Michael Bloomberg to Host Upper East Side Fundraiser for State Senate Candidate

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Michael Bloomberg is back in the New York political scene, at least for one night.

The former three-term mayor will host a fundraising event at his Upper East Side mansion for State Senate Candidate Micah Lasher,the Wall Street Journal first reported. Lasher is running for the State Senate's 31st District, which spans parts of Midtown, the Upper West Side, Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.

Lasher served as the Director of State Legislative Affairs for the City of New York on Bloomberg's staff, according to his campaign website. Nowhere else on Lasher's website is Bloomberg's name mentioned, not even in the "endorsements" section.

However, Lasher did lay praise on Bloomberg in a statement sent to the Journal.

“He’s shown enormous courage on so many issues that are important to me, from reproductive freedom, to leading the fight against gun violence in America, to telling the truth about Donald Trump at the Democratic National Convention,” Lasher told the Journal.

Guests at the fundraiser will be able to select three donation options — friend ($1,000), sponsor ($3,500) and co-host ($7000) — according to the Journal. The maximum donation allowed for the State Senate race is $7,000.

While Bloomberg served his three terms as Mayor as a Republican, Lasher is running for the Democratic nomination for the State Senate's 31st District. Lasher is in a four-way race against Union Organizer Marisol Alcantara, former City Councilman Robert Jackson and Luis Tejada.

While the fundraiser will no doubt give Lasher an infusion of cash, it will also give opponents the opportunity to paint him as an elitist. Especially considering the Upper East Side isn't located within the 31st District.

"While Micah Lasher is dining with billionaires on the Upper East Side, Marisol Alcantara will be campaigning with tenants, seniors, and working families in the actual district she's running to represent," campaign spokesman Jonathan Davis told Patch in a statement.

The seat was vacated when the incumbent Adriano Espaillat won the Democratic nomination for the 13th district of the U.S. Congress. Espaillat has named Marisol Alcantara as his hand picked successor.

>>> Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

Photo: US Coast Guard Academy via Creative Commons/Flickr