Viverito NY

From Crains : The structure of Ms. Mark-Viverito's campaign committee that funded the race, "Viverito NY," is somewhat unique, according to one campaign compliance expert briefed on the spending. Under city election rules, Ms. Mark-Viverito was not allowed to spend money from her 2013 campaign account for the speaker race. She was also not allowed to spend money from a "transition committee" meant to pay only for inauguration activities. And she was likewise not allowed to yet set up a new 2017 campaign committee with the city Campaign Finance Board. Instead, on Nov. 5, she set up a 2017 campaign committee for an as-to-be-determined city office, according to the state Board of Elections, and then spent on the speaker race. That raises the question of whether Ms. Mark-Viverito would be allowed under city rules to spend money through a 2017 campaign committee to win a governmental leadership position. Ms. Mark-Viverito is term-limited out of her council office in 2017, and would have to run for a different city office that year. A spokesman for the city Campaign Finance Board, which strictly monitors campaign spending, did not immediately have a comment. But the campaign finance expert suggested that because her spending related to her holding of public office, it likely was permissible under state election law, despite the fact that it was for a legislative leadership position—and was not spent on a normal political campaign. A spokesman for the state Board of Elections did not comment on that point, but said that for campaign committees for undeclared offices, "once an office is declared and a limit is set any money taken in over that limit at any time must be refunded or they have an over-contribution violation."