They say that money can’t buy you happiness — but it sure doesn’t hurt when you’re running for office.

For candidates running for Mayor and Common Council in the City of Peekskill, money has been flowing as a result of several fundraising events, door knocking, loyal allies, word of mouth, transfers in, and political action committees (PACs).

In the race for mayor, independent candidate Councilman Ramon Fernandez, an incumbent council member leads in contributions with over $23,700, while Democratic incumbent Vivian McKenzie has over $19,230 for contributions disclosed on public filings on the Board of Elections in the 2025 state/local January period and beyond, as of Monday, Oct. 27. 

For the city council race, which has three open seats, Democratic candidate Darren Rigger leads with $21,420, while running mates Beverley Chang and Charles DiGruccio have $8,900 and $6,000, respectively. Republican candidate Elena Muniz-Walker has about $4,500; running mate Garrett Dowd has no filings listed with the Board of Elections.

The 2025 general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Early voting began Saturday, Oct. 25, and runs through Sunday, Nov 2.

Who is donating to mayoral candidates McKenzie and Fernandez?

Including all contributions from the reporting years 2024 and 2025, McKenzie and Fernandez have accumulated about $30,240 and $34,000, respectively, according to public filings with the Board of Elections. Both candidates did not officially announce their candidacy for mayor until 2025.

Vivian McKenzie 

Contributors to McKenzie, a business owner and retired insurance professional, include city residents, business owners, teachers, a doctor, a disability researcher, an insurance agent, several judges and attorneys, a political committee for Deputy Mayor Patricia Riley ($1,150), Planning Commission members Ruth Wells and Kecia Palmer-Cousins ($441 and $150, respectively), Peekskill Housing Authority chair Jacqueline Simpkins ($100), Peekskill Youth Bureau Executive Director Tuesday McDonald ($100) and the Realtors PAC of New York State ($500). 

Donors also include elected officials, such as Town of Cortlandt Supervisor Richard Becker ($150), state Sen. Pete Harckham ($250), former Assemblywoman Sandra Galef ($100), White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach ($100), New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Hebert ($150), Assemblymembers Dana Levenberg and Nader Sayegh ($250 and $100, respectively), a committee for District Attorney Susan Cacace ($385), and County Executive Kenneth Jenkins ($1,100).

Local organizations also contributed, such as the Ossining Town Democratic Committee ($100), the Somers Democratic Club ($200), the Black Democrats of Westchester County ($150), and the Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus ($500), as well as four Democratic candidates for Congressional District 17 (a total of $750). 

Ramon Fernandez 

Contributors to Fernandez, Rio Taxi operator and driver, include himself ($1,564), family ($1,900), city residents, several businesses, including Peekskill’s Ruben’s Cafe ($300) and Putnam Valley’s L and L Taxi Service ($1,000), teachers, activists, several judges and attorneys, a doctor, Planning Commission member Ruth Wells ($306), the Yore Four Corporation in Peekskill ($1,000), the Ossining Town Democratic Committee ($100), and the Somers Democratic Club ($100). 

Fernandez’s donors also include former City of Peekskill mayors and elected officials: Democratic Mary Foster ($200), Republican Frank Catalina ($600), Assemblywoman Levenberg ($250), County Executive Jenkins ($500), state Sen. Pete Harckham ($250), Town of Cortlandt Superintendent Becker ($250), District Attorney Cacace (and a political committee for her at $385), and the same four Democratic candidates for congressional district 17 that donated to McKenzie’s campaign ($650).

Another notable donor for Fernandez include Jeffrey Deskovic ($25), an attorney from Peekskill who helps those who are wrongfully convicted. Deskovic himself was wrongfully sentenced to life in prison at 17 for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl—a crime he did not commit—in 1990. He was later exonerated after DNA evidence pointed to another man as the murderer, but not before Deskovic had already spent more than 16 years in prison.

Mayoral contribution overlap

McKenzie and Fernandez share further overlap with contributions from developer and Peekskill property owner Charles Lesnick ($600 for McKenzie and $500 for Fernandez), Peekskill’s Tern Construction ($500 to each candidate), and former Peekskill Judge Reginald Johnson ($200 each in 2024).

Several of the aforementioned contributions were before either candidate officially announced their campaigns in 2025 or were listed as transfers in, which can include the transfer of money between two authorized committees, or between a party or constituted committee such as transferring of unused funds from a political committee in a past election.

Ironically, under Fernandez’s contributions, a political committee for McKenzie was listed as transferring in $250 while Fernandez himself donated $320 to McKenzie in 2024. Both of those contributions listed the Peekskill Democratic City Committee as the recipient.

