As New Yorkers headed to the polls on Election Day, Zohran Mamdani remained the clear frontrunner in the mayoral race despite a fundraising advantage for the PACs opposing him and backing his top rival, Andrew Cuomo.
It’s a divergence that has become more pronounced since Mamdani’s unexpected Democratic primary win in June: The biggest donations from big-name, wealthy New Yorkers have been to political action committees like Fix the City, which supports former governor Cuomo, and Defend NYC, which is anti-Mamdani. Yet, Mamdani has remained in first place even after current Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race in late September.
Billionaires including Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder, and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman have given million-dollar-plus donations to pro-Cuomo and anti-Mamdani efforts via PACs that have no contribution limits. (Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, contributed to Fix the City and anti-Mamdani PAC For Our City, and endorsed Cuomo in the general election.)
Fix the City has brought in more than $10 million since the primary. Over the same stretch, PACs opposing Mamdani have raised almost $16 million, while those supporting him have raised $2.3 million. In the final days of the race, the anti-Mamdani and pro-Cuomo PACs have flooded the zone with ads and text messages, spending more than $23 million on messaging in multiple languages, including Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish and Russian.
In all, the 2025 general election has seen 280% more in ad spending than the prior one, with 44% of ads aired in the last two weeks attacking Mamdani, according to AdImpact.
NYC Mayoral PAC Fundraising Since the Primary
Note: Donations made between June 25 and Nov. 2. Sources: NYC Campaign Finance Board and New York State Board of Elections
But PACs weren’t the only way to raise money in the race. The candidates’ campaigns also made use of small-dollar donations, with Mamdani leveraging his progressive message and social-media savviness to make use of a generous matching system that multiplies campaign donations with taxpayer funds. The assemblyman also attracted some sizeable PAC contributions: His big supporters included a hedge fund billionaire’s daughter, as well as several people who are newer to the political world, some from out of state.
The third candidate in the race, Republican Curtis Sliwa, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from small contributors. A PAC supporting him, Vote Common Sense, was launched on Oct. 12 and has so far taken in more than $952,000, with the biggest donor, an LLC, giving $900,000.
Bloomberg has identified all individuals who gave $50,000 or more from the primary through Nov. 3, using available state and city election filings. Unless the donors’ comments are included, they either didn’t respond or declined to comment.
Mamdani
Stephen Pajcic
Co-founder, Pajcic & Pajcic
New
$
100,000
Pajcic served as a Democrat in the Florida House of Representatives starting about 50 years ago, around the same time he co-founded a personal injury law firm in Jacksonville with his brother. His contribution went to New Yorkers for Lower Costs.
Sterling Chavez
CEO, Indelible Logistics Group
New
$
50,000
Chavez, of Decatur, Georgia, supported OneNYC, the PAC helping Mamdani forge connections to business leaders.
Joseph Wimberly
Self-employed
New
$
50,000
Supporting Mamdani – with a donation to OneNYC – is a switch for the business owner. In 2023, Wimberly donated $6,600, the maximum amount, to Governor Ron DeSantis’ unsuccessful presidential campaign and the same sum to Representative Byron Donalds, also a Republican from Florida.
Mohammed Javed
CEO, Showcase Commerce
$
250,200
Javed, who gave $250,000 to New Yorkers for Lower Costs, is listed as CEO for Showcase Commerce, a company registered in Pennsylvania that runs the Pakistani fashion website karysh.com. In a Karysh TikTok video, a woman’s voice says Mamdani’s candidacy shows “a city that is finally reflecting all of its people.”
Omer Hasan
Retired/unemployed
$
250,000
Hasan was one of the biggest donors to New Yorkers for Lower Costs. He listed his occupation as retired and his location as Redwood City, California.
Liz Simons
Chair, Heising-Simons Foundation
$
250,000
Simons, a California-based philanthropist and daughter of the late Renaissance Technologies billionaire Jim Simons, gave to Mamdani-supporting New Yorkers for Lower Costs. She’s donated about $19 million to federal Democratic candidates and committees since 2017, and has also supported candidates running for office in Los Angeles and Chicago.
Judith Gibbons
Retired teacher
$
60,000
Gibbons is one of OneNYC’s largest donors at $60,000. She’s retired from teaching at the highly selective Hunter College High School. She and her husband – who worked in research at the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies – gave $580,000 to New York City nonprofits in 2023, including the East Harlem Tutorial Program.
Wisfe Aish
Founder, Double AA Corp.
$
50,000
Aish is the founder and CEO of Double AA Corp., a fuel services provider in northern California. His donation to New Yorkers for Lower Costs follows support in 2018 for Rashida Tlaib’s successful run for Congress in Michigan.
