Adam Haber forgives $1.3M in campaign loans

Adam Haber greets commuters at the Great Neck LIRR station... — Adam Haber greets commuters at the Great Neck LIRR station in Great Neck on April 25, 2013. Credit: Howard Schnapp

By Robert Brodskyrobert.brodsky@newsday.com @BrodskyRobertJuly 31, 2016

Businessman Adam Haber, a Democratic candidate for State Senate in the Seventh District, has forgiven more than $1.3 million in personal loans from his unsuccessful 2014 campaign for the same seat, according to State Board of Elections filings.

Haber, of East Hills, loaned his campaign $1,334,500 during the 2014 race, which he lost to Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury), records show. Martins is vacating the seat to run for Congress.

Haber has raised more than $300,000 for the November Senate race against Elaine Phillips, the GOP mayor of Flower Hill, and has $232,000 on hand.

A Haber spokesman declined to comment.

GOP Senate spokesman Scott Reif said Haber is “spending millions of his personal fortune in a desperate, anything goes attempt to buy himself a Senate seat . . . If he really wanted to make a difference, he should donate the money to charity and save himself from another embarrassing loss.”