Thomas Breen file photo
Goldenberg campaigning at a gun violence focus group in June.
Is financial backing from just 15 New Haveners — including his wife and a campaign employee — in the second quarter of a heated mayoral race enough to get Tom Goldenberg on the ballot, let alone into City Hall?
That question arose from the latest campaign finance report filed by Goldenberg, an ex-McKinsey consultant, documenting the money his campaign raised and spent between April 1 and June 30.
Goldenberg is one of three Democratic challengers, along with retired police sergeant Shafiq Abdussabur and former legal aid attorney Liam Brennan, looking to unseat two-term incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker in this year’s Sept. 12 Democratic primary.
Goldenberg’s second-quarter campaign finance report shows just over a dozen individual New Haveners giving a total of $3,859 to his campaign during that three-month time period. That’s out of a total of $30,196 Goldenberg raised in individual contributions last quarter.
By comparison, according to separate campaign finance reports and a data visualization put together by Independent commenter “te,” Elicker received financial contributions from 212 individual New Haveners last quarter, Abdussabur from 82, and Brennan from 54.
“I’m not too worried about that,” Goldenberg told the Independent over the phone Thursday about convincing only 15 New Haveners to financially contribute to his mayoral campaign last quarter. “I do need funds to get the word out and support my team… but I don’t think you can draw a direct correlation between how many donors you have and the support you have.”
"Theophilus Eaton" data visualization
Data map shows Elicker as the only candidate to receive more donations from New Haveners (212) than non-New Haveners (174).
Goldenberg’s second quarter campaign finance report shows that he technically took in funds from not 15 but 16 different New Haveners over the past three months, if you count a $10,000 loan that he gave himself this quarter. (Goldenberg also gave his campaign a $25,000 loan earlier this year).
Goldenberg’s wife, Jessica Holzer, donated $701.83 to the campaign as did his campaign field director, Jayuan Carter, who paid $51.83 to the cause.
Prominent New Haveners who gave to Goldenberg this financing round include former Mayor Toni Harp, who donated $258.32, State Sen. Gary Winfield, who donated $100, and criminal justice attorney Alex Taubes, who donated $223.45.
Both Harp and Winfield had donated to candidate Shafiq Abdussabur in the last quarter, but only gave to Goldenberg during the latest round of fundraising.
“I feel like I never get credit for the leaders that are supporting me,” Goldenberg said. For example, he noted that former Black Panther Ann Boyd is helping to host an ice cream social fundraiser for his campaign this Saturday, though her investment in his run is not reflected in finance filings.
“Support comes in many forms,” he stated. “Not everyone who supports me is in a position to give financially. The neighborhoods my team’s been focusing on are not the affluent neighborhoods,” Goldenberg said, asserting that he’s concentrated his campaigning efforts in places like the Hill and Newhallville while “other candidates are more focused on Westville and the East Shore.”
In the latest quarter, 10 individuals gave that $1,000 maximum to Goldenberg, but only one was from New Haven: Hasu Patel, the owner of the Whalley Avenue liquor store Beverage Boss.
The other $1,000 check-writers for Goldenberg’s campaign hailed from Greenwich, New Fairfield, North Haven, Trumbull, Madison, and cities in North Carolina and New York.
Taubes Tells All
Laura Glesby photo
Alex Taubes: "He’s returned to our city with a love for it, a desire to help, and many new ideas to make it a better place."
“Someone who only gets money from outside of New Haven is helping the economy — he’s bringing money from other towns into our own,” said Alex Taubes, the only one of Goldenberg’s New Haven donors that the Independent was able to reach by phone Thursday.
“Okay, that was kind of a joke,” he said. “To be serious: Do I support everything he’s putting out there? No. Do I support him over the other candidates? No. But here’s a guy who grew up in our region… he’s had experiences around the world, and he’s returned to our city with a love for it, a desire to help, and many new ideas to make it a better place.
“Is that something I want to encourage? Yes.”
Taubes said Goldenberg’s attention to that local debate demonstrated a commitment to confronting issues facing residents with less political power and representation than others. “Lifting up the voices of those who are not being treated equally is super important,” he said.
Taubes has given to all four Democratic candidates since the launch of their respective campaigns.
He gave Liam Brennan the maximum amount of $445 back in quarter one, noting that Brennan remains his favorite candidate so far in the election season because his “ideas for transforming the criminal justice system and abolishing forms of systemic oppression” contribute to one of the best political “platforms I’ve seen not just in New Haven but in Connecticut for a long time.”
He also supported Elicker with a $100 check back in quarter one, “because not everything the mayor has done has been wrong or bad by any means,” supporting, for example, how his office approached their settlement with New Havener Randy Cox, who was paralyzed after a rough ride in a city police van.
Taubes moreover donated $120 to Shafiq Abudssabur alongside Goldenberg in quarter two, because “he’s proved himself to be someone who listens to people from across the spectrum and I wanna hear more from him about what he plans to do.”
Overall, Taubes said, each candidate brings some compelling ideas and abilities to the ongoing race.
“All four got some money from me,” he ultimately concluded, “because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
Wow, Taubes is a one-man Democracy Fund, giving money to everyone to support choices. I would guess Brennan is his preferred candidate.
The great thing about the Democracy is it encourages small, local donations with the 3 to one match. Moreover, someone in the Hill may not be able to part with $1,000, but many can chip in $10, and doing so most donors (not Taubes) become emotionally as well as financially invested in the candidate.