Andrew Milgram
Managing Partner, Marblegate Asset Management
$
50,000
Milgram, whose firm is the biggest owner of NYC taxi medallions, has joined the business advisory council of pro-Mamdani PAC OneNYC to guide the candidate on policy. “I look forward to working with other business leaders and policymakers to deliver change that benefits every New Yorker,” he said in an email to Bloomberg. In June, he donated $50,000 to the nonpartisan super PAC United Democracy Project, which backs candidates that support a strong US-Israel relationship.
Cuomo
Ronald Lauder
Chair, Ronald S. Lauder Foundation
New
$
1,000,000
Ronald Lauder, son of cosmetics innovator Estee Lauder, gave Fix the City $750,000 on Sept. 9, followed by $250,000 on Oct. 28. The president of the World Jewish Congress is a staunch supporter of Israel and a longtime backer of Cuomo.
Barry Diller
Chairman, IAC
New
$
250,000
The billionaire media executive racked up success in Hollywood as CEO of Paramount Pictures in the 1970s and ’80s before he made his mark in New York with real estate projects like Little Island and the IAC Building. He backed Cuomo via Fix the City.
Jo Carole Lauder
Chair, The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies
New
$
250,000
Jo Carole Lauder, wife of Ronald Lauder, gave $250,000 to Fix the City. She’s a champion of artists and culture in New York and abroad – her work with the US State Department has helped install art in embassies around the world.
Edward Gong
Co-founder, Clear Quantum
New
$
80,000
Gong, a tech entrepreneur based in California, supported Good Growth NYC. The PAC had canvassers doing ground work for Cuomo in southeast Queens that targeted Black working-class voters, particularly those over 40 with a union affiliation.
Daniel Lubetzky
Founder, Kind LLC
New
$
65,000
The founder of healthy snack maker Kind LLC gave a total of $65,000 to Fix the City via two separate donations. He has supported both Democrats and Republicans, giving $425,000 to the super PAC that backed former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley’s bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination and $378,000 to the Biden Victory Fund, which supported Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and the Democratic Party.
Joe Gebbia
Co-founder, Airbnb and Samara
$
2,000,000
Tapped by President Trump as the US government’s first chief design officer after he was brought in to help with DOGE efforts, Gebbia favors a Cuomo win. The Texas resident made a $1 million donation to Fix the City and a $1 million donation to anti-Mamdani PAC Defend NYC; he’s also used his X account to call for Sliwa to drop out. In 2013, Gebbia gave to Bill de Blasio’s campaign just days before his first election as mayor.
Alice Tisch
Trustee, Museum of Modern Art
$
800,000
“I would do almost anything if I thought it could help our city,” said Alice Tisch who, including separate contributions from three of her children, gave a total of $800,000 to Fix the City. Tisch is an aunt of New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Federal PACs she has supported include one for Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres, who represents the Bronx.
John Hess
Former CEO, Hess Corp.
$
500,000
Hess, whose family’s namesake energy company was acquired by Chevron Corp. this year, doubled down on Fix the City, as he’d given $500,000 before the primary. In the 2021 mayoral race, he donated $1 million to a PAC backing Wall Street executive Ray McGuire’s candidacy.
William Lauder
Chair, Estee Lauder Cos.
$
500,000
William Lauder followed his father Leonard into the family’s cosmetics business. He gave $500,000 to Fix the City. He recently sold a Fifth Avenue co-op for $37.5 million and has a Park Avenue co-op on the market.
Steve Wynn
Founder, Wynn Resorts Ltd.
$
500,000
Wynn’s donation to the pro-Cuomo Fix the City PAC is his first in a New York City mayoral election. He has supported Republicans in the past, giving about $39 million to federal races over the last decade. In New York, he supported Lee Zeldin’s run for governor in 2022.
Dan Loeb
CEO, Third Point
$
425,000
Loeb, an activist investor and founder of hedge fund Third Point, is a frequent donor in political campaigns, giving to both Democrats and Republicans. In the mayor’s race, he donated to Adams in 2024, but gave directly to Cuomo’s campaign and the PAC supporting him before the primary. Since then, he’s given a total of $250,000 to Fix the City, $100,000 to anti-Mamdani PAC Defend NYC and $75,000 to New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25, which also opposes Mamdani.