Who is donating to Democratic and Republican council candidates?

There are five candidates running for three open seats on the Peekskill Common Council: Republican candidates Elena Muniz-Walker and Garrett Dowd and Democratic candidates Darren Rigger, Beverley Chang, and Charles DiGruccio.

Elena Muniz-Walker 

Muniz-Walker, a former director of product development engineering for an international manufacturer, has donated $2,250 to her political action committee (PAC), a bit less than half of the total contributions of about $4,500.

Contributions to Muniz-Walker include Peekskill residents, retired teachers, a writer and member of the Peekskill Arts Alliance, a member of the Peekskill Volunteer Firefighters Association, former Peekskill Board of Education president Douglas Glickert ($50), Town of Cortlandt local tax preparer Michael Marx ($50), Peekskill’s Northern Westchester Collision owner Greg Lizzottee ($100), running mate Dowd ($75), and chair of the Peekskill Republicans Marty Walsh ($150).

They also include former City of Peekskill Mayor Frank Catalina ($200), former Peekskill councilman Joe Torres ($100), former Town of Kent Supervisor Kathy Doherty ($150), former district attorney candidate and business analyst Michael Capalbo ($50), former supervisor at the New York City Department of Sanitation Ray Shinick ($200), and local pro-life PAC Westchester-Putnam Right to Life ($200).

Garrett Dowd 

Dowd, an attorney, does not have any contributions listed on the Board of Elections site under his name or his political committee. The final deadline for filings was last Friday, Oct. 24. Dowd’s treasurer John Hodgins did not respond for comment as of press time.

The Board of Elections public information office told the Herald there are several reasons under state election law why a candidate could be able to file an exemption from filing disclosure reports, including “The candidate has not/will not receive or spend more than $50 for the campaign, including their own personal funds.”

Darren Rigger 

Rigger, a small business owner and community advocate, has about $21,420 and is no stranger to the political world of contributions. He is a former Peekskill councilman and partner of Dynamic SRG, a government relations fundraising firm based in Peekskill that has had clients such as Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Contributions to Rigger come from several political figures, including Glenn Riddell, a former treasurer of a political committee and the husband of former Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer ($200), former Harlem Councilwoman and state Assemblywoman Inez Dickens ($250), present Rockaway Assemblywoman Stacey Amato ($250), and John Rowley, the founder of CounterPoint Messaging, a media digital firm focused on campaign strategies in Nashville ($250).

They also include PACs: law-firm based Cozen O’Connor PAC ($500), the union-based Local 338 PAC ($225), the labor-based Mason Tender District Council PAC ($500), the Metallic Lathers and Reinforcing PAC ($500), the New York State Laborers PAC ($1,000), and Onward PAC, a Rochester based PAC supporting progressive candidates ($250).

Several real estate figures have also contributed to Rigger’s campaign, including Martin Ginsburg, the founder and principal of Ginsburg Development Companies ($500), as have law figures, such as David Garten, the founder of the New York City-based consulting firm Red Oak Street ($250), and David Jones, a founder-partner of Capitol Counsel, former national finance director at the U.S. House of Representatives and political staff for former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin ($750).

Of contributions listed on the Board of Elections site for Rigger, 80 entries do not list contributors. Rigger told the Peekskill Herald that as required by law, his campaign maintains detailed internal records of each contribution even though they are not itemized in the public filing.

Rigger said one of those entries listing over $1,570 was a total of unitemized contributions under $100 filed between July 15 and the 32-day report ending Oct. 3. Contributions under $100 are below the threshold for individual itemization under New York State election law, he said. 

Beverley Chang 

Running mate Chang, a physician assistant, donated $378 to herself out of her about $8,900 total contributions, while her spouse and family donated about $1,065. She also received several contributions from medical figures, such as a doctor, a physician assistant, and a registered nurse.

Further contributions to Chang include city residents, several teachers, law officials, a Peekskill Arts Alliance member, a business owner, a special education service provider, a dancer, a freelance writer and editor, former Councilwoman and Deputy Mayor Drew Claxton ($50), Peekskill Housing Authority chair Jacqueline Simpkins ($100), Planning Commission members Wells and Palmer-Cousins ($100 and $125, respectively), Human Relations Commission member Marisol Jimenez ($50), and Westchester County Press chief executive officer Sandra Blackwell ($900).

They also include several leaders and members of the Peekskill and Jamaica chapters of the NAACP ($375), the Peekskill chapter of Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus ($550), the American Civil Liberties Union ($90), and a human rights activist ($100). Chang also received contributions from Eleanor’s Legacy, an organization supporting pro-choice Democratic women to run for state and local offices throughout New York ($200).

