2025 City Council Race Fundraising: Marte Raises $255k in District 1, Batchu Leads in District 2
These candidates, nearly all Democrats, are all hyper-focused on June's Democratic primary.
Again, a lot to unpack here. On January 11th, candidates for New York City Council submitted their latest campaign finance disclosures, thereby requesting valuable city matching funds and also allowing us, the public, to see who's getting what and from where.
Let's set the scene. There are five candidates in District 1 and seven in District 2. The incumbent in District 1, Christopher Marte, was first elected in 2021 and is a lifelong Lower East Side resident. Because conservatives are a no-go here (or anywhere in Manhattan), the most notable competition is coming from fellow democrats Jess Coleman and Elizabeth Lewinsohn.
It's worth noting that some pretty important sections of the LES, such as Baruch Houses and Masaryk happen to fall within District 2, but not much else. District 2 has Greenwich Village, East Village, and Gramercy. Here the fight seems more unpredictable, as incumbent Carlina Rivera is term-limited and a diverse combination of political newcomers and veterans are likely to fight for all votes, given the ranked-choice system implemented a couple years ago.
What do we see?
In District 1, incumbent, favorite, and LES native Chris Marte leads the fundraising race with about $255k and 764 donations. He's so far the only candidate in the district who's fully funded, meaning they've maxxed out the city's donation matching program. Litigator Jess Coleman, who's running as a foil to Chris Marte's urban development voting record, currently stands in second with $201k after having recently qualified for matching funds. Elizabeth Lewinsohn is chairwoman of recently inaugurated Gotham Park and has racked up more than $120k in private donations so far. No matching funds yet, but there's already more than $140k up for grabs as soon as she clinches 75 in-district donors. If you haven't heard of her yet, it's likely her underwhelming social media presence - 19 followers at time of writing - strange.
In District 2, first-time candidate Sarah Batchu leads the race with $265k, a surprise given that local favorite and current NYS Assembly Member Harvey Epstein has been in the race for eight months now (he's raised $250k).
Yet, it's hard to believe there's a favorite when there are this many serious contenders. Current Community Board Chair Andrea Gordillo is third in funds with $246k and would continue a 'dynasty' of Hispanic women holding the District 2 seat since 1997. Anthony Weiner, with a damaged reputation but also outstanding political experience, has raised $27k and likely has a lot of hushed support. Perennial candidate Allie Ryan lost in 2021 to Carlina Rivera but is a mainstay favorite among a very specific group of anti-East River Coastal Resiliency and anti-Congestion Pricing advocates - she is guaranteed to draw votes and has raised $7k.
Got any questions? Ask away! Thanks for reading!
Figures are my own calculations using numbers sourced from NYC Campaign Board on January 18th. Differences between my calculations and candidates' claims may indicate candidates' error or it may indicate my error. Let's hope it's not the latter. Please allow a 2% margin of error on % of funds originating from a New York State resident. Reach out if any errors spotted.