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.

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."

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.

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.

Malcolm Smith (Photo: Facebook)

Manhattan GOP Chair Dan Isaacs assured his supporters in an email today that he has nothing to do with the alleged political bribery scheme that has already led to six arrests across the state.

"Nonetheless, if anyone harbors concern that there is 'another shoe to drop' here in Manhattan, I want to take this opportunity to reassure you that there is not," Mr. Isaacs wrote. "Anyone who knows me and has worked with me during my involvement with the Republican Party knows that I value personal integrity over all else."

The Bronx Republican Party chair and Queens Republican Party executive vice chair were arrested yesterday, along with State Sen. Malcolm Smith and Councilman Dan Halloran, for allegedly taking part in a bribery scheme to try to land Mr. Smith, a Democrat, in the Republican primary. Jay Savino, the Bronx chair, allegedly received $15,000 and Mr. Tabone, the executive vice chair who resigned today, allegedly received $25,000 in bribe money.

Mr. Isaacs is not named in the criminal complaint, though there is a "County Chairman #1" and "County Chairman #2" in the complaint who are not accused of wrongdoing.

View his full letter below:

Dear Manhattan Republican:

I want to take this opportunity to reach out to you following yesterday's shocking and disturbing arrests of four elected officials and two political leaders that has garnered media attention nationwide.

The alleged actions of those arrested are an outrage and a complete betrayal of the public trust. With three Democrats and three Republicans arrested, it also shows that corruption is not limited to an exclusive partisan provenance.

As you can imagine, I received numerous media inquiries following yesterday's arrests. My response was simple: I believe that it is inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation, especially one where the allegations are so serious, until the appropriate authorities have been given the opportunity to completely and thoroughly conduct their investigation. I hope and expect that they will do so as quickly as possible and that justice will be served to anyone who has broken the law. No one is above the law.

Nonetheless, if anyone harbors concern that there is "another shoe to drop" here in Manhattan, I want to take this opportunity to reassure you that there is not. Anyone who knows me and has worked with me during my involvement with the Republican Party knows that I value personal integrity over all else. I demand it as much from myself as from those with whom I deal. There is an expectation and covenant that I have with those who have given me the responsibility to lead our local Republican organization which I simply will not betray.

Notwithstanding our collective disgust at yesterday's revelations, we still have a tremendous amount of work to do. The two frontrunners to be the Republican candidate for Mayor of the City of New York are clearly head-and-shoulders above all other candidates for that office. It is absolutely essential that we elect our party's candidate in November to ensure the future of our great city.

As you know, we are having our Spring Fling event tonight - an annual informal celebration designed to gather Republicans throughout Manhattan as we look forward to the coming campaign season. Tonight's event will be a good opportunity to begin to restore trust in the concept of an honest and participatory political process and I sincerely hope that you will join us. For more information, please visit the events calendar on our web site at www.nycrepublican.org/calendar.htm.

Thank you again for all you do on behalf of our local Republican organization.

Yours in a common cause,

Daniel W. Isaacs
Chairman
New York Republican County Committee

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.

A photo of Senator Smith meeting Bronx GOP Chair Savino when Politicker staked-out a steakhouse last year.

Two of the most colorful characters in New York City politics, Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith and GOP Councilman Dan Halloran, were arrested earlier this morning, according to multiple news outlets. They were among six people reportedly charged, including Bronx GOP chair Jay Savino and Queens GOP vice-chair Vince Tabone, in an alleged bribery plot to secure Mr. Smith a slot to run in the Republican mayoral primary.

Mr. Halloran is known for many things in city politics, including his outspoken embrace of libertarian philosophy, disputed reports of an intentional snowplow slowdown after 2010's infamous blizzard, and his pagan religion. Meanwhile, Mr. Smith might be best known for his zoot suits complete with suspenders and pinstripes, picking strange political battles like a press conference denouncing the rapper Dwayne "Lil Wayne" Carter, and his somewhat surprising decision to seek City Hall's top job on the other side of the partisan aisle without actually changing his voter registration. He would have needed the support of three GOP county leaders to do so, which federal prosecutors are alleging is at the heart of today's case.

“I have no idea,” Mr. Halloran, wearing handcuffs, told a New York Post reporter when asked if he knew why he was being arrested. “I’m sure the truth will come out once I have an opportunity to find out what’s going on.”

A lawyer for Mr. Smith told The New York Times that his client is innocent of any wrongdoing. “Malcolm Smith is a dedicated and highly respected public servant and he steadfastly denies these charges,” he argued, adding that he would have more to say after the charges are unsealed later this morning.

Mr. Tabone is also a key ally of another GOP mayoral contender, John Catsimatidis.

View the complaint below:

(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.