Jim Walden, an impartial candidate for mayor, is committing to disavow any tremendous PAC that will kind to assist his run for Metropolis Corridor — a transfer that comes as Andrew Cuomo, the main 2025 mayoral contender, has benefited closely from PAC spending.
“I do not want any of my supporters to form a PAC to support my campaign. If one is started by any supporters, I will publicly disavow it,” Walden’s plan says, including he’d additionally return any donations his marketing campaign receives from people launching a PAC to again him.
Although comparatively unknown on a citywide degree, Walden will seem on November’s common mayoral election poll and has raised some $3 million for his run thus far. Like Cuomo, Walden stated he has “plenty of ultra-wealthy friends and supporters” who could also be all for beginning a PAC to assist him.
Ought to he be elected, Walden’s plan says he’d take his dedication a step additional by making a “do not call” record at Metropolis Corridor comprising the names of anybody who organized or donated to any PAC that supported him. He stated officers in his administration wouldn’t be allowed to talk to anybody on that record about metropolis authorities issues.
“No sane person would start a PAC under these conditions, and that is precisely what I want: no PAC interference with this election, whether for or against me. That is what New Yorkers deserve,” Walden stated earlier than including: “Our elections should not be for sale. Cuomo cares more about winning than acting ethically … Although I intend to win, I would rather lose than sacrifice my principles.”
In response, Cuomo spokesman Wealthy Azzopardi scoffed at Walden’s comparatively low-profile: “Last time I remember James Walden was in the race, he was engaged in a one-way passionate argument with an Andrew Cuomo parody account [on X].”
Cuomo, who’s polling as the favourite to win the June 24 Democratic mayoral main, is benefitting from Repair the Metropolis, a brilliant PAC operated by longtime allies, which has up to now spent greater than $8 million on advertisements and different messaging to spice up the ex-governor’s run. The tremendous PAC’s spending spree has raised each authorized and moral issues from regulators and authorities watchdogs.
