Denim dynasty cash among NY-10 contributions flowing from outside the district

NEW YORK — When Dan Goldman mounted a short-lived run for state attorney general last year, he quickly raised more than $600,000 from a network of family members, many of whom are connected to the fortunes of Levi Strauss & Co., a titan of the blue jean industry to which he is an heir.

Now, the lead counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is running in a crowded Democratic primary for an open congressional seat spanning Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. And while Goldman has said he hasn’t tapped into any personal wealth, many of the same immediate and extended kin with Levi Strauss & Co. ties are again lining his pockets.

The familial money flowing to Goldman is part of a larger current of money from outside the newly drawn 10th Congressional District, public records show. That means moneyed donors from elsewhere in New York and across the country, rather than potential constituents, are underwriting candidates’ paid media and ground operations — activities that will prove decisive with no incumbent in the 13-person race.

And with just a month to go before what could be a sleepy August primary, time is of the essence.

“They have to spend a lot of time on name recognition, which is a drain on resources but is necessary,” said political consultant Basil Smikle Jr. “That is going to require a lot of money. If they can get that quicker from sources outside the district, it’s important that they do that — and they can explain it later.”

Of the $2.7 million that individuals gave to the top-five-grossing Democratic primary candidates, more than three-quarters of the cash came from ZIP codes outside the district, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data covering the second quarter of the year.

Campaigns must disclose the address of anyone giving more than $200, a requirement that paints a picture of fundraising activity in the district and the immediate surrounding area.

Smaller donations, which are not itemized by individual donor, made up another $155,000 of the five candidates’ collective haul. Along with contributions from political action committees, they were not included in POLITICO’s analysis.

Goldman, who also served as a Manhattan federal prosecutor, raised $279,400 from contributors living inside the district — the most out of any candidate.

He also raised more than three times that amount from outside the seat, far eclipsing his competitors.

Donors from California, for example, poured around $277,000 into his campaign coffers, FEC data show. That’s more than Manhattan Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, another Democrat running for the seat, raised from the entirety of her itemized contributions over the same period, which covers April through June.

The Golden State is home to members of Goldman’s extended family, many of whom are intertwined in the generational wealth generated by San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co.

While candidates typically tap into friends and family connections early in their fundraising, taken together Goldman’s haul is significant. He raised more than $200,000 from immediate and extended family — including aunts, uncles and cousins — along with a few others involved in organizations connected to the family.

Many of the same people also contributed five-figure sums to Goldman’s run for attorney general last year, when he raised more than $1 million in a month.

An aunt who lives in San Francisco, for example, chipped in nearly $70,000 to Goldman’s attorney general campaign. In June, she gave $5,800 to her nephew’s congressional run, the most allowed by the FEC for the primary and general campaigns. Peter Haas Jr., whose father helped grow Levi Strauss & Co. into a global brand beginning in the 1950s, gave roughly $23,000 to Goldman’s attorney general campaign and $2,900 to his congressional run.

Goldman’s campaign said that more than 2,000 people contributed, including 1,500 people who gave $100 or less.

A spokesperson noted that Goldman raised the most money from within the district, and said that his overall fundraising is a result of his national platform as an MSNBC analyst — and from his screen-time during the impeachment trial.

In total, Goldman, who has about $1 million left in his account, raised just under a third of his campaign cash from neighborhoods in the district.

Several of his competitors raised less.

Just 14 percent of the roughly $440,000 in itemized donations to U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, for example, came from within the new 10th District.

Jones currently represents parts of Westchester and Rockland counties north of New York City, and with $2.8 million, he's sitting on the largest war chest in the race. The freshman lawmaker opted to run for the open New York City seat after a chaotic redistricting process would have pitted him against U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney on his home turf north of the five boroughs.

Jones recently moved into the district, but his donor base did not appear to follow.

He saw some of his biggest hauls from Manhattan ZIP codes north of the district — along with Rockland and Westchester counties, according to FEC data, though he also raised significant sums from Brooklyn Heights and Tribeca.

At the other end of the spectrum, City Council Member Carlina Rivera raised more than a third of her donations from inside the district, the most of any of the five top Democratic primary candidates. She has roughly $354,000 on hand.

Among Rivera’s benefactors from outside the 10th District was a concentration of the state’s lobbying class, which appears to be betting on her run. Donors from the Parkside Group, Geto & de Milly, Patrick Jenkins, Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno, Constantinople & Vallone and CMW Strategies all chipped into her campaign. A donor from Tusk Strategies who gave also lives in the district.

Some of those lobbyists, such as Michael Woloz of CMW Strategies, gave to other candidates — namely former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who dropped out of the running Tuesday after raising $483,725 from individual donors who gave more than $200. More than 80 percent of them lived outside the district.

Niou, the Manhattan assembly member, raised around $196,000 from the same type of donors. And while only 21 percent came from within the district, she also had the highest share of small-dollar donations that are not required to be itemized.

Donations under $200 represented a fraction of contributions to most of the top five, but they constituted around 18 percent of Niou’s haul.

Technically speaking, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon’s funding came almost exclusively from the district — but that's because it came out of her pocket and she lives there.

The Democratic state lawmaker loaned her own campaign $134,000 and chipped in another $5,000 donation, representing more than two-thirds of all the money she raised.