Commentary

The Paladino Problem: Part II

by / Jun. 18, 2015 9am EST

[Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a multi-part report about Carl Paladino by the Public Accountability Initiative; PAI’s Gin Armstrong created the accompanying video.]

Part II. Paladino’s political network

posted 6/18

  The top ten recipients of Carl Paladino’s campaign donations are all white men

  Paladino has given to vast majority of WNY elected officials

  Paladino donations split along racial lines, not party or ideology

  5 WNY electeds taking most Paladino money, in order: Collins, Poloncarz, Kearns, Ranzenhofer, Mychajliw

While Part I of this report reviewed Buffalo developer and school board member Carl Paladino’s long history of racist, sexist, and homophobic comments, Part II examines Paladino’s political network. We look specifically at the politicians who accept significant sums of Paladino’s money – and help protect his influence.

Paladino has protected his interests and maintained his influence by donating heavily to politicians, be it individually, through his PAC, or through the dozens of LLC subsidiaries of his company, Ellicott Development. PAI found that Paladino has made nearly $3 million in campaign contributions since 2000, mostly to his own unsuccessful run for governor, and otherwise primarily to other white male candidates. Though he is a Republican and frequently attacks Republican supporters of Democratic candidates (what he calls “RINOs,” Republicans in Name Only), Paladino appears to split his political donations along racial, rather than party lines. For example, we found that Paladino has donated to every white member of the entirely Democratic Buffalo Common Council, but we have not been able to identify contributions to any of the black legislators.

Some key findings:

  • The top ten recipients of Paladino’s campaign donations are all white men
  • Paladino has given to the vast majority of federal, state, and local politicians representing Buffalo/Erie County – a total of $260,499 to 35 out of 41 elected officials
  • Paladino has contributed to every white Buffalo councilmember and Erie County legislator, but PAI has not been able to identify Paladino contributions to the five Erie County legislators and Buffalo councilmembers who are black

(above image includes only elected officials currently representing WNY)

Methodology

PAI analyzed data from the New York State Board of Elections and the Center for Responsive Politics to find campaign contributions made by Paladino, his Turning Albany Upside Down PAC, and by Ellicott Development and its myriad subsidiary LLCs. As Paladino’s influence is centered in Western New York, our analysis is focused on his donations to elected officials and candidates from this region, and specifically legislative and executive branch officials representing Buffalo and Erie County. Paladino’s donations to various PACs and party committees are also omitted for the purposes of this analysis, as are contributions from Paladino family members.

We aggregated Paladino’s donations from 2000 through 2015, and report contributions both since 2011 and since 2000 to show how Paladino’s relationships have developed and broken off through time.

Carl Paladino has given a total of $260,499 to 35 out of 41 federal, state, and local politicians representing Western New York

Of the nearly $3 million Paladino has donated since 2000, he has given $260,499 directly to the politicians representing Erie County at the federal, state, and local levels. This largesse has garnered Paladino considerable influence with local policymakers – 35 of 41 elected officials from the City of Buffalo, Erie County, New York State Legislature, and in the House of Representatives have taken Paladino’s money.

The top ten recipients of Paladino’s campaign donations are all white men

Table 1 below shows Paladino’s top ten all-time political donation recipients. All ten recipients are white males and, as can be seen in this and in subsequent tables, come from both major political parties. Despite routinely attacking Republicans who support Democratic candidates, Paladino does not discriminate based on party when it comes to securing influence via political donations.

Table 1. Top 10 Recipients of Paladino’s campaign contributions

Recipient Party Office Total since 2011 Total, all time
Chris Collins R US Congress (NY-27) $18,000 $71,650
George Pataki R Governor (former) $0 $60,000
Mark Poloncarz D Erie County Executive $34,000 $37,000
Mickey Kearns D NYS Assembly (142) $13,000 $26,000
Paul Clark D Unsuccessful candidate (Erie County Executive) $0 $24,000
Eliot Spitzer D Governor (former) $0 $21,658
Mike Ranzenhofer R NYS Senate (61) $2,000 $19,000
Stefan Mychajliw R Erie County Comptroller $17,770 $17,770
Joe Mascia D Unsuccessful candidate (NYS Assembly, Erie County Legislature) $16,932 $16,932
Chris Jacobs R Erie County Clerk $13,400 $13,400
 

 

Tables 2 through 4 show Paladino’s campaign contributions to politicians representing Western New York in the City of Buffalo, Erie County, and New York State governments.

