John Catsimatidis opening his new Brooklyn campaign office Wednesday evening. (Photo: Twitter/JCats2013)

All of the major mayoral candidates have been spending cash at a relative steady clip; but no other candidate has managed to do so as fast as billionaire supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis. The self-financed Republican has spent a whopping $880,000 since he entered the race, including $615,332 in bills over the past two months.

In addition to tens of thousands of dollars for radio and print ads, Mr. Catsimatidis is planning the race's very first road-side billboard. The filings show the campaign has already paid out $35,000 for the larger-than-life display on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach, Queens, which is set to be unveiled in the next week or so, spokesman Rob Ryan said.

The campaign has also been dishing out thousands of dollars on campaign swag, including $2,948.89 for baseball caps on April 29 and $693.37 for hand sanitizers on April 27--all branded in his honor. Of course, Mr. Catsimatidis is no stranger to putting his personal touch on advertising--his supermarket chain Gristedes prominently features his face in their regular newspaper inserts.

As it so happens, the campaign also likes to shop close to home. It has spent nearly $3,800 at Gristedes, in fact.

“It’s his money. It’s not like it’s money that was raised through people. Ninety-nine percent of the money on the campaign is his money,” Mr. Ryan explained, noting Mr. Catsimatidis' rule of paying for anything he gets from the supermarket.

“He would never even pull a banana off and eat it without paying for it,” he added. “Nobody should.”

Mr. Ryan further said the campaign has been giving away free stuff to people who show up at campaign events, like this evening's opening of their new Brooklyn office. “We’ve got everything from hats to tote bags, key chains, lip balm, hand sanitizer!” he boasted, noting the hand sanitizer looks just like a pen, so it’s easy to slip in a pocket.

And just in case folks get hungry, the campaign spent $118.02 at Oh! Nuts, which it classified under “Other,” with the explanation “Candy.”

On a more serious note, the filings include two final payments to Vincent Tabone, a close aide and the former executive vice president of the Queens Republican Party, who was arrested along with fellow lawmakers on April 2 for his alleged role accepting bribes as part of a scheme to get State Sen. Malcolm Smith on the ballot.

The campaign paid Mr. Tabone $3,000 in mid-March and then another $2,100 on April 5, 2013, several days after Mr. Tabone had been fired. Mr. Ryan said the money was back-pay for work he'd already done.

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.

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.

John Catsimatidis holds court outside City Hall.

John Catsimatidis was not too pleased when he opened up today's New York Times to read about his reportedly embattled supermarket chain, Gristedes, which it dubbed the “unloved uncle of the New York City grocery scene."

"I'd say 'ugh.' I'd say 'ugh,'" the billionaire Republican candidate for mayor replied when Politicker asked him about his reaction to the piece, which detailed how the grocery chain has been struggling financially and targeted by several class action lawsuits.

He elaborated by comparing his relationship with Gristedes, which launched his successful business career, to a wife who doesn't like her name.

"Gristedes represents 3 percent of my sales," he said. "And I won't mention the name, I remember this lady that was married to somebody. One day she says to me, 'I can't lose that name no matter what I do.' Well she managed to lose it from him," he said. It was unclear exactly what he meant.

Mr. Catsimatidis made the comments at a press conference today announcing the Liberal Party's endorsement. He added that he'd chosen to keep the relatively gritty grocery chain open because it employs thousands of people, even if it is supposedly weighing down his net worth.

"The reason I keep that company, we have a few thousand employees that have been there 25, 30 years," he said. "I have not run the company in 10 years and I don't want those people to lose their jobs. The joke around town was that if I didn't have Gristedes I'd be higher on the Forbes list."

Mayoral candidate John Catsimaidis. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Liberal Party endorsed Republican John Catsimatidis as its mayoral candidate, party heads announced at a press conference Tuesday.

"John Catsimatidis understands history and respects the power of a successful Republican-Liberal Party fusion in New York City electoral politic,” party chair  Jack Olchin said in a statement. “In addition, John also understands the concerns and aspirations of all New Yorkers and we feel he will be a people's Mayor just like the first Republican-Liberal Party fusion Mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia in the 1940's.”

