Greenwich and West Village City Council Race: Where Things Stand

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Believe it or not, there is less than a month remaining until the June 22 primary elections, and donations, endorsements, and conversations have been flowing in the City Council 3 race.

Six Democrats are running to replace the term-limited incumbent Corey Johnson in District 3, which covers the West Village, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, Flatiron, West SoHo, Hudson Square, the Meatpacking District, Columbus Circle, Times Square, and a small part of the Upper West Side.

In the coming weeks, Patch will publish the results of question-and-answer forms sent to each candidate, shedding light on each person's policy priorities.

With no polling available for the race, it is impossible to know how each campaign is faring. A look at fundraising and endorsements, however, can provide some clues.

The Candidates

First, a brief recap of who is running in the Democratic primary.

Leslie Murphy Boghosian, a journalist, Community Board 4 member, and one of the founders of the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Coalition, Erik Bottcher, the former LGBTQ Community Liaison for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current Chief of Staff to Speaker Corey Johnson, Phelan Dante Fitzpatrick, a small business owner in District 3, Marni Halasa, a lawyer and small business owner, Aleta LaFargue, a founding member and president of the Hell's Kitchen Democrats and community organizer, and Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer, Community Board 2 member, and District Leader.

The Fundraising Game

Bottcher is leading the fundraising race and it is not particularly close. He has raised $313,214 combined, including $152,770 in private funds and 160,444 in public matching funds, according to the latest disclosures.

No other City Council 3 candidate has unlocked the maximum match for public funds.

Schwartz and Boghosian are second and third in money raised, with $173,928 and $149,511, respectively.

1. Bottcher: $313,214
2. Schwartz: $173,928
3. Boghosian: $149,511
4. Fitzpatrick: $118,524
5. LaFargue: $118,449
6. Halasa: $83,865

The current Chief of Staff to Johnson has also spent $125,890 — the most of any District 3 campaign. The only other candidate to spend more than $100,000 is Schwartz.

Fitzpatrick's campaign has spent $67,532, Boghosian's $54,693, LaFargue's $39,489, and Halasa's $24,127.

Looking at the total number of donations made to the campaign, Bottcher also far outpaces the rest of the field. He has had 1,133 donations made to his campaign at an average of $130.

LaFargue is second with 563 donations, Schwartz third with 383 donations, Fitzpatrick third with 405 donations, Halasa fourth with 345 donations, and Boghosian fifth with 332 donations.

Halasa had the lowest average donation at $52, while Bottcher and Boghosian tied for the highest average donation at $130.

Bottcher and Schwartz both had 24 percent of donations made to their campaign come from outside the five boroughs — the most of the six candidates.

Bottcher also had by far the most amount of money donated from residents within District 3.

Who Is Endorsing Who?

Leslie Murphy Boghosian's Major Endorsements: Boghosian has been endorsed by JD Nolan, the past Community Board 4 Chairperson, and a handful of individual members of Block Associations in District 3.

Erik Bottcher's Major Endorsements: The United Federation of Teachers, Victory Fund, Downtown Independent Democrats, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Village Independent Democrats, Hell's Kitchen Democrats, Voters for Animal Rights, SEIU 32BJ, Rep. Jerry Nadler, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Congressman Ritchie Torres, and Assembly Member Deborah Glick.

Phelan Dante Fitzpatrick's Major Endorsements: Paw of Approval from Voters for Animal Rights and Congressional candidate Mckalya Wilkes, Grassroots Law Project, Actor and Activist Olivia Munn, Co-host of The Talk, Amanda Kloots, Activist Max Micallef.

Marni Halasa's Major Endorsements: N/A

Aleta LaFargue's Major Endorsements: Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo and the rapper Common.

Arthur Schwartz's Major Endorsements: Black Lives Matter New York, NY Metro Postal Union, 504 Democrats Club, Our Revolution, NYC Kids PAC, Transport Workers Union, and the New York Progressive Action Network.

Here are the campaign websites for each District 3 candidate, other endorsements not listed above can be found there.

• Leslie Murphy Boghosian
• Erik Bottcher
• Phelan Dante Fitzpatrick
• Marni Halasa
• Aleta LaFargue
• Arthur Schwartz