George McDonald is trailing in the money race. (Photo: Facebook.com/McDonald2013)

Republican mayoral hopeful George McDonald vowed to soldier on after raising less than $4,000 in the latest filing period, raising serious questions about the viability of his campaign.

The Doe Fund founder brought in just $3,580 from March 12 through May 11, according to a campaign spokesman--a total that would be considered disappointing for even a City Council candidate, let alone someone campaigning citywide. That leaves Mr. McDonald with just $126,000 cash-on-hand--$125,000 of which came from a loan from the candidate himself.

But the numbers were not enough to dissuade Mr. McDonald, who had sued the city in a failed bid to change the rules so he could accept larger contributions from supports.

"George is committed to staying in the race, giving voters an alternative to small minded bickering," McDonald spokesman David Catalfamo explained in a statement.

In his lawsuit, Mr. McDonald had argued that that, since he wasn't planning to ask for the city's public matching dollars, he should be entitled to the state's looser standards. The campaign has argued that the suit scared off potential donors, but given his performance, it's questionable how much his campaign would have been buoyed by the lawsuit's hypothetical success. He is now planning to accept matching dollars.

Mr. McDonald is competing for the Republican nomination against former MTA Chair Joe Lhota and supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis.

Although his campaign has struggled to make a mark, he is banking on a scenario in which Mr. Lhota and Mr. Catsimatidis spend their time going after one another, leaving Mr. McDonald to emerge unscathed.

For his part, Mr. Lhota, who entered the race late, brought in $558,000 in contribution over the latest period--on par with the leading Democrats. He now has $871,000 cash on-hand, the campaign said. Mr. Catsimatidis, who is planning to finance the bulk of his campaign himself, has about $1 million in cash on-hand, including several thousand raised over the past two months, a campaign spokeswoman said.

Joe Lhota. (Photo: Getty)

The foundations of any successful high-profile campaign usually include strong fund-raising operations, and the race to replace term-limited Mayor Michael Bloomberg is no exception. As tomorrow's deadline approaches for candidates to release their quarterly fund-raising totals, most of the campaigns are claiming success.

Former MTA chair Joe Lhota for example, raised a healthy $558,000 for his bid.

"We're still doing some last minute tallying so this might fluctuate slightly," Lhota spokeswoman Jessica Proud told Politicker in an email. "We're very pleased with our fundraising. We set out specific objectives for this filing period and are happy to report that we exceeded our goal to double our donor base."

Mr. Lhota's main opponent, billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, has yet to announce if he's raised anything at all this quarter--not that he'll need to--but on the Democratic side of the aisle, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's campaign triumphantly declared that they've raised the maximum threshold for the primary.

"This period, New Yorkers for de Blasio raised $240,000, including more than $75,000 in matchable contributions," his campaign manager, Bill Hyers, said in a statement. "With expected matching funds, the campaign has raised more than the maximum allowable expenditure for the Democratic primary. We intend to build on this momentum as we raise resources for the Runoff and general election."

Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the race's front-runner who maxed out for the primary a long time ago, added a further $510,000 to her campaign chest while spending $230,000, her campaign said. Former Comptroller Bill Thompson announced earlier today that his own fund-raising had picked up, pulling in over $600,000 over the latest period.

Not everyone was pleased with their quarterly filings, however. Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, who's running on the Independence Party's line, raised less than $20,000. His campaign complained that too many donors operated within the two-party structure.

Update (5:40 p.m.): City Comptroller John Liu, another Democratic candidate, reports that he raised just over $104,000 over the latest period, which ended days after his campaign treasurer and a donor were convicted for setting up a straw donor scheme. He also spent more than $225,o00 over that period, leaving him with just $1,912,517 cash on-hand, the campaign said.

Nonetheless,  Mr. Liu's campaign has now maxed out for the primary--assuming the city's Campaign Finance Board lets him keep his publicly-matched funds. He's also now eligible for the public maximum, with $605,500 in total matchable contributions, they said.

"We have all of our documentation in place supporting our matching funds claims and are confident that we are fully-qualified to receive the maximum amount of public matching funds, allowed under the law, of $3,534,300," Mr. Liu's lawyer,  Martin Connor, said in a statement.

Update (12:22 p.m. Wednesday): Former City Councilman Sal Albanese's campaign reported Wednesday that he raised just over $40,500 during the latest period--slightly more than than the last quarter, but still not enough to make him a top-tier candidate. He now has $105,155 cash on-hand, they said.

