AG candidate defends lobbyist-former wife's role in campaign

Eric Schneiderman's campaign for state attorney general Tuesday defended its use of a media company that employs his former wife, who also is a lobbyist.

Jennifer Cunningham, a representative of the health care union SEIU/1199, "long ago agreed she would not lobby" the attorney general's office if Schneiderman wins, said campaign manager Emily Arsenault. Arsenault also said most of the $885,645 paid last month to SKDKnickerbocker, a Washington-based media firm where Cunningham works, was for advertising, not advice from Cunningham.

Good-government groups said it was common for lobbyists to work for political campaigns, though they didn't endorse the practice. They said it wasn't a priority in overhauling governmental ethics. At least one other Democrat vying for attorney general has a lobbyist on the payroll.

Schneiderman, a Democratic state senator from Manhattan, was responding Tuesday to a New York Post story alleging a conflict of interest by employing a lobbyist and that Cunningham intends to lobby him if he wins. The story, published Monday, also cited anonymous sources saying Cunningham ran the campaign.

Cunningham referred questions to the campaign for comment. Arsenault noted Cunningham did not lobby Andrew Cuomo after advising his successful attorney general campaign in 2006.

"The overwhelming majority of payments to her media firm have been fully disclosed . . . for media production and airtime costs," Arsenault continued. "We're extremely confident that we're following the same careful standards [Cuomo] has set for the office in this regard."

Another Schneiderman aide, who requested anonymity, said Cunningham has never run the campaign.

Schneiderman's rival, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice, has employed lobbyist Frank Hoare since spring to advise her on upstate issues and the political party conventions. He has earned $24,000 so far.

Hoare vowed Tuesday not to lobby Rice if she wins, just as he doesn't lobby his former boss, Cuomo. "I will not lobby her," said the partner at Featherstonhaugh, Wiley & Clyne, one of Albany's top lobbying firms.

Both Schneiderman and Rice have promised tougher ethics enforcement if elected.

Ties between lobbyists and campaigns do sometimes create conflicts of interest but are not illegal, said Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters. "I guess on my list of the top 10 priorities [to overhaul Albany], this would be pretty low."