"A member of the Liberal Party recently described John Catsimatidis as an 'uncommon common man,' an individual who will speak to all New Yorkers in a language they understand; with a genuine feeling and concern for their well-being that will be recognized in every neighborhood in the city and by all of us who care about New York's present and future," he said.

Mr. Catsimatidis has been making the case that his status as a former Democrat and major fund-raiser for the party will help him lure Democratic voters who wouldn't otherwise vote for a GOP candidate. The Liberal Party endorsement helps bolster his case, giving Democrats the chance to vote for him without having to vote on the GOP line.

The party, however, boasts limited power. It was stripped of its ballot-status years ago, meaning that Mr. Catsimatidis will have to collect enough signatures for the party to even appear on this fall's ballot.

The party had previously endorsed long-shot Democrat-turned-Republican Tom Allon, who quickly dropped out of the race amid tepid support and fundraising.

“John will fill the void left by Tom Allon who was our standard bearer until his recent withdrawal from the race,” Liberal Party Executive Director Martin I. Hassner said in a statement. “The only thing we ask of John is that like Mr. Allon, he works to ensure that the Liberal Party has the signatures necessary to qualify for the November ballot.”

The Independence Party's endorsement was critical to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2009 bid.

Mr. Catsimatidis said in a statement: "I am proud to accept the nomination of the Liberal Party and with their support and the support of the Republican Party create the coalition needed to win in November."

John Catsimatidis. (Photo: Getty)

The Greek-born John Catsimatidis is ineligible to run for President of the United States, but that doesn't mean the GOP mayoral candidate hasn't thought about it. Indeed, during yesterday's rowdy event at the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, Mr. Catsimatidis talked extensively about federal policy before proclaiming that he would have defeated President Barack Obama's re-election bid if he were in the race.

"I'm running for mayor, I can't run for president!" he declared. "But let me tell you something, I would have won. I could have beat Obama. Buy me a box of Kleenex."

Afterwards, Politicker caught up with Mr. Catsimatidis to ask if he could elaborate on how this hypothetical scenario would have played itself out. He responded by laying out the agenda of a Catsimatidis administration.

"'Independence Day 2020': put a 7-year plan that the United States would be independent of foreign oil in 7 years. And it could be done," he said. "I would seriously look at getting help from the industrial countries that are very, very successful to reimburse us the cost of protecting them. I'm not asking [for] a lot of money. But if it costs us $1.5 trillion for our military and we're protecting Korea and Japan and Saudi Arabia, can't they afford to give us a little bit back? And I really believe that ... Send them a bill!

Although Mr. Catsimatidis himself can't run for president, he expressed hope that perhaps one of his two children--John Jr. or Andrea--might be able to.

"You know, maybe either my son or my daughter," he said. "I hope I live to see it. I could be like Joe Kennedy and say, 'My kids are going to run for president!'"

His son was standing nearby and shrugged when we asked.

John Catsimatidis addresses the audience.

Earlier today, John Catsimatidis gave his mayoral campaign pitch to the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, and it was certainly not a humdrum affair. His initial speech, given as he stood in the backroom of a Cobble Hill Irish pub, went smoothly enough. When Mr. Catsimatidis veered into the question-and-answer period, however, the GOP candidate quarreled extensively with a multiple audience members.

"I still don't understand what your plan is," conservative activist Frank Russo told Mr. Catsimatidis, for example, about his job training program. "Quite frankly, I'm being honest. I'm not trying to be confrontational."

"That's public money, that's my money," another audience member chimed in about the proposal, which would train some young people trade skills early on in their careers. "You think it's okay to steal it!"

"No! No! No!" Mr. Catsimatidis boomed back, pausing for effect. “Bullshit! Go bullshit yourself if you want! ... The program is to teach these people the ability to earn a living, okay? ... I know how to make a living! I know how to teach people to make a living. You know, if you don't like it, tough!"

The verbal exchange continued. Mr. Russo, the head of the Brooklyn Tea Party club, said he was baffled at the tension.

"I'm a registered voter. I'm a Republican registered voter," he said. "I don't know whom I'm supporting. I don't know who I will vote for. Why would I vote for you if that's how you talk to people?"

