John,

One week before Election Day, Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund has uncovered how New York City’s next mayor could be chosen not by its eight million residents but by a small club of billionaires determined to protect their own fortunes.

Our new report, Billionaires Buying Gracie Mansion, shows that just 62 billionaires and heirs to billionaire families have contributed $18.7 million to outside spending groups, making up a staggering 37% of all money spent outside the campaigns.[1] Nearly every dollar of that billionaire money, 98%, is being used to defeat a proposed modest tax reform on the rich and corporations. At the same time, working-class New Yorkers are doing everything they can to make their voices heard, giving small donations that together barely compete with the checkbooks of a few ultra-rich individuals.

The billionaires’ goal is simple: stop Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a candidate who refuses to bow to the rich and has proposed raising city income taxes on million-dollar earners and corporations to generate $9 billion a year for public housing, education, and infrastructure. They’re backing Mamdani’s closest rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

The billionaire class sees increased taxes on the rich as an existential threat to their wealth and influence. They are flooding New York’s political system with money to make sure the rich stay on top and working families stay stuck at the bottom. Our democracy was never meant to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. That is why we need your help to fight back right now and power this critical research that shines a spotlight on this undue influence.

Can you make a contribution right now to defend democracy and help expose billionaire influence in the NYC Mayor’s race and federal elections? Your support funds our watchdog reports, digital campaigns, and organizing work that holds billionaires accountable for their political manipulation.

Leading the billionaire charge in NYC is Michael Bloomberg, who personally contributed $8.3 million to the main pro-Cuomo super PAC, Fix the City. Behind him stand other big names like the Lauder family, Bill Ackman, and John Hess. These billionaires already control the skyline. Now they want to control City Hall. They are using their wealth to drown out the voices of nurses, teachers, small business owners, and every New Yorker who wants a fairer economy and a more affordable city.

The same people driving up rents and fueling inequality are now trying to buy the mayor’s office so they can hold onto their untaxed wealth. Outside spending for Cuomo’s campaign totals $28 million, compared to just $2.3 million for Mamdani. When campaign spending and super PACs are added together, the billionaire-backed side outspends grassroots voters nearly three to one.

Your support helps Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund fight back with the facts. It allows us to expose the truth about where the money comes from, who benefits, and why it matters for democracy, not just in New York but across the country.

We are in this fight to prove that elections belong to voters, not billionaires who think their wealth gives them the right to rule.

Please donate today to fund this vital work and help us stop billionaires from buying elections.

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Together, we can make sure New York’s next mayor is chosen by the people, not the plutocrats.

David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund