The five remaining Democratic candidates in the race for Mayor in New Haven have raised nearly $450,000.
In the fundraising race, Henry Fernandez is in the lead. His campaign coffers collected $177,000 so far. The former Chief Economic Development Officer for the city brought star power into the New Haven as part of his campaign, stumping with Hollywood icon Danny Glover.
Alderman Justin Elicker was the first person to officially enter the race for Mayor. To date he’s raised $128,000 in donations. Elicker’s campaign reports more than three fourths of their donations were collected from New Haven residents.
State Senator Toni Harp, a relative newcomer to the competition, attracted $111,000 in campaign funding.
Kermit Carolina, the Principal of Hillhouse High School collected $33,000 from supporters. Grassroots candidate Sundiata Keitazulu raised $1,400.
Carolina, Elicker and Keitazulu all participate in the Democracy Fund.
“Mayoral candidates in New Haven are eligible to receive public campaign monies from New Haven’s treasury,” the fund’s administrator Kenneth Krayeske explained.
Participating campaigns are eligible for two-to-one donation matches, when the cash is contributed by a registered New Haven voter and resident. But fund participation also requires added regulations.
“We ask the candidates to give us more data than normal because the idea of the fund is to show where the money is coming from,” Krayeske said.
Henry Fernandez and State Senator Toni Harp have opted to not join the Democracy Fund.