"If that's the way you talk to me!" Mr. Catsimatidis exclaimed as the two attempted to shout over one another. "I am not scared. Let me tell you, I'm not scared of the 12 people that will be demonstrating at the bottom of the street saying, 'Oh, bap-bap-bap-bap.'"

This was not Mr. Catsimatidis' only heated back-and-forth during the meeting. Another questioner, Bay Ridge Republican gadfly Jim McCall, pressed the candidate on whether he'd get involved in elections for party leadership posts. The borough's one GOP elected official, State Senator Marty Golden, is currently trying to oust party chair Craig Eaton and Mr. McCall wanted Mr. Catsimatidis to stay out of the squabble.

"State committee and county committee, what does that mean?" Mr. Catsimatidis replied, confused. "Here's what I'm going to do. I will always support my friends--full stop! I will always support my friends--full stop! I still support my friends from grammar school, I still support my friends from Brooklyn Tech. And I'm not going to stop doing that ... Tough luck if you're not my friend! Tough luck if you're not my friend!"

"Maybe you'll get tough luck!" Mr. McCall snapped, attempting to be heard over Mr. Catsimatidis and the escalating noise in the room. "And a lot that rhymes with 'luck.'"

"Well, 'shit' doesn't rhyme with luck," Mr. Catsimatidis noted back. "If everybody wants to fight me, I'll be there! Next!"

Update (7:50 p.m.): Jessica Proud, spokeswoman for rival Republican candidate Joe Lhota, sent in a response to today's event.

"Anyone running for mayor should be able to offer substantive ideas and solutions to our city's problems without engaging in irrational and antagonistic exchanges with voters," she wrote in an email.

Below you can watch some of the sparring between Mr. Catsimatidis and Mr. Russo, courtesy of Jacob Kornbluh of the political blog NYC Elects -- 2013:

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.

Vince Tabone. (Photo: Facebook)

Vince Tabone, who works both as a staffer on GOP mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis' campaign and as an attorney in the billionaire businessman's company, was reportedly among the politicos arrested earlier this morning, a group that also includes State Sen. Malcolm Smith and Councilman Dan Halloran. They face wire fraud and bribery charges in an alleged scheme to help rig the mayoral race in Mr. Smith's favor.

Politicker reached out to Mr. Catsimatidis for his reaction to these developments.

"It's very, very sad," he said in a phone call from his doctor's office. "I know the family. It's sad that people create their own problems."

Mr. Halloran and Mr. Smith, a Democrat, allegedly formed an alliance to help Mr. Smith gain the Republican ballot line in the mayoral primary, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Since Mr. Smith is a Democrat, he would have needed the backing of three Republican county leaders to appear as a Republican in the primary. The Queens Republican Party, of which Mr. Tabone is the executive vice president, ultimately backed Mr. Catsimatidis, but according to the U.S. Attorney's office, Mr. Tabone allegedly agreed to take bribes to help Mr. Smith get on the ballot.

A press conference will be held at 11 a.m. today to formally unseal the charges.

(Photo: Getty)

John Catsimatidis may be campaigning for mayor on the Republican line, but the billionaire businessman is willing to cross the party aisle for his consultants. Accordingly, Mr. Catsimatidis hired Millennial Strategies LLC, a political shop stacked with mostly Democratic operatives.

Brad Gerstman, a partner at the firm, told Politicker that Mr. Catsimatidis is their only Republican client, but given New York City's Democratic tilt, the move makes plenty of sense for the GOP Gracie Mansion hopeful.

"We expect to get through as a winner of the primary," Mr. Gerstman said last week. "He needs to endear himself to Democratic voters and I think it's natural for John."

Mr. Gerstman said his lobbying organization, Gotham Government Relations & Communications, is more bipartisan, however, and has had a relationship with Mr. Catsimatidis for some time.

Of course, Mr. Catsimatidis won't be the first mayoral candidate to sign up operatives from multiple political parties. Current Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who's also a billionaire, prominently hired Howard Wolfson, for example, even though the former national Democratic strategist had worked against him in the past.