Gov. Cuomo raked in nearly $230,000 in campaign dollars from donors tied to a professional medical network that obtained $62 million truly worth of unexpected emergency point out contracts amid the COVID-19 pandemic, The Publish has acquired.
The contributions from executives and medical doctors affiliated with Somos Healthcare Vendors amounted to about 10 % of the $2.3 million that Cuomo lifted during the earlier 6 months, according to point out Board of Elections records.
Even though New York Town limits candidates from acquiring extra than $400 each from any individual executing business enterprise with City Corridor, there is no these types of restriction on condition candidates.
John Kaehny, head of the superior-government team Reinvent Albany stated the income presented to Cuomo “looks like pay back to play.”
“It’s crazy that this is allowed,” he explained.
“We’ve been pushing for a ban on state sellers contributing to campaigns.”
The nonprofit Somos network is built up of all over 2,500 medical doctors who mainly handle individuals whose expenditures are paid out by the state’s $75 billion Medicaid application, which is among the the nation’s costliest and most generous in conditions of benefits.
All through the pandemic, Somos scored five crisis contracts to administer coronavirus checks and present vaccinations at a variety of pop-up areas and general public housing jobs, in accordance to the state comptroller’s web site.
Cuomo’s 12 Somos-related supporters — who gave a combined $229,500 — made some of the greatest contributions to his marketing campaign, with about 50 % coming just times right before the newest, July 11 cutoff date.
But overall donations to Cuomo declined much more than 40 per cent in comparison to the earlier 6-thirty day period period of time, amid a collection of scandals that involve sexual harassment allegations by a number of present and former female aides.
The a few-time period Democrat was also outraised by the presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee, US Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-LI), who gathered almost $4.1 million.
Cuomo’s donors with ties to Somos consist of Henry Munoz, a Somos co-founder and former finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who gave $25,000.
Physicians who are section of the Somos community also designed significant contributions, which includes Dr. Candido Norberto, who gave $40,000 Dr. Juan Tapia Mendoza, who gave $35,000 and Dr. Emilio Villegas, who gave $25,000.
Cuomo’s campaign described the Somos donors as “longtime supporters heading back again at least half a decade” and Cuomo spokesman Prosperous Azzopardi explained that “anyone in search of to ascribe nefarious motives to this is barking up the wrong tree.”
Somos spokesman Jack Sterne — who formerly labored for Cuomo — also claimed that “most of the perform of our medical professionals network has been as volunteers,” introducing: “At this place, we have donated drastically a lot more revenue testing, feeding and vaccinating New Yorkers than we will probable obtain.”