Gary Barnett
Founder, Extell Development
$
350,000
Barnett, founder of developer Extell, gave $250,000 to Adams-supporting Empower NYC after backing Cuomo in the primary. Subsequently, he gave $100,000 to Fix the City after Adams dropped out. Barnett said Adams deserved a chance: He “inherited a city in crisis and now the city is doing great.” But with Adams out of the race, he said he would be for Cuomo. “We need a moderate Democrat who understands that we can’t cut back on the police force. For tourists, businesses, young people to want to come here, we need a well-run, healthy city.”
David Rosen
Founder, Rubric Capital Management
$
300,000
Rosen, who worked at SAC Capital and Point72 before launching his own hedge fund, gave $300,000 to Fix the City to support a get-out-the-vote effort in service of Cuomo’s candidacy.
Ricky Sandler
Founder, Eminence Capital
$
250,000
Sandler’s $250,000 donation to Fix the City matches the one he made to the same PAC before the primary. He’s also one of the funders Put NYC First, which has fueled the anti-Mamdani PAC For Our City. He has contributed to Republicans and Democrats at the federal level, as well as giving $250,000 a year ago to the Unite America Reform Fund, a PAC focused on reducing partisanship, and $61,000 in April to the Forward Party, Andrew Yang’s centrist political party. He’s also supported the conservative Club for Growth PAC.
Jack Zinterhofer
Senior Presidential Associate, Estee Lauder Cos.
$
250,000
Jack Zinterhofer, a recent college graduate, is a grandson of Ronald Lauder, who also gave to Fix the City. His mother, Aerin Lauder, founded her own lifestyle brand.
Patricia Duff
Founder, The Common Good
$
100,000
Shortly before Cuomo announced his run, Duff invited him to speak at an event for her nonprofit the Common Good. She’s since attended fundraisers and written two checks to his campaign at the maximum $2,100. Now the longtime Democratic connector once married to Ronald Perelman has cut a $100,000 check to Fix the City, her first to the PAC.
Scott Ferguson
Managing Partner, Sachem Head Capital Management
$
100,000
Activist investor Ferguson gave $2,100 to Whitney Tilson early in his primary campaign; he began funding Fix the City after his former boss at Pershing Square, Bill Ackman, publicly supported Cuomo. Previously, he was a big donor to Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential run.
Zachary Schreiber
CEO, PointState Capital
$
100,000
Schreiber’s donation to the pro-Cuomo PAC Fix the City is his first in this election. He’s supported Democrats at the federal level. The alum of Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Capital serves on the board of Brown University and Harlem Children’s Zone.
Harvey Spevak
Executive Chairman, Equinox Group
$
100,000
Spevak, who gave to Fix the City, has made a mark on the city with luxury gyms, expanding the Equinox brand to a hotel at Hudson Yards. His last city campaign donation was over 10 years ago and on a federal level he’s supported President Joe Biden and former Sen. Mitt Romney PACs.
Benjamin Stein
Co-founder, Spruce House Investment Management
$
100,000
Stein has been for Cuomo all along with a $100,000 check to Fix the City during the primary, a campaign contribution in August, and a new $100,000 check a month before the election. His early childhood overlapped with his father Andrew Stein’s stint in New York City politics, where he last served as president of the City Council.
Zachary Sternberg
Co-founder, Spruce House Investment Management
$
100,000
Sternberg, like his business partner Stein, whom he met in college, contributed $100,000 to Fix the City during the primary and $100,000 again in October.
Laurie Tisch
Founder, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
$
100,000
Tisch’s donation to Fix the City builds on $50,000 she gave to the PAC before the primary. In 2021, she was a chair of Wall Street executive Ray McGuire’s mayoral campaign. Her philanthropy, concentrated in New York City, includes a $10 million “Play to Thrive” initiative announced in October to support soccer leagues, research on sports and well-being, and a new soccer center in Queens. She’s a co-owner of the New York Giants and her daughter Carolyn is the lead owner of the National Women’s Soccer League team Gotham FC.
Alice Walton
Walmart Inc.
$
100,000
The billionaire Walmart heiress, the youngest child of Sam Walton, gave to Fix the City. She lists Arkansas as her home and previously donated to the PAC during the primary.
Alberto Mugrabi
Art dealer
$
75,000
The art dealer from a family known for its Warhols is a strong presence on the city’s art scene; he attended a breakfast with Cuomo held in September at the Seagram Building’s Pool Room, and donated to Cuomo’s campaign in August. His donation was to Fix the City.
Donald Capoccia
Managing Principal, BFC Partners
$
50,000
Capoccia, who develops mixed-use and mixed-income properties, gave Fix the City $50,000 the day after Adams dropped out. He also gave $60,000 to the PAC in June. The firm is involved in Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side and the Bedford Union-Armory in Crown Heights, where it has slated a portion of apartments for low-income families.
