Steve Bellone fundraiser fuels speculation about future

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone isn't saying what his plans are after he leaves office at the end of the year, but a political fundraiser he's hosting this month adds to the speculation.

Bellone's 11th annual golf fundraiser at Stonebridge Links Golf & Country Club in Smithtown is scheduled Sept. 13. A round of golf and lunch starts at $1,000 per person with sponsorship opportunities up to $15,000 available, according to a flyer advertising the event.

Term-limited in his current position, Bellone wouldn't say why he is fundraising. He said he is simply holding an event that he hosts every year.

"I'm going to continue to be here, and we'll see what the future holds," said Bellone, a Democrat who has served as Suffolk’s highest elected official since 2012. 

Bellone has continued to raise and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars since he began his final term in 2020. He had $379,609 in his account as of July 17, the most recent reporting period, according to state Board of Elections filings. The money could be used to run for a higher state office but cannot be used for federal races.

Bellone has paid Manhattan-based political consulting firm Power Play Strategies more than $140,000 since 2020. He also has given to other Democrats, including $250,000 to the state Democratic Committee in 2021.

Large donations to Bellone during that time include $50,000 from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and $40,000 from Bolla Oil Corp. CEO Harvinder Singh, both made in July 2021.

If he doesn't seek another office, Bellone could donate the money to a nonprofit, a university or another political committee. He also could use it to pay for meals and meetings with political advisers.

“There's a lot of uses for money and a candidate's campaign account after they've left office,” White Plains election finance attorney David Imamura said. “You can use it for things that are seemingly campaign related for yourself one day, but it has to be politically related.”

Jay Jacobs, state and Nassau County Democratic Party chairman, said the fundraiser signals Bellone, 53, is interested in another elected office.

"Steve Bellone is young, and he's certainly very talented. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't looking to the future to do something else," Jacobs said. "I don't know if he has yet identified that. It makes sense right now for him that he's term-limited in this job [and] what he's basically signaling is this won't be his last elected office."

Susan Lerner, executive director of the good government group Common Cause New York, said politicians should not hold fundraisers without declaring their intentions.

“Common Cause/NY believes that candidates must explicitly announce what office they are running for when asking donors for money — and not build up a war chest for an unknown position,” she said in a statement. “New York law must change so that candidates are only able to raise money once they’ve announced their campaign for an intended office.”

Bellone said that's "not really an option in today's political environment."

Some Democrats have speculated that his fundraiser — two months before the November general election — runs the risk of diverting funds and attention from candidates in competitive county and town races. 

Suffolk County Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer, who has a long-running feud with Bellone, declined to comment directly on how the fundraiser might impact other local Democrats such as Dave Calone, who is running against Republican Ed Romaine to succeed Bellone.

“I’m focused on electing Dave Calone [as] county executive and I would recommend that everybody who cares about Suffolk County do the same,” he wrote in a text message.

Calone's campaign manager, Shane Wolfe, did not comment on Bellone's fundraiser, but said Bellone "encouraged Dave to enter this race."

With Scott Eidler

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.