Upper East Side City Council Race: Where Things Stand

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — With five weeks remaining until the June 22 primary elections, the Upper East Side's open City Council race still looks to be one of the city's most competitive.

Seven Democrats are in the running to replace term-limited incumbent Ben Kallos in District 5. The winner of the June 22 primary will face Mark Foley, the only Republican candidate, in the November general election.

In the coming weeks, Patch will publish the results of question-and-answer forms sent to each candidate, shedding light on each person's policy priorities.

With no polling available for the race, it's impossible to know how each campaign is faring. A look at fundraising and endorsements, however, can provide some clues.

The candidates

First, a brief recap of who's running in the Democratic primary:

Billy Freeland, an attorney, activist and community board member; Rebecca Lamorte, a labor organizer, activist and community board member; Julie Menin, the city's outgoing census director, former city commissioner and Community Board 1 chair; Kim Moscaritolo, a journalist, activist and community leader; Tricia Shimamura, a social worker, community board member and former staffer for U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney; Christopher Sosa, a former journalist and state senate staffer; and Marco Tamayo, an architect and community board member.

The money race

As she has for much of the campaign, Julie Menin leads the money race in District 5, raising more than $234,722 combined — including $74,200 in private donations and $160,400 in matching public funds, according to the latest disclosures. Her campaign has spent $84,000 of that total.

Others are not far behind. Freeland, Moscaritolo and Shimamura all likewise maxed out on public funds. Freeland has raised the most private money of that group: more than $66,300.

Yet Menin, despite raising the most money, has fewer total donations than some other candidates: her 413 contributions put her behind all candidates except for Tamayo, according to an interactive map from the city's campaign finance board. (Menin, however, was a relative latecomer to the race and did not begin fundraising until late last year. Shimamura, whose 670 total donations lead the field, announced her candidacy earlier.)

Lamorte, Sosa and Shimamura have gotten the highest rates of small-dollar contributions: all three have raised more than 98 percent of their money through donations of $250 or less.

Menin and Tamayo have gotten the most big-dollar donations, at 26 percent and 14 percent of their respective totals.

Geographically, all seven candidates have raised most of their money from outside the district. Moscaritolo and Shimamura have the highest percentages of in-district donors, at about 38 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Tamayo and Sosa have the lowest, at 16 and 19 percent in-district.

Who's endorsing who

Moscaritolo and Shimamura have snatched up several high-profile joint endorsements in recent weeks — a product of the new ranked-choice voting system that now governs the city's elections.

State Sen. Liz Krueger endorsed the pair in March, though she did not specify which one she would rank first. Krueger was followed by Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright and former Councilmember Jessica Lappin, who encouraged voters last week to rank Moscaritolo first and Shimamura second.

Shimamura is also backed by Maloney, her former boss, as well as Councilmember Helen Rosenthal and former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger. Moscaritolo's other endorsers include Indivisible East Side and State Sens. Jessica Ramos and José M. Serrano.

Freeland recently secured the endorsement of the Stonewall Democrats, and enjoys the joint support of UES Progressives and a number of transportation advocates.

Lamorte, also endorsed by UES Progressives, is being supported by a cohort of labor unions, New York Communities for Change and former gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon.

Menin's endorsements include big names like U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, Adriano Espaillat and Nydia Velázquez, Councilmembers Diana Ayala and Carlina Rivera, three Upper East Side district leaders and a swath of labor unions, including the United Federation of Teachers, SEIU 32BJ and the New York State Nurses Association.

Sosa's backers include Brooklyn Councilmember Carlos Menchaca, former congressional candidate Lauren Ashcraft and a number of animal rights groups.

Tamayo's website makes no mention of endorsements.

The open seat in District 5 is one of more than 30 across the city, as term limits will install new members in nearly two-thirds of the City Council's 51 seats.

Ben Kallos, who has represented the neighborhood since 2014, is running for Manhattan Borough President. Fellow incumbent Keith Powers is seeking re-election in neighboring District 4.

Upper East Side Patch will have ongoing coverage of the City Council race ahead of the June 22 primary, including candidate responses to the issues raised in our neighborhood survey.