Despite raking in $58,000 in contributions over the past six months, Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ war chest is eclipsed by Lee Kindlon, his announced opponent.
Kindlon took in $50,000 between July 2011 and January 2012, according to financial disclosure reports to the New York State Board of Elections, a figure that includes a $20,000 loan from his father, Terry Kindlon.
Kindlon had $63,000 in cash on hand at the time of the filing, compared to Soares’ $51,000.
A spokesperson from Soares’ campaign, Kathleen Campbell, said Kindlon receiving a $20,000 loan from his father on Jan. 12 is an attempt to inflate the campaign fund to make the January filing look better.
“This is a very sneaky sometimes used tactic by campaigns to make filings look better,” said Campbell. “It would be great if David Soares had a daddy who had lots of money and could cut checks for many thousands of dollars.”
On the other hand, Kindlon attacked Soares for accepting donations from members of own staff.
“Mr. Soares accepting campaign donations from his assistant district attorney is unethical, I wouldn’t do it. I put out a proposed code of conduct to make sure that things like that don’t happen and I think it’s just the latest sign of the DA’s office being overtaken by politics. I want to make sure that ends as soon as I take office,” said Kindlon, who plans to primary Soares for the Democratic line.
But Campbell was quick to crticize some of Kindlon’s donors, too.
“It just really amuses me that he’s got DWI and defense lawyers lining up writing quite large checks to his campaign, huge checks from the family coffers … and he starts attacking people in David’s office who give an average of $75,” said Campbell.
Soares being able to raise more than $58,000 from “regular people” in the community is a sign that residents are satisfied with their current DA and want him to remain, said Campbell.
“It says the people of Albany County really like David’s approach of equal justice for all,” said Campbell.
Kindlon said he, too attracted plenty of local donors eager for “change.”
“We’re thrilled by how much money we’ve been able to raise. We have a lot of local donors, regular people coming forward and giving me what they can because they see that this is a great opportunity to change things,” said Kindlon.
Kindlon received $2,900 in corporate donations and $7,795 in “other monetary contributions,” a large chunk of which were from law firms. Soares received $800 in corporate donations and $39,404 in “other monetary contributions,” many of which were from labor unions.