"Unlike his opponents, Sal refuses contributions from developers, registered lobbyists, and people doing business with the city," his campaign spokesman said in a statement. He added that over the past month, Mr. Albanese has made significant investments in the campaign, hiring a field director, volunteer coordinator, fund-raiser and a community liaison.

Additional reporting by Jill Colvin.

Adolfo Carrión Jr. (Photo: carrion2013.com)

City Republicans--and Adolfo Carrion Jr.--slammed proposed city legislation that would allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in local elections, calling the idea offensive, illegal and just plain dumb.

The City Council held a hearing earlier today on a bill that would allow any resident legally living in the city for six months or longer to vote in municipal elections. The bill, which is opposed by the mayor, has wide support on the council, with 34 sponsors--a veto-proof majority.

But Mr. Carrion, the former Bronx Borough President who worked in the Obama administration and would be the city's first Hispanic mayor, took a cue from Mayor Bloomberg, slamming the bill as "well intentioned" but "one of the dumbest things I've ever heard."

"There are very few things that bring me to the point of being almost speechless. This is one of them. Being a citizen of the US is a privilege that carries with it an awesome and sacred responsibility--the right to vote," said Mr. Carrion, who is running on the Independence Party line. "If we water that down, we are essentially removing one of the building locks of our democracy, let alone violating state law."

He also argued elected officials already represent non-citizens. "How about we focus on the fact that there is a crisis of confidence already amongst the citizenry, and address the fact that only 3 in 10 registered voters are going to the polls in New York right now?" he asked.

Supporters, inducing City Councilmen Danny Dromm and Ydanis Rodriguez, say the bill would give the right of representation to thousands of New Yorkers who pay taxes and live here legally, but still cannot vote.

"We currently have an estimated 850,000 legally residing, taxpaying New Yorkers, who are not represented at any level of government," Mr. Rodriguez said in a statement.  "Our country was founded on fighting taxation without representation and we are simply looking to uphold this central belief today."

But Republican supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis, who was born in Greece and immigrated to the the U.S. when he was six months old, slammed the council for pandering and said he thought the legislation would never hold up in court.

“It's silly to even bring it up and I don’t know who they’re trying to make happy," he said. "I believe this is a Constitutional issue ... I don't think it passes the smell test of federal law."

He used a barbershop analogy when asked who he thought lawmakers were trying to make happy:  “When the barbers  have nothing to do they give each other haircuts. I believe they're giving each other haircuts," he said.

Joe Lhota also expressed his opposition. "He believes that you must be a citizen to vote," he said via a spokeswoman. And Doe Fund Founder George McDonald agreed that, "No matter how well-intentioned, voting is a right reserved for citizens."

Republicans from the City Council and State Legislature also slammed the bill, saying they were "offended" by the idea.

"The right to vote and select those who represent us in government is one of the most cherished and important privileges of our citizenry," said the group, which includes State Sen. Martin Golden and council members James Oddo, Vincent Ignizio and Eric Ulrich. "To extend this privilege to non-citizens not only devalues United States citizenship but is inconsistent with New York State Election Law."

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she planned to consider the bill after the hearing.

None of the other major Democratic mayoral candidates' campaigns responded to requests for comment on the bill.

Disclosure: This reporter is not a U.S. citizen and also cannot vote in local elections.

Advocates want the city to ban horse-drawn carriages. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

A group of outspoken animal rights advocates said they're now considering supporting Republican Joe Lhota for mayor, after the candidate vowed to get rid of horse-drawn carriages because of their smell.

New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), the anti-horse-drawn carriage that is one of the groups behind the anti-Christine Quinn political committee New York City Is Not for Sale, told Politicker Wednesday that the group is looking at endorsing Mr. Lhota in November if Ms. Quinn wins the Democratic nomination.

"If Quinn becomes the Democratic Nominee NYCLASS ... would have to support Lhota," the group's Executive Director, Allie Feldman, said in a statement.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is the only candidate so far to support an outright ban on the carriages, earning him loud applause at NYCLASS's recent debate. Ms. Quinn, the Democratic front-runner, has long defended the industry, while pushing to make sure the animals are treated humanely. Bill Thompson and John Liu have been more critical, but have not voiced support for an outright ban.

Mr. Lhota made news Tuesday evening when he came out against the industry, which has become an unexpectedly hot-button issue in this year's mayoral race.

“Quite honestly, there are ways to do this without horses. You can have carriages with motors in it if you want," Mr. Lhota said on AM 970 yesterday when asked about the carriages, which critics are rife with abuse and safety hazards. But unlike advocates, Mr. Lhota's biggest beef with the tourist traps is not their treatment, but their stench.

