Salamanca has early fundraising lead against Gibson for Bronx borough president

Two of the Bronx’s most powerful politicians are preparing to face off for borough president next year in what’s already shaping up to be a competitive – and expensive – race. 

City Council Member Rafael Salamanca, who chairs the powerful Committee on Land Use and is term-limited in 2025, has been raising money to challenge incumbent Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, also a former council member. Gibson is the borough’s first Black and first woman borough president. The previous three BPs elected, like Salamanca, were all Puerto Rican men. Salamanca, who described his borough president campaign account as “just an exploratory thing” to Politico New York in February and has yet to officially confirm his run, has nonetheless brought in nearly $47,000 in donations since then. “We’re still working on it, so it’s an exploratory committee at the moment,” Salamanca told City & State on Thursday. “We should be making an announcement, hopefully soon.”

But it’s a $406,000 infusion of cash transferred from his previous council account that puts Salamanca well in the lead on fundraising so far. That leaves Gibson, who was elected in 2021, behind, though she isn’t slouching. Gibson has brought in roughly $247,000 in the two-and-a-half years since her first term began – including roughly $58,000 in the most recent fundraising period, which began in January and ended earlier this month.

Gibson and Salamanca would also both be participating in the city’s public matching funds program. Gibson’s campaign, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, should be seeing a boost from that program, having declared matching claims for roughly $46,000 in donations.