The Point: Fundraising frenzy
Suffolk Legis. Nick Caracappa, a Republican. His Caffe Amici shindig is set to consist of a four-course dinner featuring several donation levels. Credit: James Escher
There are fundraisers for Assembly and State Senate incumbents, including one featuring a Rolling Stones tribute band.
There is the high-end "Take Back New York" event for gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, where event sponsorship is available at a pricey $25,000.
And there are victory celebrations for newly elected county officials, including Legis. Nick Caracappa whose Caffe Amici shindig is set to consist of a four-course dinner featuring very Italian American donation levels: "The Big Ragu" for $1,500, "Tony Soprano" for $1,000, or "Vinnie Barbarino" for $500.
All in all, it will be a busy few weeks on the Suffolk County GOP’s fundraising circuit, according to a roundup of event invitations sent to supporters on Monday.
If the calendar looks a little crowded, that may be because the county party’s class of elected officials and hopefuls has grown a little with District Attorney Ray Tierney’s win and the new majority in the county legislature, party chairman Jesse Garcia said.
There’s also a backlog for fundraising. Not much of it gets done once the December holiday season starts. Then early January is taken up by oaths of office and settling in, Garcia said. But after that, the fundraising appeals start circulating again for county-level officials closing out their odd-year debts and state candidates looking to November.
Expect more dialing for dollars and creative or corny or desperate-seeming fundraising appeals to come. Not that such appeals are ever exactly out of season. "We start the next campaign the day after the election," Garcia said.
Mark Chiusano is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