Table 2. City of Buffalo recipients of Paladino campaign contributions

Recipient Party Office Total since 2011 Total, all time
Joe Golombek D Buffalo Common Council (North District) $800 $3,500
Mark Schroeder D City of Buffalo Comptroller $1,000 $3,300
David Rivera D Buffalo Common Council (Niagara District) $600 $2,750
Chris Scanlon D Buffalo Common Council (South District) $1,000 $1,000
Richard Fontana D Buffalo Common Council President (Lovejoy District) $800 $900
Mike LoCurto D Buffalo Common Council (Delaware District) $0 $500
David Franczyk D Buffalo Common Council (Fillmore District) $250 $450
Byron Brown D Mayor of Buffalo $100 $450
Darius Pridgen D Buffalo Common Council (Ellicott District) $0 $0
Demone Smith D Buffalo Common Council (Masten District) $0 $0
Rasheed Wyatt D Buffalo Common Council (University District) $0 $0

Table 3. Erie County recipients of Paladino’s campaign contributions

Recipient Party Office Total since 2011 Total, all time
Mark Poloncarz D Erie County Executive $37,000 $37,000
Stefan Mychajliw R Erie County Comptroller $17,770 $17,770
Chris Jacobs R Erie County Clerk $13,400 $13,400
Tim Howard R Erie County Sheriff $3,300 $7,800
Lynne Dixon R Erie County Legislature (9) $3,250 $4,060
Kevin Hardwick R Erie County Legislature (4) $3,750 $4,000
John Mills R Erie County Legislature (11) $2,300 $2,300
Ed Rath III R Erie County Legislature (6) $1,750 $2,249
Ted Morton R Erie County Legislature (8) $2,000 $2,000
Joe Lorigo R Erie County Legislature (10) $1,900 $1,900
Pat Burke D Erie County Legislature (7) $1,000 $1,000
Thomas Loughran D Erie County Legislature (5) $400 $800
Peter Savage D Erie County Legislature (3) $0 $99
Betty Jean Grant D Erie County Legislature (2) $0 $0
Barbara Miller-Williams D Erie County Legislature (1) $0 $0

Table 4. New York State recipients of Paladino’s campaign contributions

Recipient Party Office Total since 2011 Total, all time
Mickey Kearns D NYS Assembly (142) $13,000 $26,000
Mike Ranzenhofer R NYS Senate (61) $2,000 $19,000
Dave DiPietro R NYS Assembly (147) $6,000 $11,471
John Ceretto R NYS Assembly (145) $3,000 $3,000
Crystal Peoples-Stokes D NYS Assembly (141) $0 $1,950
Tim Kennedy D NYS Senate (63) $0 $800
Marc Panepinto D NYS Senate (60) $250 $250
Sean Ryan D NYS Assembly (149) $0 $0

PAI has not been able to find any contributions to black members of the Buffalo and Erie County legislative bodies

The tables of donations show that Paladino has not donated to any current black members of the Buffalo Common Council or the Erie County Legislature, though he has donated to every non-black member of each legislative body. Paladino has donated in the past to current Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, though he made all of these donations from 2000 through 2002, when he was a registered Democrat. Apart from Peoples-Stokes, the only black Western New York representative that Paladino has donated to is Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who has received just $450 from Paladino since 2000, and just $100 from him since 2011.

Notably, Assemblyman Sean Ryan, the only white elected official in our analysis who appears not to have received contributions from Carl Paladino, his network of LLCs, or his PACs, received a $500 donation from Paladino’s son William.

While it is possible that we missed some contributions, it is clear that Paladino gives very little to black elected officials, while donating heavily to white elected officials.

Coming next week: Part III of this report will examine Paladino’s business relationships with a focus on the developer’s significant tax subsidies and income from government leases.

 

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