"The smell that they drop there, is unfortunate. The smell on Central Park South is also unfortunate," he said. "I will get rid of the horses." he vowed.

The news was welcomed by anti-carriage advocates looking for a candidate to support in the general election if Ms. Quinn wins the Democratic nomination in the highly-contested field. Ms. Feldman, who described herself as a life-long Democrat, said she had never voted for a Republican in her life, but said she would now consider doing so for Mr. Lhota.

(Photo: Getty)

Earlier this week, after Mayor Michael Bloomberg breathed fire and brimstone at a plethora of politicians for failing to support his law-and-order agenda, some police reform advocates reacted harshly and said Mr. Bloomberg was deflecting from the real issues.

But not Joe Lhota. In fact, Mr. Lhota, a Republican vying to replace the term-limited Mr. Bloomberg, thought the speech was better than anything he's ever heard from a mayor.

"Bravo! Bravo to Mayor Bloomberg for that speech," Mr. Lhota exclaimed in a radio interview with Brian Lehrer this morning. "It was probably the best speech I've ever heard a mayor of the City of New York give in the 59 years I've been a resident of this city."

The abundance of praise--perhaps because Mr. Lhota used to work for former Mayor Rudy Giuliani--prompted Mr. Lehrer to interject with disbelief, asking, "What?"

"Mike Bloomberg was on target as best as I've seen him," Mr. Lhota continued. "The best speech he's ever given. He was absolutely, 100 percent correct. And I applaud him for what he said and his overall approach."

Mr. Lhota went on to defend Mr. Bloomberg's positions, calling legislation to install an NYPD inspector general "absolutely wrong" and touting the success of the police department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy.

In another part of the interview, Mr. Lhota even shared Mr. Bloomberg's disdain for The New York Times, which was passionately presented during Tuesday's speech.

"It's gross insensitivity on the part of The New York Times," Mr. Lhota said when asked about a Times editorial castigating Mr. Giuliani for placing a crisis-command bunker in The World Trade Center and comments he made at a Lhota fund-raiser. "I'm never surprised by the insensitivity of The New York Times editorial board."

Rudy Giuliani making the case for Joe Lhota's candidacy for mayor. (Photo: Jacob Kornbluh/YouTube)

At a fund-raiser last night for his one-time deputy mayor Joe Lhota, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani not only came out swinging against Democratic officials' counter-terrorism policies, he blasted this year's crop of Democratic mayoral candidates, saying neither they--nor President Barack Obama--had ever held a real job.

Mr. Giuliani, one of Mr. Lhota's biggest backers as he seeks the Republican nomination for City Hall's top job, touted his former attack dog's record in the private sector and as the city's once-budget director.

"That's exactly what we need. Not these career politicians who have never really held a job. Like our President, who never really held a job,” he said, to laughs, according to footage of the speech at the Excelsior Grand in Staten Island, captured by blogger Jacob Kornbluh.

Mr. Giuliani went after the Democratic candidates for being too closely aligned with local labor unions, whose endorsements are expected to play a key role in the race.

“The Democratic candidates are going to be owned by the unions,” he said, according to the footage, pointing to the fact that all of the city's unions are now operating without contracts, waiting to strike more sympathetic deals with the next administration.

"What they’re signaling to us is they want a lot more money than they think Mike Bloomberg would give them,” said Mr. Giuliani, warning that, with the wrong person in charge, the city could easily endure a repeat of the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. “What they are threatening to do is to take that crisis into ruination which will result in ridiculously high taxes and the fleeing of business from Nee York City."

Mr. Giuliani also did his best to woo the  Staten Island crowd, touting Mr. Lhota's "obsession” with the borough, which Mr. Giuliani carried to Gracie Mansion when he first won.

“You are the hard-core middle class and upper-middle class of this city. We need a mayor who understands that this city is not all about Manhattan,” he said, in a not-so-subtle shot at the current mayor. “You haven’t had that, really, since I was the mayor."

In fact, Mr. Giuliani appeared to have a generally gloomy view of the city under Mayor Bloomberg, lamenting that things just can't get any worse.

"With all the crime and all the deficits and all the unemployment and all of the welfare, my slogan was, ‘Vote for me, you can't do any worse,'" Mr. Giuliani said of his own campaign platform. "Well you know something? That slogan applies today. You can't do any worse. And in fact you will do worse, a lot worse, if you don't elect Joe Lhota.”

