$1K Club Tests Clean Elections System

Mayoral candidate Tom Goldenberg grabbed $1,000 donations from 17 different people — and ended up with less cash than all his Democratic primary competitors who swore off taking four-figure checks.

That happened in the latest round of fundraising by candidates for New Haven’s Democratic mayoral nomination. The four candidates — incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker, who’s seeking a third two-year term; and challengers Goldenberg, Shafiq Abdussabur, and Liam Brennan — filed reports on their January-through-March fundraising Monday with the secretary of the state’s office. 

Elicker reported taking in $102,470.50; Abdussabur, $47,200.82; Goldenberg, $39,562.57; and Brennan, $31,788.56.

Unlike Goldenberg, the other three candidates have agreed to limit their fundraising in return for public dollars under the city’s Democracy Fund.

The newly reported quarterly fundraising results, which cover dollars raised from Jan. 1 through March 31, offered initial evidence about two questions hovering over this race:

• Whether New Haven’s first-in-Connecticut municipal ​“clean elections” public-financing program hampers or helps challengers to well-funded incumbents.

• Whether incumbents need, in order to win reelection, to extract every last possible dollar out of people who depend on government for their living.

Goldenberg, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant, decided it would hurt him to participate in the voluntary 16-year-old program, which offers campaign grants to qualifying mayoral candidates who agree to forswear special-interest money and individual contributions above $445. The goals include to help more people, including those without great personal wealth or rich connections, to run for mayor, and to limit the influence of contractors or others with a financial stake in local government.

Goldenberg decided that to take on a well-funded incumbent, he needed bigger checks. State law allows candidates to raise up to $1,000 for local races per donation if they’re not running ​“clean” through the public financing program. Also, the Fund offers matches only for New Haveners’ donations, not for out-of-towners’ donations, and Goldenberg, who hasn’t lived in the city long, is relying mostly on out-of-town donors.

His latest report showed that he raised $39,562.57 from individuals this past quarter. That included the 17 maximum $1,000 donations. Fifteen of the 17 $1,000 donors live outside New Haven. (Lists of maxed-out donors for each of the candidates appear at the bottom of this article.) At least 22 of the latest donors are affiliated with the scandal-plagued McKinsey firm as their employer. Click here to view Goldenberg’s donations.

Even without collecting $1,000 contributions, fellow challenger Shafiq Abdussabur, a community anti-violence organizer and retired police sergeant, still outraised Goldenberg: He reported taking in $47,200.82 in the quarter from 420 individuals, 274 of them from New Haven. The list included 42 $440 or $445 donations. Click here to view Abdussabur’s filing.

Abdussabur’s donors ranged from current and retired police officers (Holly Wasilewski, Rebecca Goddard, James Evarts, Jasmine Sanders, Michael Sweeney, Stephan Torquati, Monique Cain, Milton Jackson, Joe Dease, Ronald Pressley, and Ismail Abdussabur, the candidate’s son and next-door neighbor) to members of Abdussabur’s Muslim faith community, members of the Chasidic Jewish community in Abdussabur’s home Beaver Hills neighborhood, grassroots activists like the Hill’s Leslie Radcliffe, regional NAACP President Dori Dumas, and Elicker-appointed Police Commissioner Tracey Meares; to current and retired elected officials including State Rep. Gary Winfield, ex-Mayor Toni Harp, and Alders Frank Douglass and Sarah Miller.

“That donor list,” Abdussabur said, ​“represents the city of New Haven.” 

On Tuesday Abdussabur qualified for the Democracy Fund, according to Administrator Alyson Heimer. That qualifies Abdussabur for an immediate $9,738 in matching funds as well as a $23,000 grant once he qualifies for the primary ballot. That will put him over $80,000 — or more than $30,000 above what Goldenberg raised this quarter while bypassing the public-financing program limits.

Goldenberg argued that he wasn’t outraised because the comparison should include money he raised in the previous quarter, before Abdussabur entered the race.

Even Liam Brennan will have taken in more cash than Goldenberg if the Democracy Fund approves his application. (Brennan said he has submitted enough qualified local donations; Heimer said she still needs to work out details with the campaign about how it reported the online-payment fees.)

Brennan, a former federal prosecutor and legal-aid attorney, reported taking in $31,788.56 in the first quarter. That included 26 maxed-out $445 donors, of whom 22 live outside New Haven and tend to work in government or public-service roles. Some of Brennan’s local donors included SeeClickFix founder Ben Berkowitz, teachers union President Leslie Blatteau (who also donated to Abdussabur), Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves, and Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller.

Democracy Fund matching donations and grant money would put Brennan well above Goldenberg’s $39,562.57 for the quarter. ) Click here to view Brennan’s filing.

Unlike the other two challengers Goldenberg started raising money in 2022. He reported raising $18,000 in the last quarter of 2022; he also lent his campaign $25,000 of his own money. He has already spent most of his money: His filing showed he had just $10,932.50 on hand as of March 31. By contrast, the Abdussabur campaign reported having $34,921.26 on hand; Brennan, $27,686.04; Elicker, $149,608.87.

Incumbent Elicker, meanwhile, reported raising almost as much as his three Democratic opponents combined: $102,470.50, bringing his total to date to $158,694.40. (Like Goldenberg, Elicker began raising money in the fall of 2022.) The list of donors reflects the draw of incumbency: Like previous mayors, he collected donations from developers who do work in the city, city employees and contractors, and top execs from workplaces like Yale New Haven Hospital. Click here to view his filing.

Elicker raised all that money without hitting the donors up for $1,000: He is participating in the Democracy Fund, as he has in his previous three runs for mayor (including a 2013 quest that fell short).

Elicker’s two predecessors supported the creation of public-financing programs — then chose not to participate in them when they faced serious challengers for reelection. They chose instead to be able to collect the full $1,000 from donors.

“We’ve proven multiple times” that a mayoral candidate can work within the clean-money program’s limits and raise enough money to win office, as a challenger as well as an incumbent, Elicker said.

“It’s clear that New Haven’s not for sale.”

Goldenberg said Tuesday that it remains unclear whether he made the right call, whether his campaign would have benefitted more from his participating in the Fund.

He said he chose not to participate in part because he felt he needed the ability to raise more money to take on a well-funded incumbent; and because he disagreed with how Elicker and the Democracy Fund handled questions involving a challenger’s filings two years ago.

“I didn’t want to unnecessarily hamper my campaign,” Goldenberg said. ​“Time will tell. I think it’s early to say right now as to whether I made the right decision.”

Concerned with the same challenge of taking on a bankrolled incumbent, Abdussabur had struggled with the decision of whether to participate in the program. He ultimately signed on, he said, because ​“this is what people wanted. This is what people have asked their next mayor to be part of, the true buy-in.” He said he found that running ​“clean” does add ​“viability” to a campaign; he doesn’t know yet whether it ends up costing it needed dollars.

Candidate Brennan spoke of the non-financial benefits of running with public financing: “ You theoretically have to do more fundraising because you have to get it from more people. But you can represent people more directly through the Democracy Fund and rely on different sources of funding, more representative of a general populace, rather than folks who are giving $1,000 donations.”

Click here for a story about changes the Democracy Fund is proposing for future elections.

The Lamont/Linda McMahon Question

A second long-term question lingers, even if this campaign ends up proving that challengers with strong local support bases can afford and even benefit by participating in the Democracy Fund: Will that change if a self-funding millionaire tries to buy the mayor’s office? Right now the cost of running a successful mayoral campaign remains safely in the six-figure range.

The state has seen mixed results on that question with its own voluntary public-financing system.

The Republicans have fielded mulitimillionaires in the last four gubernatorial elections who bypassed public financing and poured their own money into their campaigns, and then lost; but the Democrats gave the gubernatorial nomination the last two years to a self-funder, who went on to win and ensured no one without vast personal wealth would compete for the office on a major-party ticket.

On the other hand, former Gov. Dannell Malloy won the 2010 Democratic nomination with public financing even though he ran against an opponent from Greenwich (Ned Lamont) who inherited millions of dollars and tried to buy the election with own money. Republican Linda McMahon dropped a record $50 million of her own money twice to try to win a U.S. Senate seat, against Democrats Richard Blumenthal and then Chris Murphy, and fell short. The conventional wisdom was that candidates need a lot of money to get their message out and field a campaign team, but that after a certain point extra millions (or tens of millions) of dollars produce diminishing returns.

Elicker predicted that would probably be the case in New Haven: He argued that after a certain point voters get all the information they need to form a conclusion. ​“Ultimately you need a baseline amount of money to run a good, solid campaign and get your message out,” he said, and so far, at least, the Democracy Fund enables that amount for candidates who can demonstrate a threshold level of grassroots local support.

Elicker’s Max List ($440-$445 Donors)

Daniel Destefano Beachwold Residentialsenior vice-president Guilford

Gideon Friedman Beachwold Residential Eexecutive Brooklyn NY

Amir Hazan Beachwold Residential executive Manhattan New York City 

Patricia King New Haven city corporation counsel New Haven 

Donald Margulies playwright New Haven 

Dallas Dodge self-employed consultant West Hartford 

Salvatore Raffone architect New Haven 

Yves Joseph developer Norwalk 

Jennifer Baclini risk management lawyer Brooklyn 

Mark Germain self-employed executive Palm Beach Gardens FL 

Rachel Rudnick self-employed West Hartford 

Jason Rudnick self-employed West Hartford 

Michael Schaffer real estate owner/C.A. White New Haven 

Randy Salvatore developer New Canaan 

Claire Salvatore homemaker New Canaan 

John Hill Seabrook Hill Realtors Old Saybrook

Nicole Joseph consultant Norwalk 

Michael Buchman attorney Westport 

Joan Elicker Richards retired La Jolla CA 

Norman Fleming retired Guilford 

Stephen Latham director, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics New Haven 

James Comer professor North Haven 

Clayton Fowler Spinnaker Real Estate CEO Pound Ridge NY 

Ike Lasater retired New Haven 

William Curran retired New Haven 

Lynn Fusco developer Guilford 

G Elizabeth Lasater homemaker New Haven

Carl Porto attorney Hamden 

Jay Bright architect New Haven 

Stuart Decew Yale executive North Haven 

Robert Megna ex-state rep New Haven 

Julianna Tufts homemaker Naples FL 

Thomas Mooney lawyer West Hartford 

Paul Denz president Northside Development New Haven 

Richard Cuomo real estate manager North Haven 

Michelle Cuomo accountant North Haven 

Bruce Becker architect/developer Westport 

Timothy Snyder historian New Haven 

Roy Occhiogrosso political consultant Simsbury 

Alex Twining developer Old Lyme 

Vin Petrini retired Biddeford ME 

Andrew Smyth professor SCSU New Haven 

David Simon Yale lecturer New Haven 

Anne Martin Wesleyan/finance New Haven 

John Pescatore self-employed New Haven 

Barnett Brodie real estate Monsey NY 

Mary Coursey consultant West Hartford 

Robert Shure funeral director New Haven 

Elana Motechin unemployed Monsey NY 

Zvi Ashkenazi unemployed Monsey NY 

Adam Conley accountant Monsey NY 

Michael Errico plumber Reichman Brodie Real Estate Monsey NY 

Christian Ramery Reichman Brodie Real Estate Middletown 

Francisco Luna plumber, Reichman Brodie Real Estate New Haven 

John Lahey manager, Reichman Brodie Real Estate 

Oneil Ramirez contrator Meriden 

Ryan Burke self-employed Monsey, NY 

David Kuperberg investor Steamboat Springs CO

Ravi Dahr Yale professor New Haven 

Susan Kerley consultant New Haven 

Aurora Melita lobbyist West Hartford 

Angeline Iovanne funeral director Branford 

Carter Winstanley developer Concord MA 

Demian Gage Winstanley Enterprises Concord MA 

Cynthia Haiken Librarian New Haven 

Marc Alderucci restaurant owner Bellingham MA 

Frederick Ross housing manager/developer Branford 

Melissa Biggs attorney Dayville CT 

Morel Alexander therapist New Haven 

Rukiye Maras Brick Oven PIzza delivery driver New Haven 

John Lapides manufacturer North Haven 

Ted Schaffer self-employed New Haven 

Kerwin Charles SOM Dean New Haven 

Mark Forlenza real estate Brookfield 

Jonathan Gelbwaks retired Weston 

Tracey Brancati ION Bank vp New Haven 

Frank Pizzola retired Beacon Falls 

Patrick McCabe public affairs marketing Hartford 

Benjamin Sandweiss arborist Hamden 

Kenny Martin Lexington Partners owner Cromwell 

David Beckerman retired New Haven 

Jennifer D’Amato seafood restaurant manager Guilford 

William English Yale economist New Haven 

Tom Balcezak YNHH medical director Litchfield 

Jeffrey Donofrio attorney Trumbull 

George Jones retired Hamden 

Gedalia Peterseil consultant Cedarhurst NY 

Vita Raffone retired Hamden 

Anna Blanding ConnCORP CIO Hamden 

Stephen Latham Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics director New Haven 

William Iovanne funeral director New Haven 

Joseph Raffone building inspector Hamden 

Jorge Jimenez retired Storrs 

Christopher Michols self-employed Ansonia 

Kristin Rinaldi RN Ansonia 

Rino Ferrarese small business owner Cromwell 

Ray Pantalena cannabis dispenser Madison 

Michael Quiello Avelo airline manager Peachtree City GA 

David Goldblum NHPS teacher Branford 

Joseph Sabbatino retired New Haven 

Kenneth Rosenthal attorney New Haven 

Vladimir Coric Biohaven physician Madison 

Benjamin Hadelman Arcadia Street Capitol owner Denver 

Thomas Ruggieri EPT Group executive New Haven 

John Geanakoplos Yale professor New Haven 

Bradley Fleming r eal estate Guilford 

Anne Higonnet Barnard College professor New Haven 

John Kimberly UPenn professor Lafayette Hill PA 

Michael Laubin attorney Shelton 

Frank Caico Spinnaker Real Estate Newtown 

Jose Ramirez real estate Middletown 

Goldenberg’s Max List ($1,000 Donors)

Jenny Juarez engineer New York

Kevin Buehler McKinsey & Co. management consultant Greenwich

Ryan Goldenberg software engineer New York

Michael Nutter ex-mayor Philadelphia

David Norman-Schiff attorney New Haven

Mark Zurack Columbia business school professor New York

Gordon Moore physician executive Vienna VA

Jack Guo retired Wilton

Matthew Harp real estate New Haven

Sanjay Venkateswarul AboutData ​“head of product” New York

Kevin Straight McKinsey & Co. consultant Playa Vista, CAa

Kishore Ponnavolu Summit Advisors founder New Canaan

Henry Zachs investor Hartrord

Rishi Narang business owner Bristol

Robert Wilber business owner Branford

Vishnu Kamalnath McKinsey & Co. partner Boston

Kristin Schneeman ​“senior director” Westport

Abdussabur’s Max List ($440-$445 donors)

Note: The filing does not list donors’ occupations or employers.

Mubarakah Ibrahim New Haven 

Ihsan Abdussabur Prescott AZ

Michael Dunn West Haven 

Ayanna Bakiriddin New Haven

Bayla Edelman New Haven

Matthew Harp real estate New Haven

Samuel Wilson Bridgeport

Chaim Vail New Haven

Tziporah Vail New Haven

Ismail Abdussabur police officer New Haven

Cheo Coker Seattle

Menahem Edelkopf real estate New Haven

Sakima Abdussabur Hamden

Duncan Goodall Koffee? proprietor New Haven

Sabir Adbdussabur Hamden

Leif Bohman WIlmington DE

Shafiq Abdussabur mayoral candidate New Haven

Robert Fecke New Haven

Bayla Edelman New Haven

Yehuda Gurevitch real estate Woodbridge

Shmuel Gurevitch Woodbridge

Rosie Gurevitch Woodbridge

Robert Hage Fairfield

Jackie Suarez West Haven

Seven Woznyk Durham

Christopher Hilgert West Haven

Howard Hill funeral home director New Haven

Sonia Salazar restaurateur Orange

Robert Bartolomeo club owner North Haven

David Goldblum schoolteacher New Haven

Yakov Borenstein New Haven

Ahuba Rivkin New Haven

Toni Harp former mayor New Haven

Todd Howell Wallingford

Alfonso Barbarotta Trumbull

Ali Kir East Haven

Clayton Henderson New Haven

Devorah Katz New Haven

Frances ​“Bitsie” Clark retired arts administrator Hamden

Gregory Smith New Haven

Ihsan Kuru Woodbridge

Menachem Katz Ocean Management real estate New Haven

Mohammed Mansoor Berlin CT

Brennan’s Max List ($440-$445 Donors)

Anne Brennan retired West Haven

David Remus U.S. SEC attorney Arlington VA

Alex Taubes attorney New Haven

Rebecca Borné CFPB attorney New Haven

Mary Sotos US DOE director Richmond VA

James Brennan retired West Haven

Liam Brennan mayoral candidate New Haven

Viola Trebicka attorney Los Angeles

Zachariah Summers attorney Los Angeles

Stephen Wizner retired New Haven

David Wilkinson Yale manager Richmond VA

Brandon Birdwell ​“energy markets” Brooklyn NY

Daniel Borne retired Baton Rouge LA

Jane Okpala bank manager San Francisco

David Ellis Slingshot Advisory ​“coach” Somerville MA

Emma Vadehra NYC schools administrator Brooklyn NY

Jonathan Lopez attorney Washington

Priam Dutta schools administrator Brooklyn

Valerie Dutta teacher Brooklyn

Ethan Fletcher consultant Hastings on Hudson NY

Jason Borné Last Play CEO Baton Rouge

Lesley Briones Harris County commissioner Houston TX

Lisette Borne homemaker Baton Rouge LA

Kathleen Warin attorney Arlington VA

Keri Davidson attorney San Francisco

Kimberly Gahan US State Dept. lawyer Washington DC