35°
According to Politico, the Win for NY political action committee has received two $500,000 donations from Mercer. The Super PAC has produced an ad targeting Astorino's opponent Sen. George Latimer. (D-Rye).
Mercer is a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump, a backer of Breitbart News and other far-right causes. He became a billionaire after joining a hedge fund in 1993. He lived in Yorktown when he worked for IBM.
His daughter, Rebekah, is also a supporter of GOP causes and has been described as the most prominent woman in Republican politics while another daughter, Heather, kicked field goals for Yorktown High School and later sued Duke University for discrimination when she attempted to play for the football team.
Jon Greenfield, a spokesman for Latimer, said Astorino should condemn Mercer's support.
“Trump megadonor Robert Mercer puts his billions behind extremists like Steve Bannon and Rob Astorino, while promoting white nationalism, anti-Semitism even claiming that ‘African-Americans had it better before the civil rights era’," Greenfield said.
Bill O'Reilly, a spokesman for Astorino, said voters are more outraged about a home owned by Latimer's wife owing $46,000 in back taxes in Rye.
"George Latimer is the ranking member of the Senate Education Committee, yet he skips the state Education Budget vote to jet off to a London holiday, while refusing to pay $46,742 in back taxes," O'Reilly said. "We don't know -- and can't know under the law -- about any independent expenditures campaigns be they for or against us. But we can easily understand why people would want to weigh in on George Latimer's dishonesty and misbehavior."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Armonk and receive free news updates.