Deborah Simon
Chair, Simon Youth Foundation
$
50,000
Simon is daughter of the late Melvin Simon, co-founder of Simon Property Group and co-owner of the Indiana Pacers. She chairs Indianapolis-based nonprofit Simon Youth Foundation, which helps students graduate. A long-time Democratic donor, Simon gave to Fix the City.
Bela Szigethy
Founder, the Riverside Co.
$
50,000
Szigethy founded private equity firm the Riverside Co. from his apartment on Riverside Drive in 1988. He gave to Fix the City.
Lizzie Tisch
LTD by Lizzie Tisch
$
50,000
Tisch is a retail and fashion entrepreneur who’s married to Jon Tisch, executive chairman of Loews Hotels. She gave to Fix the City, which she also supported with a $100,000 donation before the primary.
Martin Lee Edelman
Counsel, Paul Hastings
$
50,000
Dubbed “Abu Dhabi’s Man in Manhattan,” and married to fashion designer Norma Kamali, the real estate lawyer gave to Fix the City. He has supported Democrats in the past, with his biggest donations to the presidential candidates in 2016 and 2020; his last federal donation was in 2023.
Adams
Brock Pierce
Chairman, Bitcoin Foundation
$
1,111,111
Pierce is a co-founder of stablecoin-issuer Tether, chair of the Bitcoin Foundation and former child actor known for his role in The Mighty Ducks. His gift to Adams-supporting Empower NYC came five days before the mayor dropped out of the race; undaunted, Pierce held a press conference urging him to reconsider.
Scott Lynn
CEO, Masterworks
$
500,000
Lynn’s Masterworks is a platform that lets investors buy and sell shares in high-end art. His $500,000 gift to Empower NYC is his first donation in a New York City election.
Anti-Mamdani
Richard Kurtz
CEO, Kamson Corp.
New
$
100,000
Kurtz, who runs property management company Kamson Corp., gave to the Anyone But Mamdani PAC in November and August. Kurtz normally backs Republicans: In 2024, he gave $500,000 to Turnout for America, which helped run President Donald Trump’s get-out-the-vote efforts, and $200,000 to Make America Great Again Inc., his main super PAC.
Bill Ackman
Founder, Pershing Square Capital Management
$
1,250,000
Ackman gave $1 million to the anti-Mamdani effort, via a PAC called Defend NYC, and another $250,000 to Cuomo-supporting Fix the City. The hedge fund billionaire previously gave to Whitney Tilson’s unsuccessful campaign, as well as $500,000 to a Cuomo PAC during the primary. He called for new “centrist” entrants to the race after Mamdani won the nomination. After Adams dropped out, he applauded the mayor for “stepping aside when the time was right.”
Joseph Cayre
Founder, Midtown Equities
$
125,000
Cayre’s real estate firm has been behind the recent glow-ups of the Battery Maritime Building, home to the club Casa Cipriani, and Empire Stores in Dumbo, a renovation of warehouses on the East River. A donor to New York City elections for over 30 years, this year he wrote a $100,000 check to New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25 after Adams dropped out, and an additional $25,000 to Protect the Protectors.
Kate Williamson
$
75,000
Williamson gave $50,000 to New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25 and subsequently gave $25,000 to the pro-Cuomo Fix the City. She has supported Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Cory Booker of New Jersey as well as Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican. She’s used the online donation platform of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to contribute to congressional candidates in 2025, Federal Election Commission records show.
David Sterling
CEO, SterlingRisk Insurance
$
100,000
Sterling runs SterlingRisk, an insurance brokerage based in Woodbury, New York. He gave to New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25.
Jack Halpern
Atlantic Realty
$
55,000
Halpern is an executive at New Jersey-based Atlantic Realty, which develops office and commercial properties in Maryland and Virginia. He gave two donations totalling $55,000 to Protect the Protectors, with has engaged in both pro-Adams and anti-Mamdani efforts.
James Nederlander
Broadway producer
$
50,000
Nederlander, a Broadway producer and theater owner, gave $50,000 to anti-Mamdani PAC New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25 on Oct. 7. That followed a contribution of $125,000 to Cuomo-supporting Fix the City in May. He has been an active Democratic donor in local and federal races.
Robert Toussie
$
50,000
Toussie, who gave to New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25, is a retired real estate developer who now lives in Florida. His son, Isaac, spent five months in prison after pleading guilty in 2001 to using false documents to have mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was pardoned by President George W. Bush in 2008, but had that pardon revoked after it was revealed his father had previously donated $28,500 to the Republican National Committee.
(Updates fundraising totals and new donors throughout.)
