When Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe formally kicked off his re-election campaign Sept. 12, he told a roomful of supporters at his headquarters on East Main Street that Republican challenger David Cassetti was running a “Linda McMahon campaign.”
A look at Cassetti’s campaign finance disclosure statements gives some credence — albeit on a far smaller scale — to the mayor’s comparison of Cassetti to the Greenwich wrestling millionaire who spent millions of her own money on two failed U.S. Senate bids.
Cassetti rejected the characterization Wednesday (Oct. 23), saying the people are behind him and ready for a change.
The Numbers
Cassetti’s campaign took in $6,775 between Aug. 1 and Oct. 1, according to campaign finance disclosure statements filed in the town clerk’s office Oct. 17 — seven days late.
Of that total, $5,000 was in the form of a check Cassetti cut to his campaign Aug. 12.
Cassetti took in $1,675 in contributions from individuals in the same time period.
Of that total, he raised $835 during an Aug. 22 fundraiser at his High Acres Road home.
The campaign received $422.42 in in-kind donations from Ina Cassetti for wine, beer, food, cutlery, plates and glasses for the fundraiser at his home.
In the same time period the campaign spent $2,587.47. Its biggest expense was a $1,276.20 payment to Ansonia’s Ever Ready Press for lawn signs.
Cassetti also spent $510.48 at the business on palm cards, and paid $800 out of his own pocket to Cesar and Luz Pascal of Cheshire to rent his Main Street campaign headquarters.
But though Cassetti ended the reporting period with $4,187.53 on hand, his campaign had incurred, but not paid, $4,105.11 in expenses, all of it owed to Ever Ready Press for campaign signs, lawn signs, and lawn banners.
The October campaign disclosure filings shows incumbent Democratic Mayor James Della Volpe has an advantage in the money race.
According to disclosure forms filed by Mayor James Della Volpe’s campaign, his re-election committee had $5,414.36 on hand going into the campaign’s home stretch.
The mayor raised a total of $7,615 between July and Oct. 10 — $6,365 in contributions from individuals, and $1,250 in advertisements purchased for a reception held at the home of Kevin Blake, the city’s corporation counsel, on Sept. 5.
Click here to read more about the mayor’s fundraising efforts from a previous story.
‘More Funding Coming In’
Cassetti said Wednesday that the filings, which cover campaign finance activity up to the beginning of October, paint an incomplete picture.
“I’ve got more funding coming in,” Cassetti said. “I’ve got more donations coming in. It’s in the thousands.”
“We’ve been having several fundraisers and we’ve raised quite a bit of money,” he went on. “I’m not running a Linda McMahon campaign.”
Cassetti said a porchetta dinner fundraiser he held Sunday (Oct. 20) at the St. Sebastian club netted $1,200.
He said he’ll be spending more money on signs and direct advertisements in the final weeks of the campaign.
He said that despite the mayor’s fundraising edge, he’s been received well while campaigning door-to-door.
“The people are ready for a change,” Cassetti said. “I’ve got 90 percent approval from everybody I went to. The other 10 percent were undecided or they were diehard Democrats.”
Thus far, Cassetti said he has focused his efforts on the city’s Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh ward.
“That’s where there’s the neglected taxpayers,” he said. “And they vote more than others.”
The following individuals made donations to “Dave Cassetti For Mayor:”
Kenneth Plavnicky
No occupation listed
Ansonia
$20
Joseph Coppola
Attorney
Derby
$40
Dorothy Cwanek
Unemployed
Ansonia
$35
Linda Amico
Retired
Orange
$35
Irving Reed
Quality manager, Materials Testing Inc.
Ansonia
$35
Joan Radin
Pharmacist, Lear Pharmacy
Ansonia
$35
Joanne Czecot
Senior Administrative Assitant, Yale University
Ansonia
$35
Natalie Biasucci
Registered Nurse, Yale-New Haven Hospital
Ansonia
$35
Patrick Henri
Electric Designer, Sikorsky
Ansonia
$35
Judy Larkin-Nicolari
Realtor, Self-employed
Ansonia
$35
Aretta Kotalis
Retired
Ansonia
$100
Matthew Edo
Construction, Self-employed
Ansonia
$60
Lorie Vaccaro
No occupation listed
Ansonia
$235
Lillian Cassetti
Retired
Ansonia
$50
Vincent Malerba
Funeral Director
Ansonia
$300
Patricia Fers
No occupation listed
Ansonia
$50
Laura Schroeter
No occupation listed
Ansonia
$50
William Nimons
Retired
Ansonia
$50
Nancy Valentine
No occupation
Ansonia
$60
Paul Kerbonski
Maintenance Supervisor, Pepperidge Farm
Beacon Falls
$200
Anthony DeFasio
Retired
Ansonia
$60
Deirdre Stowe
Business Analyst, Yale University
Ansonia
$60
Gary Cassetti
Retired
Ansonia
$60
