Developer Louis Cappelli Donated $50k and Friends, Colleagues Donated Another $50k
By Dan Murphy
Campaign financial reports filed by the Westchester County Democratic Committee show a $50,000 campaign contribution from Westchester developer Louis Cappelli, and a $10,000 contribution from Michael Cappelli.
Of the $60,000 in contributions to the Westchester Democratic Committee, $50,000 was transferred to the New Rochelle Mayoral campaign of Yadira Ramos-Herbert.
But the $60,000 reportedly donated by Cappelli and his son Michael, is not where the contributions end. Another $40,000 was donated to the Westchester Democratic Committee from four Cappelli colleagues; Bruce Berg, Peter Palazzo, Andrew Attara and Paul Stanley, each made $10,000 in contributions to the Westchester Democratic Committee last month (May 2023).
A total of $100,000 was collected by the Westchester Democratic Committee, who send $50k to Ramos-Herbert’s campaign, and kept the rest.
Ramos-Herbert, who is running as a progressive democrat for New Rochelle Mayor who has just received a $50,000 transfer-donation from a multi-millionaire Westchester developer, has been silent.
Her opponent, County Legislator Damon Maher, called out both the Westchester Democratic Committee, and Ramos-Herbert for accepting the campaign cash. “I’m saddened by this attempted perversion of the democratic process but also not totally surprised. Now the question is: Who decides the future of New then Rochelle? The people, or one mega-millionaire real estate developer?
Some in New Rochelle believe that the funds transfer has boosted Maher’s campaign. “He has a chance of winning the democratic primary on June 27. This latest episode doesn’t help, but Damon is campaigning hard and is well known. Instead of focusing on mailings, Yadira needs to get out and about all of New Rochelle,” said one New Rochelle democrat.
Robert Cox, Editor of Talk of the Sound, broke the story and forced the Westchester Democratic Committee to comply with election law and file their financial disclosure forms.
The Working Families Party, (WFP), issued the following statement, calling the legitimate questions raised by Cox, Maher and this reporter, “smear tactics.”
In response to attacks against New Rochelle Mayoral Candidate Yadira Ramos-Herbert, Westchester-Putnam Chapter Chair Peter Bernstein and Vice Chair Jennifer Cabrera issued the following statement on behalf of the New York Working Families Party:
“We condemn the use of smear tactics against our endorsed candidate for Mayor of New Rochelle, Yadira Ramos-Herbert. We support all efforts to increase transparency around money in politics. However, her opponent’s insinuations regarding the integrity of the Ramos-Herbert campaign are totally unfounded. The WFP strongly endorses Yadira Ramos-Herbert and urges voters to join us in supporting her historic campaign.”
Congressman Jamaal Bowman also endorsed Ramos-Herbert after the $60,000 question was raised.
