June 9, 2023

Ray McGuire, Vice Chairman of Citigroup Inc.

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Democrat Ray McGuire, a former Citigroup executive director, has raised $ 2.5 million for his mayoral campaign since January as the main race for New York’s highest office comes to the end.

The average donation to McGuire’s campaign was over $ 980, with over 6,000 contributions, according to campaign advisors.

The route is on top of the $ 5 million he raised after launching in 2020.

All New York Mayors’ Race campaigns must submit their latest donation amounts by March 15th. The democratic primary for the mayor is planned for June.

McGuire’s recent fundraising success is due to the fact that he is facing an extensive Democratic peloton of competitors. He has lagged behind many of the recent public polls.

McGuire was previously heavily endorsed by a number of city executives, including several members of the wealthy Tisch family, which owns the New York Giants.

Jon Henes, partner at Kirkland & Ellis law firm, and Laurie Tisch, philanthropist, are two co-chairs of the McGuire campaign.

Others who have given previously are Mike Kempner, the CEO of PR juggernaut MWWPR; Charles Myers, former vice chairman of Evercore investment firm; Fred Terrell, former Executive Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse; Alexis McGill Johnson, the CEO of Planned Parenthood; and Loretta Lynch, the former US attorney general under President Barack Obama.

A poll by Emerson College / WPIX-TV / NewsNation in the Democratic primary area has McGuire in eighth place with around 3% of the vote. Former presidential nominee Andrew Yang, Brooklyn District President Eric Adams, and longtime attorney Maya Wiley all lead this poll.

An Adams spokesman said his campaign had more than $ 8 million available for the final months of the race. Adams is one of the mayoral candidates using the Campaign Finance Board’s Matching Funds program.

McGuire is not part of this program. The helpers did not say how much cash the campaign has available.

Yang and Wiley’s representatives have not returned a request for comment.

McGuire campaign advisors point out that the former Wall Street executive’s fundraising skills are stronger than others who previously ran for local New York offices.

For example, Mayor Bill de Blasio raised less money than McGuire throughout his 2017 mayoral campaign by excluding public funding.

“At this rate, Ray will have overtaken every Democratic mayoral candidate in the 32 years leading up to a primary within a month,” a campaign aide told CNBC.