(Updated) Jeffrey Kerekes Friday became the first mayoral challenger ever to qualify for public financing through the New Haven Democracy Fund.
Robert Weschler, who administers the fund, announced that news Friday in an email. He said he would be submitting a request to the city for a $6,952 check to be given to the Kerekes campaign committee.
Kerekes, a Democrat who’s running to unseat incumbent Mayor John DeStefano, said on Wednesday that he had collected the requisite minimum of 200 donations of between $10 and $340 to qualify for matching funds from the city.
Kerekes will also receive a grant of $17,000 — but only if he collects enough signatures to make it onto the primary ballot.
That money is coming from the Democracy Fund, the program that offers campaign money to mayoral candidates who meet certain fund-raising thresholds. The program was created to help level the playing field for mayoral candidates and to limit the role of special-interest money in campaigns.
Mayor DeStefano participated in the program during the last two elections, but opted out this year, after the fund fined the mayor for a late filing and criticized him for funneling cash into aldermanic races by way of a PAC.
DeStefano was also the only candidate to ever have qualified for the program.
Until Friday.
Kerekes said he’s raised $7,286 in qualifying contributions. He said Wednesday that his campaign’s calculations indicate that he will receive $7,112 in Democracy Fund money so far on top of a $17,000 grant. That number turned out to be slightly higher than the Democracy Fund’s tally of $6,952.
Theoretically, Kerekes could eventually qualify for up to $110,000 if he somehow manages to start raking in loads of contributions. The program matches contributions two-to-one up to the first $25 from New Haven contributors. That means qualifying contribution of $10 would earn $20 from the fund, but a contribution of anything between $25 and $340 would earn only $50.
Caleb Kleppner, chairman of the Democracy Fund board, said Kerekes may receive the money for either the Sept. 13 Democratic Party primary (if he makes that ballot) or the general election (for which he has). Kerekes is in the midst of collecting the necessary signatures to land a spot on the primary ballot. (He’ll run as an independent in November if he fails to win the Democratic primary on Sept. 13.)
In another twist, if Kerekes gets into the primary and loses, he won’t receive any more public funding past the Sept. 13 primary.
“If he gets on the primary ballot and loses, he does not qualify for [further] public funds,” Kleppner said.
“He does have a decision to make,” Kleppner said. Kerekes faces a tactical decision of whether to try to secure public financing all the way to November by skipping the primary and petitioning onto the general election ballot, thereby avoiding the risk of losing the primary and getting cut off from funding.
Kerekes said he’s already decided to take that risk. He said he’s committed to taking part in the primary.
“I am a Democrat,” Kerekes said. He said it’s important to him to take part in his party’s election, to “make it clear to people that I’m a Democrat.”
That is, if he can get on the primary ballot. Kerekes said his campaign is still hard at work gathering the signatures necessary to see that Democratic voters see his name when they enter voting booths on Sept. 13.
Congrats!
Money destroys democracy. It's good to see a few folks bucking that trend.