The Manhattan US Attorney accused former State Senator Hiram Monserrate of using a publicly-funded nonprofit group as an extension of his campaign operation. One charge was that Monserrate used the group, LIBRE, to register new voters in the 2006 Democratic primary he waged against State Senator John Sabini.
Monserrate lost that race, but replaced Sabini two years later.
Number cruncher and political consultant Jerry Skurnik dove into the indictment against Monserrate, and Skurnik's own voter file for the Jackson Heights district, to see if things added up.
The US Attorney said Monserrate paid LIBRE $109,000 for registered new voters for the 2006 race.
According to Skurnik, Monserrate did not get much bang for his buck.
Skurnik, writing on Room8:
I discovered that 1,548 registered during that period and that 1,138 registered as Democrats. Those numbers are close to Justice Department figure of 1,000. Remember, some people registered without the assistance of LIBRE.
But of the 1,138 new Democrats, only 202 voted in the 2006 Primary, not the 1,000 that the government says was in the LIBRE database.
