Mayoral candidate Shaun Donovan has spent more on ads than any other candidate in the primary.AP Photo/Bebeto MatthewsYou see these guys everywhere — but they appear to be going nowhere.
Mayoral candidates Shaun Donovan and Ray McGuire, aided by the Super PACs that support them, have spent the most thus far on TV and radio ads but they are cellar dwellers in the polls, according to data obtained by the Post.
The Democratic mayoral candidates and Super PACs have spent or booked a combined $27 million on media ads through May 21, ad tracking sources said.
The pro-Shaun Donovan PAC, bankrolled by his wealthy ad-software exec dad Michael — New Start NYC — has spent $5.6 million in media ads, while the Donovan campaign paid $660,000 for ads — for a combined $6.2 million.
That’s tops among all campaigns in the crowded field for mayor.
But Donovan is polling in the low single digits.
A business associate of Michael Donovan said he believes in his son, Shaun, who served as budget director and housing secretary in the Obama administration and as a city housing director, and is putting his money where his mouth is to help out.
“Michael has made a lot of money and what father doesn’t want to believe in his son?” the pal said, calling the money poured in the pro-Shuan PAC a “drop in the bucket” of his fortune.
“Obviously he believes in the effectiveness of advertising … He believes in his son as a person. He believes in his son as a leader. He believes people don’t know his son as well as they know the other leading contenders and if he can invest heavily in marketing so people can get to know his son as well as he knows him then they will believe he’s the right person to lead NYC,” the Michael Donovan pal said.
Ray McGuire’s campaign and a pro-McGuire Super PAC have spent a combined $5.6 million on ads. Stephen YangAnother poor return on investment: the ad dollars spent by, and on behalf of, retired Citigroup executive Ray McGuire’s long-shot quest for City Hall.
The McGuire campaign ($2.7 million) and the New Yorkers for Ray Super PAC ($2.9 million) have spent a combined $5.6 million while a recent poll has him with four percent, tied with fellow cellar dweller Donovan.
“The Beatles were right — money can’t buy love. That’s the bottom line,” said Baruch College public affairs professor Doug Muzzio.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s campaign ($2.7 million) and his pals in the teachers’ union through the NY4KIDS PAC ($2.5 million) have spent a combined $5.2 million on ads.
Stringer’s campaign stalled after he was accused of sexual misconduct — which he has denied — and he has fallen from the top of the pack but is still competing.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s campaign and NY4KIDS PAC have spent a combined $5.2 million on his ads. William FarringtonTop tier candidate Andrew Yang’s campaign ($2 million) and the pro-Yang Comeback PAC ($2 million) spent a combined $4 million. The well-known Yang, an entrepreneur who ran for president, has been one of the front-runners in the race.
Another front-runner, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams ($1.9 million from campaign) and pro-Adams Super PACs ($900,000) spent a combined $2.8 million.
By comparison, former city Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, who has surged in the polls after landing key endorsements, has spent only $1 million in ads while former City Hall legal counsel Maya Wiley has spent $2 million — though a pro-Wiley Super PAC bankrolled by left-wing billionaire George will provide at least $500,000 to promote her in ads down stretch.
“The ad spending shows that money without a message doesn’t matter,” said veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who is not affiliated with any campaign.
“The graveyard of politics is filled with candidates who lost after spending the most. The biggest winners here are the consultants.”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has remained one of the race’s leaders despite spending less on ads than several other candidates. Ron Adar / M10s / MEGASheinkopf said the Donovan (Comeback Plan) and McGuire (Man with the Plan) ads lacked the emotional punch of those put out for frontrunners Adams (Our Moment), Yang (Hope is on the Way) and Garcia (Break Glass) . Wiley also recently released her first ad (As a Mom).
The outside Super PACs allowed under a Supreme Court ruling make a mockery of the city’s campaign finance program that seeks to limit fat-cat billionaire and millionaires from unduly influencing campaigns.
The outside “independent expenditure groups” — which don’t have to abide by CFB’s donor contribution limits –have spent $14 million to support their candidates, accounting for more than half the ad spending.
