Last night, Governor Paterson released his latest fund-raising stats: a little over $3 million in the bank, with $2.2 million raised over the past six months. That may sound like a good chunk of change, until you compare it to, well, anything. Suffolk County executive Steve Levy, who may challenge Paterson in a Democratic primary, has $4.1 million on hand. And today, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, also expected to run against Paterson, is expected to announce that he has a campaign chest of … (drumroll) … $16 million, with $6 million raised in the past six months.
Will the daunting money gap finally convince Governor Paterson that he can’t win against Cuomo? “My numbers will not look as good as they would have if I had dedicated more time to this process, but I’ll have the resources to run an effective campaign for governor,” Paterson said a few days ago. So … no, it doesn’t appear so.
