The super PAC Progressive Unity Fund raised donations to support congressional candidate Antonio Reynoso in Brooklyn and Queens before deciding to exclusively support incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, people familiar with the super PAC’s operations told City & State.
After that shift, donations originally intended to support Reynoso were transferred to Real Fight NYC, a new super PAC created specifically to help him, and to the super PAC New York Fights – Luchando por Nueva York, Federal Election Commission records show.
These new FEC filings, released nearly a month after the June 23 Democratic primary, shed some light on the confusing way money was moved back and forth between super PACs in the final weeks before the election — and revealed donors from the world of business, labor and advocacy who poured money behind the two desperate New York Democrats who were losing battles against candidates led by the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Mayor Zohran Mamdani were supported.
Pivoting PUF
The Progressive Unity Fund (PUF) was founded on May 8th. He began fundraising the first week of June, bringing in $200,000 from the progressive advocacy group Make the Road Action; $200,000 from the American Federation of Teachers super PAC AFT Solidarity; $50,000 from real estate firm Two Trees Management; and nearly $40,000 from the pro-Reynoso super PAC New York Fights (which was funded primarily by unions 1199SEIU and 32BJ SEIU), among others.
Make the Road Action confirmed to City & State that its $200,000 donation was intended to support Reynoso, whom the organization supported in his race against Rep. Claire Valdez to replace outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez. “Our members decided to support Antonio Reynoso for Congress because they have long worked with him to bring about progressive change,” the organization said in a statement. “MRA contributed to the Progressive Unity Fund specifically in support of Antonio Reynoso, our recommended candidate, and we understand that the contribution was used to do just that.”
Make the Road remained neutral in the race for Espaillat, but many of Reynoso’s other supporters also supported Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, when he was challenged by Darializa Avila Chevalier. For much of the spring, a majority of those donors felt that Espaillat was in a relatively safe position while Reynoso faced a difficult race. But in early June, Espaillat appeared to be in trouble. Mamdani had endorsed Avila Chevalier on May 28, and polls showed her and Espaillat virtually tied.
Therefore, PUF focused exclusively on Espaillat’s race, ultimately spending over $1.8 million on pro-Espaillat and anti-Avila Chevalier ads. But the money earmarked for Reynoso could not be spent on pro-Espaillat advertising. So on June 10, the same consultants behind PUF formed a new super PAC called Real Fight NYC.
PUF ultimately transferred $400,000 to Real Fight NYC as well as $239,691.68 to New York Fights, another pro-Reynoso super PAC. (Since New York Fights had originally paid back $39,691.68 to PUF when the latter was set to advertise Reynoso, this transfer returned that money along with an additional $200,000.)
PUF continued to raise money from other donors. By far the largest donations came from a dark money 501(c)(4) group called Next NY Inc. This group, which appears to have ties to former Andrew Cuomo campaign manager Greg Goldner, donated a total of $1.45 million to PUF. In total, PUF raised over $2.7 million. Real Fight NYC, the dedicated pro-Reynoso super PAC, was not as successful. A total of only $700,000 was raised.
Real estate and pro-Israel money
The identity of Real Fight NYC’s donors became an issue during the campaign after Valdez called on the super PAC to disclose its donors and both she and her campaign adviser Morris Katz suggested that the super PAC could act as a pass-through for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group whose name has become toxic in Democratic primaries.
At the time, City & State reported that about $200,000 of the money Real Fight NYC raised came from the American Federation of Teachers. While the rest of the money was not accounted for, AFT President Randi Weingarten told City & State that she received assurances that Real Fight NYC did not accept money from AIPAC. Real Fight NYC then, in a very metaphysical move, produced a new ad attacking Valdez for claiming that a pro-Reynoso super PAC had taken money from AIPAC, when in fact the money came from the teachers union.
On July 15, Real Fight NYC finally revealed its only two sources of funding: $400,000 from PUF – presumably the $200,000 from Make the Road Action and $200,000 from AFT Solidarity earmarked to support Reynoso – and $300,000 from Next NY Inc., whose donors are unknown.
This political organization had an affiliated state-level super PAC, the eponymous Next NYC PAC, which disclosed its donors. Key contributors included mall magnate Peter Lowy, asset management firm Trilogy Advisors and Kind Bar billionaire Daniel Lubetzsky. However, it is not clear whether those donors also donated to Next NY, and the organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, PUF announced its full list of donors on July 20. Many had ties to the real estate industry: Eric Rudin and William Rudin, co-chairmen of Rudin Management Co., each donated $33,333.33, while Beth Rudin DeWoody, president of the Rudin Family Foundation, contributed another $33,333.33, for a total of $100,000; Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development, donated $150,000; and Wendy Kelman Neu, chairwoman of the Hugo Neu Corporation (and major donor to the organization seeking a ban on horse-drawn carriages in Central Park), pitched in $50,000. It also received an additional $200,000 from AFT Solidarity (in addition to the $200,000 earmarked for Reynoso that was sent to Real Fight NYC) and $50,000 from investor Jeff Aronson, whose private equity fund Centerbridge Partners has come under fire for its role in Puerto Rico’s debt crisis.
PUF also received $100,000 from a collection of pro-Israel donors who appeared interested in supporting Espaillat over Avila Chevalier, who had made criticism of Israel the centerpiece of her campaign. Those donors included Lubetzky, Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish, Harbor Freight Tools president Allan Mutchnik, retired Brown Brothers Hariman partner Jeff Schoenfeld and investor Marc Spilker. And although PUF never received money from AIPAC, it received a $26,139.05 contribution from NORPAC, another pro-Israel super PAC, on June 23, the day of the primary.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2026/07/how-big-money-scrambled-support-espaillat-final-weeks/414930/?orefu003dcsny-homepage-top-story