Charles DiGruccio 

DiGruccio, an English language arts teacher in the Bronx and president of Peekskill Pride, has about $6,000 in total contributions, with a substantial amount from fellow teachers in and out of the Bronx. He also donated $300 to himself and received another $200 from a family member.

He received contributions from city residents, a business owner, attorneys, real estate agents, a member of the police citizen complaint review board, Planning Commission member Wells ($50), Peekskill Pride secretary Laura Piucci ($50), Peekskill’s Fourth Fridays director Marjie Kemper ($100), former Deputy Mayor Claxton ($275), present Deputy Mayor Patricia Riley ($100), and Councilwoman Kathleen Talbot ($100).

Democratic council candidates Chang, DiGruccio, and Rigger also received contributions from former Judge Johnson in the amounts of $250, $225, and $200, respectively.

What are candidates spending all that money on?

There’s no use in garnering contributions if you’re not going to spend the money. Here is a partial look at how candidates are using their contributions.

A committee for Democratic incumbent Mayor McKenzie is currently listed as having over $8,100 total expenditures in the report year 2025. Some of those expenses are listed as professional services ($2,500), political contributions ($250), reimbursement ($2,364), and “other” ($2,493). 

A committee for independent mayoral candidate Fernandez is shown having over $8,000 total expenditures in the report year 2025. Expenses include voter registration materials or services ($193.44), petition expenses ($523.81), print ads ($778.25), campaign mailings ($962), fundraising ($638.22), bank fees ($14.43), online ads ($267.36), email ($11.48), meals ($172.31), professional services ($4,400), utilities ($9.89), and “other” ($32.40).

A committee for Democratic council candidate Rigger is reported as having over $11,800 in total expenditures. Expenses include bank fees ($905), fundraising ($416.33), political contributions ($398), bookkeeping ($1,137.95) campaign consultation ($3,726.63), and reimbursement ($191.33).

A committee for Democratic council candidate Chang is reported as having $3,810 in total expenditures, including campaign mailings ($3,750) and meals ($60).

A committee for Democratic council candidate DiGruccio is reported as having about $5,767 in total expenditures. Expenses include fundraising ($740.52), reimbursement ($727.97), bank fees ($10), campaign mailings ($3,750), meals, ($60) “other” ($140).

A committee for Republican council candidate Muniz-Walker is reported as having about $1,564.78 in expenses, including bank fees ($42.95), fundraising ($1,000), lawn signs ($376.60), reimbursement ($52.40), and office ($92.83).

Republican council candidate Dowd does not have any expenditures listed on the Board of Elections website.

Political leaders, campaign managers advocate for their candidates

In addition to candidates introducing themselves to residents in an eight-page voter guide published by the Peekskill Herald, campaign managers and political leaders are cheering their respective candidates on.

Marty Walsh, the head of the Peekskill Republican Committee, is putting out his support for Republican candidates Muniz-Walker and Dowd, who recently received an endorsement from Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler.

“Hopefully the voters elect them,” Walsh told the Herald. “They’re certainly good candidates, and we just want a seat at the table, perhaps have a say and really a voice for much of Peekskill. It doesn’t feel like it has a voice right now. That’s about it. We’re very anxious to work with Democrats and hope they’re equally anxious to work with us. We’re here for Peekskill, not any party in particular. We’re here for Peekskill and that’s our main focus.”

Meghan Sheldon-Brungard, past president of the Peekskill Education Foundation and campaign manager for mayoral candidate Fernandez, said funds have been used to send a mailing to households about the election as well for boostings on social media posts on Facebook.

“The campaign slogan is ‘It’s time, es tiempo,’” she told the Herald. “Because Ramon’s platform is for city transparency, affordability, green initiatives, making the city more walkable [and] resident friendly, and really [making] sure residents activate the ability to vote on off-year re-elections and presidential ones and know the city and Common Council are there to represent us as residents.”

Endorsements across the slate of four Democratic candidates include the Peekskill Democratic City Committee (PDCC), state Sen. Pete Harckham, Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, County Executive Ken Jenkins, U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan’s Patriot PAC NY, former Mayor André Rainey, Eleanor’s Legacy, Westchester/Putnam Central Labor Body AFL-CIO, the New York League of Conservation Voters, and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

“This election, let’s choose proven leadership and genuine dedication,” the PDCC previously said on a social media post. “Vote for Charles DiGruccio for City Council — alongside Beverley Chang, Darren Rigger, and Mayor Vivian McKenzie. Together, they’re ready to deliver the future our city deserves.”

For a list of information and questions answered by mayoral and common council candidates, read the Peekskill Herald’s voter guide here.