UrbaNerd: Yes, Even West Virginians Have Skin in the 2017 NYC Campaigns

If recent elections are any guide, plenty of New Yorkers will pay little attention to the 2017 races for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, five borough presidencies and 51 City Council seats. But data from the Campaign Finance Board’s searchable database indicates that hundreds of people who don’t even live in New York State are not just interested in those races but, you might say, invested in them.

Candidates for city office have collected just under $25 million in contributions so far in the 2017 campaign cycle, which pretty much began the moment the 2013 campaign ended. The vast majority came from New York State residents, mostly from the city itself. But as the chart above and table below reveal, a decent amount came from out of state. That includes $10 that a college student hailing from West Virginia sent to a City Council campaign.

Some of the out of state donors are, like that student, out-of-towners who happen to be in the city for a spell. Others are folks with New York City work addresses who commute from across the New Jersey or Connecticut state lines. Among the rest are probably family, college buddies and other personal associates of local candidates. But as Mayor de Blasio’s recent trip suggests, there are also people out there who—for reasons of ideology or whim—might cut a check in support of a candidate running in a place they don’t live.