A group of business leaders, women’s groups and labor unions have joined forces with a single mission: Stop Eliot Spitzer from becoming New York City comptroller.
The groups, who have their own reasons for disapproving of Spitzer, have pledged to raise and spend $1.5 million on advertising, direct mail and field work in an effort to convince New Yorkers not to vote for the former governor, The New York Times reported.
They will form two Super PACs that will be allowed to accept contributions of any size. The coalition of business and women’s groups are known as Forward NY, while four large unions have formed Progress NYC. The unions include the health care workers of Local 1199, the building workers of Local 32BJ, and the hotel workers and teachers unions.
Both groups are set to begin their campaigns on Tuesday. Progress NYC will release a radio ad aimed at convincing Latino voters to back Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in the race.
Spitzer announced he would be running in the comptroller race earlier this month. He’s been leading Stringer in polls, but the race is tight. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released on July 25, Spitzer has 49 percent of voter support and Stringer has 46 percent.
According to Forward NY’s website, the election is not about Spitzer’s personal failures, but about “his consistent record of failing working families as governor.”
“Eliot demonized hardworking men and women of this city as ‘special interests,'” the group says.
Progress NYC says they support Stringer because he is “the progressive candidate with a real record of delivering for working families across the entire city,” Dan Morris, a spokesman for the group, told the Times.
In response to the formation of the new groups, Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for Spitzer, told the Times: “Eliot Spitzer has spent his career taking on powerful interests on behalf of working New Yorkers. So it’s not surprising, now, that some of the same moneyed interests he challenged and the political establishment he rankled are nervously scrambling to prop up his opponent.”