The race for Harlem’s 9th District: Salaam gets cash surge, Dickens maintains funding lead

Yusef Salaam, pictured campaigning in Harlem earlier this year, got his first boost of public matching funds.

New York City Council candidates in the highly-watched 9th District race in Harlem are getting a last-minute boost from public matching funds, as the Democratic primary heats up in its final weeks.

Yusef Salaam, a political newcomer and a member of the exonerated Central Park Five, was awarded nearly $117,000 in matching funds from the city last Friday, according to the Campaign Finance Board. It is Salaam’s first public funds payment after months of donations that have largely flowed from outside the Council district.

But Salaam has spent beyond his warchest — nearly $216,000 so far — leaving him a negative campaign balance of more than $23,000 with less than three weeks until the June 27 primary, according to recent campaign records.

Assemblymember Inez Dickens has the largest estimated balance ahead of primary day, with almost $127,000 to spend in the pivotal remaining weeks. Assemblymember Al Taylor has a balance of about $103,000.

New York City's public matching system allows Council candidates to get an 8-to-1 match for donations up to $175 within a candidate's electoral district.

Cash is particularly important for political candidates in the final weeks of a race to fund digital and mail advertising as well as get-out-the-vote operations. That’s especially true for first-time candidates who have no point of reference for how many people they can expect to support them at the polls.

Dickens, a longtime fixture of Harlem politics, has racked up a slate of high-profile endorsements including former Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Adrianno Espaillat and Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference. She also has the backing of several influential labor unions, including the United Federation of Teachers and the Correction Officers Benevolent Association.

Dickens and Taylor qualified for matching funds earlier on in the race, receiving an additional boost in matching funds last week. Since the beginning of the race, they have yieldd $162,000 and $174,000 in matching funds, respectively.

Taylor had the highest percentage of small donors, with about 90% of his contributors shelling out $175 or less. Dickens, meanwhile, had the slimmest share of small donors at 78%.

Salaam had the smallest percentage of donors from within the 9th District — less than 16%, according to the board’s analysis. None of the candidates drew the bulk of their contributions from within the district. Forty-one percent of Taylor’s donors live in the district, whereas Dickens had 48 percent.

None of the campaigns provided comment in time for publication.