Todd Kaminsky, Chris McGrath, Senate rivals, raise thousands

Democratic Assemb. Todd Kaminsky has more than $266,000 on hand for the final month of his State Senate campaign to replace former Majority Leader Dean Skelos, while his GOP opponent, attorney Christopher McGrath, has nearly $163,000 available, according to new State Board of Elections filings.

Kaminsky and McGrath, who will square off in an April 19 special election for the vacant 9th Senate District seat, filed their 32-day pre-election spending reports on Friday.

The reports show Kaminsky received the bulk of his money from individual donors while McGrath’s campaign was heavily funded by the Senate Republican Campaign Committee and the campaigns of other local elected officials.

From Jan. 12 to March 14, Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) raised $347,005 and transferred an additional $70,500 from his Assembly campaign account, the filings show. He has $266,498 available.

Kaminsky’s campaign spent $408,626 in the past nine weeks, largely on television advertising, consultants and mailings, according to the filings. The Democratic State Senate Committee spent an additional $177,950 on the race, records show.

McGrath, a personal injury attorney and first-time political candidate from Hewlett, has raised $571,469 since entering the race in February. More than 70 percent — $406,000 — came directly from the State Senate Republican Committee.

McGrath’s campaign spent $408,711, largely on television advertising, and has $162,758 on hand, the filings show. Senate Republicans spent an additional $325,190 on the campaign.

Kaminsky, a former federal prosecutor, said he was grateful to his supporters “because our neighborhoods can no longer be the victim of another politician’s scheme.”

McGrath spokesman E. O’Brien Murray called it “amazing that a first-time candidate who has only been running for 35 days has been able to keep up spending with an opponent that was already an elected official and announced his campaign a month earlier.”

The filings show Kaminsky received a total of $19,150 from the campaigns of other Democratic candidates, including $2,500 from Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria), head of the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee, and $3,000 from Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan).

McGrath got $73,000 in combined contributions from other GOP elected officials, including $11,000 from Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport) and $11,000 from Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury).

Green Party candidate Lawrence Hirsh, an accountant from Valley Stream, did not report any campaign fundraising.

The race is seen as critical in determining the balance of power in the Senate, now controlled by Republicans and a coalition of independent Democrats.

Skelos, a Republican, and his son, Adam, were convicted in December on eight counts of bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges. They are appealing.

The Manhattan Assembly seat vacated by former Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, who was convicted on federal corruption charges in November, will also be determined in a special election on April 19, the day of the New York presidential primary. Democrat Alice Cancel, Working Families Party candidate You-Line Niou and Republican Lester Chang had not filed campaign reports by Friday evening.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.