Clarkstown supervisor race one of Rockland's costliest

This month's race for Clarkstown town supervisor was the most expensive town election in Rockland County's history, nearing $1 million, campaign finance reports show.

The spending broke previous records, surprising good government advocates and jaded political watchers alike. It put Clarkstown, with a population of 85,000, in the same league as Albany races for statewide office.

"It's new for a local election of this type," said C. Scott Vanderhoef, Rockland's former county executive. "In that sense, it is extraordinary."

According to reports filed with the state Board of Elections on Oct. 23, Supervisor Alex Gromack, a Democrat, spent more than $814,325 in his unsuccessful bid for a seventh term - a number certain to rise when the final filings are added. Gromack, a prolific fundraiser, emptied a campaign war chest he amassed over a 32-year career in politics, including seven terms in the New York state Assembly.

Republican Councilman George Hoehmann's last campaign finance report, also filed before the election, said he'd received more than $88,835 in contributions since November 2014 - an eye-popping amount in any other town race. This doesn't include the tens of thousands of dollars his campaign received in backing from Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino's Reform Party.

In neighboring Orangetown, for example, Supervisor Andy Stewart spent $25,253 running for re-election against challenger Michael Moroney who spent $9,030, according to pre-election filings. The town's population is 49,212, compared with Clarkstown's population of over 80,000.

Although a list has not been compiled, the single most expensive race in Rockland County history was likely 2010's marquee fight for 38th state Senate, which topped $1 million. Vanderhoef and David Carlucci's campaigns each raised over $500,000, with hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing in from major and minor political parties.

In Clarkstown's closely watched contest, it remains unclear how effective the spending was at mobilizing or persuading voters. Residents complained about the negative tenor of the race, including three-month blizzard of TV attack ads and mass mailers leading up to Election Day.

One thing's clear: Gromack didn't get much bang for his bucks: The incumbent outspent Hoehmann by nearly 10 to 1, yet lost by 11 percentage points in what was expected to be a close race.

Both candidates claim they were surprised by the spending.

"I've definitely run in some calmer campaigns," Gromack said. "At many levels it reached a fever pitch that myself and others would have like to have seen come down a notch."

Hoehmann cast himself as David to Gromack's Goliath.

"I don't think we'll see a race like this again," Hoehmann said. "People were inundated. It was just so over the top."

Critics say the spending shows the influence of big money trickling down to the local level​ and how porous New York's campaign finance laws are.

"It follows a pattern we've seen across the country," said Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group. "You have to raise the big bucks."

"The whole system," he added, "is awash in cash."

A total of $436,049, or more than half of Gromack's campaign war chest, went to the Parkside Group. The firm, one of New York's best-known lobbying outfits, has a reputation for no-holds-barred tactics. It's headed by Evan Stavisky, the husband of Kristen Zebrowski Stavisky, chairwoman of the Rockland County Democratic Committee and, since November 2012, one of the county's two election commissioners. He declined comment.

According to campaign filings, Gromack's campaign wrote a pair of five-figure checks for the Democratic Committee, $33,076 on Sept. 22 and $54,767 on Sept. 29.

Prudence Katze, the research of policy manager for Common Cause New York, said campaigns are increasingly relying on high-paid consultants to manage campaigns, fund raise and coordinate media. Many do double duty as registered lobbyists with the state.

"It's mudslinging, high-priced mudslinging" Katze said, adding that the proliferation of political consultants should be better regulated.

Public relations firms that can lobby and run campaigns in New York state have received at least $3 million from political candidates since 2010, according to Gannett's Albany Bureau.

Hoehmann's campaign contributions have also come under scrutiny.

On Oct. 9, the Institute for Municipal Safety Research LLC donated $107,900 to the Reform Party and $109,000 to the Rockland Republican Committee. In turn, the Reform Party spent at least $96,000 backing Hoehmann and funding attack adds against Gromack. The company is registered in Delaware.

Hoehmann maintains he doesn't know who the mystery donor is; Westchester County Executive and Reform Party founder Rob Astorino has declined to say who was behind the donation.

"I did eventually call the person up who obviously wrote a check," Astorino said during a recent radio interview with Bill Samuels on AM970. "I said, 'You should take absolute credit, by the way.' The person said he agrees. He's going to step out at some point and say, 'This is exactly why I did it.' "

Criticis also point to the so-called "LLC loophole" that treats limited liability corporations as individuals and allows them to give $150,000 annually to campaigns. As a result, critics charge, business owners can create new companies and pour limitless amounts of cash into campaign coffers.

A review by Gannett's Albany Bureau in March found state candidates have raked in more than $25 million through LLCs over the past two years compared with $3 million over the prior 12.

"Basically it's the voters who lose," Katze said. "They get disenchanted."

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