What is a Spending Limit Adjustment?

Legislation was enacted in October 2008 to extend term limits for city officeholders from two to three terms. As a result, 20 candidates chose to end their 2009 election campaigns and use the funds they raised for the next citywide election in 2013 (see Advisory Opinion 2008-7). Complete details about these candidates' finances in the CFB searchable database may be spread across two election cycles.

  • Contributions (2009/2013): All contributions collected for use in the 2013 election cycle are eligible for matching funds, including contributions originally raised for the 2009 election. These contributions can be found in the campaign finance filings for the 2013 election, in either the searchable database or campaign finance summaries.
  • Expenditures (2009): These candidates' expenditures associated with the 2009 election will not be counted against the spending limit for the 2013 election. Expenditures made by these candidates for the 2009 election can be viewed in the searchable database and campaign finance summaries by selecting the '2009G' election cycle.
  • Expenditures (2013): These candidates will, however, receive the benefit of contributions raised during the 2009 election cycle. To estimate the costs of raising those funds, the CFB assessed a charge against the 2013 spending limit for these candidates. This spending limit adjustment, labeled fundraising allocation, appears in the searchable database as an expenditure. The fundraising allocation does not reflect actual money leaving the campaign's bank account. Rather, it will be counted against the spending limit for candidates who join the Campaign Finance Program.
  • Estimated cash-on-hand (2013): For an estimate of total cash on hand, visit the campaign finance disclosures on the New York State Board of Elections website. You can find a candidate's estimated balance by viewing the summary page for the most recent filing.

Each of the 20 candidates is in one of two groups:

  • "Frozen" campaigns: Five candidates originally seeking borough-wide or city-wide office in 2009 instead chose to run for re-election to a current office, and 'freeze' their original committee. All five candidates activated their previously 'frozen' committee for the 2013 election cycle.

    Candidate
    Fundraising Allocation
    James S. Oddo
    $10,938.00
    Christine C. Quinn
    $400,243.00
    Domenic M. Recchia
    $7,395.00
    Joel Rivera
    $8,175.00
    Peter F. Vallone, Jr.
    $88,870.00

  • "Suspended" campaigns: Fifteen candidates 'suspended' their 2009 campaign instead of opposing a previously term-limited incumbent, and activated their 2009 committee for the 2013 elections.

    Candidate
    Fundraising Allocation
    Todd A. Dobrin
    $3,957.37
    Brian L. Gotlieb
    $1,869.60
    Ari M. Hoffnung
    $5,019.82
    Martin S. Krongold
    $19.00
    John Lisyanskiy
    $6,515.58
    Steven Matteo
    $443.66
    Mercedes Narcisse
    $2,285.27
    Audrey I. Pheffer*
    $37,139.97
    Alfonso Quiroz
    $6,738.91
    Helen K. Rosenthal
    $1,234.87
    Michael Simanowitz*
    $6,513.17
    Cheryl Simmons-Oliver
    $984.80
    Martha Taylor
    $3,737.89
    Robert M. Waterman
    $1,922.40
    Anthony D. Weiner
    $585,380.36

    *Indicates that the candidate has terminated
    his/her candidacy for the 2013 election.

  • Calculating the fundraising allocation: The estimated fundraising cost or fundraising allocation was calculated by assessing a 15% flat rate on the total amount of funds on hand as of January 11, 2009 for the five frozen candidates and as of January 11, 2010 for the 15 suspended candidates. If a campaign's total expenditures on that date were less than 15% of the funds on hand on that date, the lower figure was counted against the campaign's 2013 spending limit.