Paul Bass photo
Democratic mayoral candidate Justin Elicker (at podium) with Gov. Lamont, Secretary of the State Merrill, and U.S. Sen. Blumenthal at a recent Democratic Party “Unity Rally.”
Democratic mayoral candidate Justin Elicker will be a featured speaker at a $1,000-per-seat fundraiser for the local Democratic Town Committee — a move that Elicker described as an opportunity to raise money for other local Democrats, and which a leading campaigner for Mayor Toni Harp described as a runaround of his self-imposed campaign contribution limits.
That fundraiser will take place at the State Street restaurant Portofino at 6 p.m. Tuesday night.
DTC Chair Vinnie Mauro said that the fundraiser has a suggested contribution amount of $1,000 per person, and that the money raised will go towards helping elect local Democrats during Nov. 5’s general election. The event will feature Elicker as one of its speakers, as well as Mauro, City Clerk Michael Smart, a representative from the Board of Alders and a representative from the state delegation, according to Elicker.
Mauro said the DTC will be hosting another fundraiser on Nov. 3 that will have a $25 suggested contribution amount.
Elicker, who trounced Harp by 16 percentage points in the September Democratic Party primary, is one of those local Dems running in November.
But, Elicker said in a Tuesday afternoon interview, none of the money raised at the Portofino fundraiser will go directly to his general election campaign.
He has participated throughout his campaign in the public financing Democracy Fund, which provides matching grants to participating candidates who don’t accept political action committee (PAC) money and who cap individual campaign contributions at $390 a piece.
Harp did not participate in the Democracy Fund, allowing her to raise $1,000 contributions from individuals and PACs.
“We are not accepting money from the DTC,” Elicker said. “This is to support Democratic candidates and to ensure that the Democratic Party is strong, not only this year, but for the presidential election next year.”
He said he is participating in tonight’s fundraiser in part to raise money to help combat the “very negative political rhetoric” coming from Republican President Donald Trump on a near daily basis against local, state, and national Democrats.
“It’s critical that New Haven has a very strong Democratic turnout,” he said, “to help influence state and national elections in support of Democratic candidates.”
Just this weekend, Elicker stood alongside a host of high-profile local and state Democrats in a “Unity Rally” for his campaign. Harp, meanwhile, is continuing her previously suspended re-election campaign on the Working Families Party line of the November ballot.
Alex Taubes, one of the founders of the local PAC “The People’s Campaign for Toni Harp,” had a different take on Elicker’s participation in the fundraiser.
“Despite his receiving tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds during the primary in exchange for a pledge not to receive big money donations over $390,” Taubes wrote on the group’s Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, “Justin Elicker made an about face today by agreeing to headline a $1,000 per person fundraiser for the DTC to fund unified GOTV operations for his campaign.
He accused Elicker of circumventing city Democracy Fund rules to garner extra financing for his campaign.
That, Elicker said, is simply not true. “It’s not accurate that this is a runaround,” he said. This is to support Democrats more broadly, not his campaign specifically.
“Every donation will be reported with all the information required by law and on time,” Mauro told the Independent by text. “Anyone that wants to know who donated to the NHDTC, that information will be available.”
Elicker has filed multiple outstanding complaints with the State Election Enforcement Commission (SEEC) regarding unreported donor names for thousands of dollars worth of contributions to the mayor’s 2017 and 2019 re-election campaigns.
Anyone who wants to know who donated, can find out.
But will be able to find out how the DTC spends that money?
Who will they be paying on November 5? Will they segregate funds so they don't benefit Justin's campaign, which PROMISED not to take these big contributions?
The article lacks that detail. Perhaps the Independent didn't feel the need to ask the question. But the silence --- is deafening.
If Justin's going to take big money now, he should return the $69,452 in city taxpayer money he took to campaign.
We'll be demanding it at this fundraiser.