Suraj Patel attacks NY Reps. Jerry Nadler, Carolyn Maloney for taking corporate money

Congressional contender Suraj Patel is attacking Democratic opponents Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Carolyn Maloney for taking money from corporate PACs in an ad he plans to release Thursday.

The ad, which is based on research of federal campaign finance filings, focuses on about $770,000 in combined contributions his rivals have received from political action committees during this year’s election cycle.

According to an analysis of federal campaign filings, Maloney’s campaign raked in more than $580,000 from corporate PACs, while Nadler’s received about $190,000.

“I don’t take a dime of corporate PAC money because I’m fighting for all New Yorkers, not special interests like oil and drug companies in Washington,” Patel says in the ad.

According to Federal Election Commission filings pulled by Patel’s campaign, Maloney accepted $2,500 in donations from a PAC for BlackRock, the gigantic investment management firm which has been criticized for its outsized investments in fossil fuels. Maloney, who’s running as an incumbent, also received money from the American Banks Association PAC as well as Bank of America and Capital One PACs.

Nadler, who also currently holds a seat in the House, is running for Maloney’s seat after a redistricting of the Congressional map that drastically shifted the boundaries of his district, putting his base squarely in Maloney’s newly redrawn 12th district. Nadler has accepted money from PACs for News Corp., Google and the National Association of Realtors.

Nadler’s co-campaign manager Julian Gerson pushed back on Patel’s attack, saying that the longtime congressman’s record “speaks loudly for itself.”

“One need look no further than his consistent history of taking on vast corporate power, standing up to government corruption and prioritizing the needs of his constituents,” he said. “Jerry has been an outspoken Congressional leader in the fight to regulate campaign finance and won’t stop anytime soon.”

Maloney spokesman Bob Liff said the congresswoman “has always stood with her constituents, no matter who contributes to her campaign.”

“That is why she has been a champion of consumer rights and taken on banks and credit card companies,” he added.

The ad is not Patel’s first broadside against Maloney, who he’s run against twice prior to this year’s primary battle. He also recently tagged the incumbent for using her House of Representatives retirement fund to help pay for her campaign.

“This is incumbency protection, plain and simple,” he said of the loan she made to her campaign. “Loaning House retirement or personal funds for campaign purposes in excess of $250,000 used to be illegal until this extremist Supreme Court eviscerated that ban this May in a partisan 6-3 ruling. Now Rep. Maloney — who has received millions in PAC money from corporate lobbyists — is taking advantage.”

Nadler also attacked Maloney for the move earlier this week.

“I’m the son of a chicken farmer — no fortune over here,” he tweeted.

Maloney’s campaign has defended the move, with her spokesman Bob Liff saying on Monday that it could be that Nadler “wins the votes of Manhattan chicken farmers … We’re trying for the rest.”