Comptroller candidate Eliot Spitzer steered $300,000⛦ to political consultants in the campaign’s final days to turn out minority voters and beat back surging rival Scott Stringerꦺ, campaign records show.
Spitz🃏er’s spending spurt came𒅌 as a new poll showed Stringer with his largest lead of the race, 50-43 percent.
The Spitzer campaign paid🎶 Mike Nieves — a campaign operative with deep ties to the city’s Latino communities — $111,000 over the past week.
Nieves is a confidant of Assemblyman and former Bronx Democratic Party chairman Jose Rivera andꦺ helped Rep. Charles Rangel fend off a fierce challenge from state Sen. Adriano Espaillat in last year’s De🔜mocratic primary for Congress.
The consultant has also represented cಞlients caught up in corruption scams, notably ex-Queens sta✃te Sen. Hiram Monserrate.
Spitzer sent another $95,000 to Time for Change, a Brooklyn-based group headed Musa Moore, a pal ♍of corrupt ex-Brooklyn Democratic leader Clarence Norman. The Post previously reported that the same group collected $70,000 from the former governor.
🌼Tapping his real-estate fortune to finance his campaign, Spitzer is roughly outspending his rival two to one, about $10 million to $5 million.
Hofstra University political analyst Lawrence Levy said Spไitzer has little choice but to buy support since he’s been shunned by ཧmost of the Democratic establishment.
“Spitzer doesn’t have an organization. He can’t rel🌜y on volunteers. If he wan𒀰ts people to knock on doors, he has to pay,” Levy said.
ꦕStringer is being helped by an outsid🌸e PAC, Progress NY, which has spent $622,218.
The poll issue𓃲d Monday by Quinnipiac University for the first time showed Stringer reaching♓ the 50 percent mark.
As in all previous polls, there was a sharp racial split, wit🃏h Stringer grabbing wh🐻ite voters 65 to 31 percent while Spitzer was ahead with black voters 58 to 30 percent.
Latinꦏos were also on Spitzer’s side, 51-44 percent.
A strong turnout in Manhattan💎 would favor Stringer, the Manhattan boro🅺ugh president, while a large black turnout would boost Spitzer.
While stumping throughout the city, Spitzer conced🐷ed that the campaign has been grueling.
“It’s been a long nine weeks. A tenth week would be too much,” said the former governor, who resigned in 2008 after getting caught i🐲n a hooker scandal.
During a stop in Chinatown, Spitzer hammered home his ﷽campaign message of fighting a🌄gainst entrenched interests.
“I’ve stood up to Wall Street, 💖I’ve🎃 stood up for immigrants’ rights, I’m standing up for low-wage workers,” he said.
For his part, Stringer exuded confide🌳nce at a Monday morning campaign stop at the Fra🗹nklin Avenue subway stop in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
“We’re here getting out the vote. We broke 50 percent in a poll this🅷 morning!. I couldn’t be more excited,” said Stringer, who campaigned with Assemblyman Karim Camara.