Still, he acknowledged that Mr. Lhota is facing an uphill battle for the mayoralty. While Mr. Lhota leads his fellow Republicans, he remains far behind all of the major Democratic candidates in recent polls. Mr. Giuliani urged the crowd to pony up contributions to make him a viable candidate.

“We cannot give this city back to a bunch of Democratic machine politicians,” he argued.

We reached out to the Democratic candidates, but did not immediately receive any responses.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city through 9/11, accused some in Washington of being in "denial" about the risks posed by terrorism and said that Democrats too preoccupied with "liberal ideas" are putting public safety at risk.

Speaking at a fund-raiser for Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota last night, Mr. Giuliani, who made an unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2008, said that New York City remains a target, and that government must be ever-vigilant to stave off the next attack.

“There are some people in Washington who--when we captured Bin Laden--thought that the War on Terror was over. They even announced that. I believe that some of these attacks that have taken place have taken place now because there is in Washington a process of denial, a process of not really understanding what is against us,” Mr. Giuliani told attendees at the Excelsior Grand in Staten Island, according to video of the remarks captured by blogger Jacob Kornbluh.

Mr. Giuliani said that New York City remains the No. 1 terror target in the country and needs a mayor who understands that risk.

“We need a mayor who is going to be very, very strong about this. We need a mayor who is not gonna be confused by so many of these liberal ideas that say, 'Oh I don't know, maybe we shouldn't classify this person as an Islamic extremist terrorist. Maybe that will offend somebody if we do it,'" he said, criticizing the way the government handled the Fort Hood shooting, in particular.

Mr. Giuliani also slammed critics who want to do away the police department's controversial with stop-and-frisk policy, and pointed to Chicago, with its far higher murder rate, as an example of what might happen if police tactics change.

“What we do that Chicago doesn’t do… [is] we aggressively enforce our laws to take guns out of the hands of criminals,” he said. “They, instead, are very, very careful. They’re very frightened. They’re very worried, very worried about rights: this right, that right, some other right. The only right they're not thinking about is the right to be safe in your city,” he said, vowing that Mr. Lhota would keep current NYPD policies in place.

He argued that the same aggressive police tactics have also helped protect the city from terrorism--and guessed that police officers would have been stationed in the mosque that the elder Boston Marathon bombing suspect attended, listening to what was said as part of the NYPD's controversial Muslim surveillance program.

"Another mayor of that other party might not have the courage to do that. Their political thinking is very different," he said.

He further pointed to Mass. Governor Deval Patrick, whom he said had been "giving welfare" to the alleged bombers (the two brothers had reportedly received benefits as children, while the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his wife and daughter had been on welfare until last year)--something he said would never have happened under his or Mr. Lhota's watch. And he slammed Mr. Patrick for refusing to release certain records of suspects' benefits "because he wants to protect the privacy of the terrorist murderers."

"What kind of warped thinking is that?” he asked.

“When you start thinking like that, like this administration does, like many Democrats do, that’s what leads to the mistakes that then result in something like Boston, or something like Fort Hood, or something like the almost-attack on Times Square. When we don’t categorize these people properly, when we don't say we’re going to have to put a lot of focus on them, and make sure that we keep our city safe," he said.

He said that that kind of hesitancy puts people at risk.

"We realize most of these people are honest, decent people. But by the same token, we also realize that it isn't just a few people that are Islamic extremists, it's more than a few people," he said.

“If we did that, who knows? Maybe people would be alive today that aren’t alive now," he said. "That's the kind of mayor we need."

Mr. Giuliani touted Mr. Lhota's performance in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when he said Mr. Lhota was by his side “virtually every day for 40 days” after the planes hit, playing an integral role in every decision they made.

“Joe is a man who has a lot of guts. And he’s got a lot of calm when things are tough. And he’s someone who will keep this city safe from Islamic extremist terrorists and keep this city safe from criminals," he said.

The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

John Catsimatidis, Joe Lhota and George McDonald. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

The three leading Republican candidates for mayor all support the use of controversial unmanned drones to watch over New York City--as long as cameras aren't peering into their bedrooms.

"I'm absolutely for it," said former MTA Chair Joe Lhota, speaking at a candidates' forum hosted by the New York Young Republican Club in Midtown Tuesday night. "Drones to be used from a surveillance point of view, so long as it understands people's privacy rights."

He pointed to the Boston Marathon bombings and said that drones could have been used just like helicopters to find suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was discovered hiding inside a boat, obscured by its cover.

"They're not to be used in a military fashion, in the way we use them in the Middle East," he said. "But from collecting intelligence, from following what's going on, a drone is no different than having a camera on the street corner watching what you're doing in a public place. And we now know how important cameras are to how quickly law enforcement was able to get to people in Boston."

Supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis also endorsed the technology and vowed to do anything in his power to keep the city safe.

"I think we have to use 21st Century technology like we talked about to help keep New Yorkers safe, and I'm fully committed to anything that exists to keep New Yorkers safe," he said. "I will press that button and make sure it happens."

Doe Fund Founder George McDonald agreed that more surveillance was inevitable, saying that "Cameras are going to be a part of our life, whether we like it or not."

But he stressed that there needs to be a balance when it comes to privacy.

"Obviously I don't want a drone lookin' in my bedroom," he said. "And I think that all of us have to stay vigilant about the line where our individual freedoms and our collective responsibilities begin."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently said that he, too, had concerns about the technology, but thought the reality of drones hovering over the city's skyline was inevitable.

Dan Halloran. (Photo: Facebook)

A name familiar to millions of New Yorkers could enter a volatile Queens City Council race.

Rudy S. Giuliani, chief of staff to Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich and second cousin to the former mayor of the same name, is mulling a run for indicted GOP Councilman Dan Halloran's seat, multiple sources told Politicker.

"If there's a special election, it'd be hard to pass up," one Queens Republican insider said. "That's how he's framed it to me."

Mr. Giuliani is perhaps the only candidate who could keep the seat in their party's possession, two GOP sources argued, since Mr. Halloran was arrested two weeks ago for participating in an alleged bribery scheme and the Republican Party lacks a deep bench in the northeastern Queens district. The sources said Mr. Ulrich is encouraging Mr. Giuliani to run for the seat if Mr. Halloran does not seek re-election.

A special election, which would automatically occur if Mr. Halloran resigned or is convicted of a felony, could present a unique opportunity for a Republican candidate. A crowded field Democrats are already vying for the competitive seat, and as councilmanic special elections are non-partisan, a unified Republican front would be hard to defeat.

For his part, Mr. Giuliani denied interest in the race when Politicker reached out yesterday evening.

"Listen, as far as I'm concerned, there's still a sitting councilman. Anything else is premature right now," he said. "There's still a councilman."

Dennis Saffran, a Republican who ran against Mr. Halloran's predecessor, Democrat Tony Avella, in 2001, may also be weighing another run for the seat. Last year, Mr. Giuliani passed on his own bid against Mr. Avella, who's now in the State Senate.

Mr. Halloran has denied all wrongdoing.

(Photo: Getty)

This afternoon, Governor Andrew Cuomo officially announced his pick to head the Metropolitan Transit Authority, left vacant over 100 days ago when then-Chairman Joe Lhota resigned to pursue a mayoral campaign: M.T.A. Interim Executive Director Tom Prendergast. And Mr. Lhota told Politicker he couldn't be more pleased with the selection.

"Tom Prendergast is a superb choice and he has a unique understanding of the system," Mr. Lhota proclaimed. “And I know of no one who cares more for the customers and the riders than Tom Prendergast. As chairman, I relied on him more than anyone and I think it's a great choice."

Mr. Cuomo, in a statement, was similarly effusive.

“The MTA plays a vital role in New York’s economy and the daily lives of the millions of commuters who use its services," the governor said. "Tom has vast experience in infrastructure and transportation and has spent years managing commuter railroads as well as New York City’s subways and buses. From the track bed to the budget to modernizing our system for the 21st Century, I can’t imagine anyone having a better understanding of how the region’s vast system operates and the challenges that it faces.”

Mr. Prendergast, who still faces approval in the State Senate, was seen as the most likely candidate for the job and was touted by both transit advocates and the transport workers union as the top choice for the job. In particular, they pointed to Mr. Prendergast's management experience--he was president of M.T.A. New York City Transit for the three years, for example.

"The long overdue appointment of Thomas Prendergast as Chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is encouraging news," Transportation Alternatives, a public transportation advocacy group, announced in a separate statement. "As the head of New York City Transit during the roll-out of Select Bus Service, Mr. Prendergast is particularly well-positioned to provide much-needed leadership in this area."

For his part, Mr. Prendergrast labeled the nomination "an incredible honor."

“It is an incredible honor to be nominated to lead the largest transportation network in North America, and to work with Governor Cuomo and his administration on the many challenges facing the MTA,” he said in the statement released by the governor's office. “The MTA will improve the customer experience, operate more efficiently and build for the future. And we will aggressively rebuild smarter and better in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy .... I look forward to working with the governor, his management team, the MTA Board and the 66,000 dedicated employees of the MTA family.”