Rep. Bishop has $565G for re-election fight

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tim Bishop heads into another tough re-election campaign this year with more than half a million dollars in the bank after raising $278,011 in the last quarter of 2013, his Federal Election Commission filing Friday shows.

Bishop, a Southampton Democrat, reported his campaign fund had $565,456 in cash at the end of last year, after collecting $161,190 from individuals and $116,821 from political action committees.

Bishop's donors include both small donors and some A-list New Yorkers, such as actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who gave $1,500, and fashion designers Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg and Vera Wang, who each chipped in $1,000.

Bishop also reported getting funds from many labor union and corporate PACs, including $1,000 from the PAC of Cablevision Systems Corp., which owns Newsday.

This year, Bishop is expected to ramp up his fundraising. In his 2012 contest, Bishop spent $3 million and his opponent, St. James businessman Randy Altschuler, spent $2.3 million. Analysts expect this year's race to be just as expensive.

Two Republicans competing in the GOP primary to face Bishop already have posted big dollar amounts.

State Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) reported raising $342,000 in the last quarter of 2013 and having $307,315 in cash. Attorney George Demos said he had $201,510 in contributions, had loaned his campaign another $1 million and had $2 million in cash on hand.

Meanwhile, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) raised $72,185 in the last quarter of 2013 and had nearly $2.7 million in cash.

Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) said he raised $451,969 and has $1 million in the bank.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), who is retiring at the end of this year, collected $45,913 in donations and has $649,440 in cash.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans), whose district includes parts of Nassau, listed $82,840 in contributions and $84,549 on hand, with a $6,000 debt to his political consultants.

While neither U.S. senator from New York is up for re-election this year, the two Democrats are stockpiling money. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand reported receipts of $147,070 and nearly $1.9 million in cash. Sen. Charles Schumer reported raising $1 million and $11.4 million in the bank.