The Bronx Democratic Party recently reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously undisclosed donations, following an investigation that found the party had failed to disclose numerous political contributions, a violation of state law. The donations, totaling nearly $700,000, came from a political action committee dedicated to electing Democrats to the state Assembly, with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie serving as the honorary chair of the committee.
State senator and Bronx Democratic Party head Jamaal Bailey attributed the omission of these donations to inaccurate record-keeping and stated that there was no impropriety involved. The disclosure failure was brought to light by the New York State Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, which had reported sending funds to the Bronx party, but the party had not reported receiving the money.
The new disclosures also revealed donations from other sources, such as the New York Yankees and PhRMA. These funds were said to be used for party building in the Bronx, with no clear explanation as to why such large amounts were needed in a heavily Democratic county like the Bronx. The Assembly PAC had not given substantial amounts to any other county-based Democratic party in the last five years.
Following the disclosure of the undisclosed funds, Bronx Democrats submitted new filings to the state Board of Elections, covering the period from 2020 to 2024. It remains to be seen whether the state’s chief of election law enforcement will investigate the years-late disclosures.
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