
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, has three times as much money in the bank as her Democratic challenger Tedra Cobb, as candidates head into the final sprint to the election.
Stefanik, seeking her fourth two-year term, had $4.1 million in the bank as of Sept. 30, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission. Cobb, of Canton, had nearly $1.36 million.
Stefanik also collected nearly three times as much money in donations during the third quarter — $3.06 million in contributions compared with $1.16 million for Cobb.
Stefanik had $4.47 million at the start of the quarter on July 1 and spent nearly $3.43 million. Cobb had a starting balance of $2.7 million and spent $2.5 million during the quarter.
Stefanik issued a statement, thanking her supporters.
“I am humbled by your generosity and continued grassroots excitement for our campaign, which is based on real results for our district, not the radical policies from far-left candidates,” she said, adding that Cobb’s values are “out of touch” with the region.
The average donation was $30 and $2.1 million of the donations were under $100, according to a news release from the Stefanik campaign.
There were 50,000 donors to the campaign in the third quarter and 30,000 of them were new.
Stefanik said that, to date, the campaign has raised $10.7 million and brought in $6 million from donations under $100. The average donation was $40 and there were 120,000 new donors.
Cobb campaign manager Gabrielle Hart said she is proud of the support and momentum behind the campaign.
“We are communicating with voters on television, digital, and by mail. We are well-funded heading into these final weeks. We will be communicating Tedra’s positive vision for Northern New York and holding Elise Stefanik accountable to her record,” Hart said in a statement.
Stefanik received $250,000 from political action committees in the third quarter. For the entire 2019-2020 cycle, Stefanik has received nearly $1.37 million from PACs, according to the websiteOpenSecrets.org.
The top industry contributors were finance, insurance and real estate with $221,000, defense with $133,750 and miscellaneous business interests with $144,000. She also received $351,000 from ideological or single-issue groups.
Cobb received $26,000 from political committees in the last quarter. This includes $5,000 from the pro-abortion group Emily’s List and $2,500 from the Elect Democratic Women PAC, as well as other local Democratic committees.
She has received $97,000 this cycle from political PACs including $51,000 from ideological interests and $23,000 from labor unions.
About 22% of Stefanik’s contributions this cycle were from within the district compared with 78% from outside of the district. Cobb’s breakdown is more evenly split with about 51.5% from within the district and 48.5% from outside the district.
Stefanik’s camp released a statement later on Friday accusing Cobb’s campaign of being broke after its last round of television advertising. Stefanik campaign spokeswoman Maddie Anderson alleged that Cobb had to lay off staff because the campaign paid $1,600 in unemployment insurance costs.
Hart said Cobb is paying into the New York State Unemployment Fund, which is required of every employer in the state.
“Elise Stefanik should ensure she is complying with the law and paying in as well. Our campaign is employing more individuals today, as reflective in our FEC report, than at any other time in this campaign. Elise Stefanik should spend less time on lies and political games and more time focusing on doing her job, standing up for our troops, and securing relief for our businesses,” she said in a news release.
The Cobb campaign said it had 15 staffers.
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