New York Democrats Prove How Useless They Are at Campaigning
The group supporting a key ballot initiative has raised millions of dollars—but spent only a small fraction on voter outreach.
A ballot initiative campaign to enshrine abortion rights in the New York state Constitution has raised more than $2 million toward its efforts—but only a sliver of that money has been spent on reaching voters. The lion’s share has gone toward consultants and overhead, according to Politico.
New Yorkers for Equal Rights has been organizing in support of the Equal Rights Act, or Prop 1, a measure that will prohibit government discrimination regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, pregnancy status, disability status, or sexual orientation. It will also codify abortion protections.
But New York voters may not actually know that, because Republican groups have been waging a fierce campaign against the measure by focusing on the amendment’s protections for transgender people, threatening that the measure could end women’s sports. Vote No on Prop 1 has spent nearly half a million dollars on ad spots to run during Jets, Bills, and Giants football games, according to the New York Post. In one ad, the group claims the measure will somehow aid in allowing noncitizen voting, which is not only illegal, it hardly ever happens.
And, so far, the advertising and outreach efforts of New Yorkers for Equal Rights have been practically nonexistent, which is surprising for a group that has raised so much money. But that’s because the bulk of their fundraising isn’t going toward voter outreach at all.
While the group had spent $1.3 million by the end of September, nearly $900,000, or 70 percent, went to hiring consultants, fundraisers, pollsters, and other staff. Only $226,000 was spent on direct contact with voters, according to Politico’s review of the committee’s campaign finance reports.
The group also received $744,000 in in-kind contributions, 85 percent of which went to cover staff, while only 14 percent went to advertising and outreach costs.
For comparison, high-profile campaigns for propositions in New York typically spend more than 90 percent of their funds on direct voter contact.
“That’s just malpractice,” said one consultant not affiliated with the campaign, who was granted anonymity to speak openly with Politico.
The campaign insists that more ads are coming. It launched a $500,000 advertising effort on streaming and digital media on October 8, which will appear on the next financial disclosure report. The group plans to have spent at least $2.4 million on direct voter outreach by the end of October.
New Yorkers for Equal Rights campaign director Sasha Ahuja said that the group was also planning to jump on a spike in voter attention as the election draws nearer.
“We went up on digital and streaming a month before the election and, like countless campaigns across the country, we’re concentrating our paid media efforts in the final weeks—when voters are most engaged,” Ahuja told Politico.
“Running a successful campaign in New York also requires top-tier staff and organizers—which is why we built out a robust ground game early, ensuring we can reach voters as Election Day approaches,” Ahuja added.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced in June their support for the campaign, which planned to raise $20 million to spend on television ads, direct mail and organizing in support of the Equal Rights Act.* Democratic leaders hoped that putting abortion on the state ballot might motivate Democratic voters to support Democratic candidates in November, flipping back four swing districts that turned red during the midterm elections.
* This story has been updated to clarify who intended to raise the money.
