Clinton tops Trump in LI, NY donations, election records show

WASHINGTON — At this point in the presidential election in 2012, donors in Locust Valley had given Republican Mitt Romney’s campaign $267,485, but in the current race for the White House they have given Republican Donald Trump $2,015.65.

That snapshot from a reliable Republican stronghold on Long Island illustrates Trump’s inability so far to tap into New York contributors as he continues to trail in the money race to Democrat Hillary Clinton nationally, in New York and on Long Island, new campaign finance filings show.

Clinton reported receipts nationally of $52.3 million for the month of July, while Trump’s filings said he had receipts of $36.7 million, according to the reports they submitted Saturday to the Federal Election Commission.

In New York, the difference in July fundraising was starker: Clinton raised $17.8 million to Trump’s $751,189, an analysis of FEC data found.

And on Long Island, Clinton continued to raise more, reporting that she collected $353,800 in July compared with Trump, who raised $209,452.

Both of them held Long Island fundraisers in August.

The importance of fundraising increases as the Nov. 8 election nears and voters begin paying attention to the race — and the television, radio and digital ads, and the workers who get out the vote, that the campaigns pay for.

In July, Clinton’s campaign spent $38 million and had $58 million in cash. Trump spent $18.5 million and had $38 million in the bank.

Clinton’s bid also is boosted by the Democratic National Committee, which raised $32.4 million in July, and the Priorities USA super PAC, which collected $9.9 million.

Trump has relied for campaign staffing and infrastructure on the Republican National Committee, which raised $27.2 million. Among supportive super PACs is the Make America Number 1 PAC run by Renaissance Technologies co-CEO Robert Mercer, of Head of the Harbor, who switched his support to Trump from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in June. Mercer gave another $2 million to his PAC in July.

Four years ago, Romney raised more money from Locust Valley — a total of $458,287 — than from any other community on Long Island. This time around, however, Clinton is raising more than Trump — $49,722 since she began running last year.

That pattern repeats itself across Long Island, where, since the presidential race began in 2015, Clinton has raised $3 million and Trump $514,334, the FEC filings show.

Trump’s top three communities for fundraising on Long Island since last year were Huntington, where he raised $19,143; Manhasset, $16,935; and Garden City, $14,008.

Clinton, who outraised Trump in all three of those communities, collected her biggest amounts of Long Island campaign contributions from Great Neck, $177,736; Syosset, $120,788; and Port Washington, $119,526.

Trump, who self-funded until he began raising money in June, contributed another $2 million to his campaign in July, for a total of $52 million.

Trump and Clinton have raised money in New York that isn’t reflected in their campaign filings. They only identify by name, address and employment donors who give $200 or more. Those who give less are not identified by location.

Nearly two-thirds of Trump’s contributions are from unidentified small donors. A little more than a third of Clinton’s contributions are from those donors.