District 1 Council Candidates File Campaign Finance Disclosure Statements

There was a filing deadline this week for candidates participating in this year’s city elections, which means we have a few more clues about the shape of the upcoming City Council race in District 1.

City Council member Margaret Chin is going for a third term, representing the Lower East Side, Chinatown and the rest of Lower Manhattan. She has two challengers, Christopher Marte and Aaron Foldenauer.

According to the latest report, Chin has raised $52,376 and has a campaign balance of about $35,000.

Marte collected $50,489 and now has $46,000 in his account.

Foldenauer has raised $18,083 and has around $10,000 on hand.

The spending cap for City Council campaigns is $182,000. The city offers a six-to-one match for the first $175 in donations from local residents. The system is meant to encourage small donations. Marte is a community activist who grew up in the area around Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Foldenauer is an attorney. The Democratic Primary takes place in September.

Marte’s supporters say they’re impressed by his ability to raise a significant amount of money to take on a sitting Council member. At it stands today, he’s got more in the bank. On the other hand, Chin has huge built-in advantages as an incumbent. Past opponents have raised a lot of money and still failed to unseat her.

See below for the top 10 contributions to each campaign. We’ll have a story about the District 2 Council race next week.

Margaret Chin

1. Rosie Mendez (District 2 Council member) $2000
2. Chen Lieh Tang (Hwa Yuan Restaurant) $2000
3. Kin Yip-Yu (Kinyu Realty) $1000
4. Leter Z. Li (PL Electrical Corp.) $1000
5. Yan Na Luo (Chase Global Realty) $1000
6. David Louie (Insurance agent) $1000
7. Mark Levine 2017 (District 7 Council member) $1000
8. Jason Chen (Self-employed/construction) $1000
9. Margaret Chin $500
10. Alan Tung (candidate’s husband) $500

Christopher Marte

1. Kate Gallo (Self-employed/Seattle) $2750
2. Pradeep Baliga (Jane Street Group Finance) $2750
   
3. Dodge Landesman (Unemployed/local political activist) $2000
4. Margaret Lee (Gallery owner) $1000
5. Adam Woodward (Photo researcher/Bowery preservationist) $1000
6. Coss Marte (Conbody/candidate’s brother) $1000
7. Jeannine Kiely (Community Board 2 member) $1000
   
8. Joseph Reiver (Educational Light teacher) $1000
9. Carolina Marte (BAML Banker/London) $1000
10. Coss Marte (Conbody/candidate’s brother) $700

Aaron Foldenauer

1. Alice Chen (Physician) $2750
2. Robin Fessel (Not employed) $1000
3. Nobuko Neuwirth (Attorney) $1000
   
4. William Monahan (Attorney) $1000
5. Edward Park (Sirius Global Services) $1000
6. William Snipes (Sullivan & Cromwell LLP) $1000
7. Colin Cabral (Proskauer Rose LLP/Los Angeles) $750
8. Bing Ni (Tower Research Capital) $700
9. Jeff Baich (Lattice FMC/Austin, TX) $500
10. Frederic Rich (Attorney) $500