Editor's Note
Editor’s note: When is super PAC money welcome?
The candidates in the 7th Congressional District weigh in.
Antonio Reynoso and other congressional candidates discussed super PACs at a recent candidate forum. Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music
Word to the wise: Super PACs and independent expenditure committees are two names for the same thing – vehicles to put money toward candidates or causes without spending limits, with the key rule being you can’t coordinate with the candidate.
The main difference is rhetorical. Sometimes campaigns deride scary-sounding “super PACs” from donors they don’t like, while they accept “IEs.” It sounds clinical.
There was a funny moment as I was moderating a New York League of Conservation Voters forum last week for candidates running to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. I asked how they felt about super PAC spending in the race, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Assembly Member Claire Valdez and New York City Council Member Julie Won all disavowed it. Though Reynoso admitted he wasn’t exactly sure what constituted super PAC spending.
So I had to remind them that NYLCV – the host of the panel, which everyone had been thanking and praising – had its own super PAC. The LCV Victory Fund spent more than $84 million boosting environmentally-friendly candidates in federal races last cycle, and they’ve got a smaller, state-level super PAC too.
“There’s some good!” Reynoso said.
“We change our answer, we all welcome it,” Won joked. “Only from you!”
Keep that in mind as ads start to flood your mailbox and your YouTube videos again. Some are funded by AI companies, others by labor unions and many by Mike Bloomberg. But they’re all super PACs. Or IEs, if you like them.
And while you’re thinking about big spending, all New York City residents should get to know the new City Council Finance Committee chair, Linda Lee, profiled this week by City & State’s Sophie Krichevsky. Queens, get the money.