No surprise: Real estate has bought our pols

From The New York World:

Companies associated with luxury real estate mogul Leonard Litwin have funneled more than $900,000 into races for the New York State Senate so far this election cycle — mostly to Republicans, who are fighting this fall to hold on to majority control.

These contributions have come through limited liability companies (LLCs) connected to Litwin’s real estate firm, Glenwood Management. Routing contributions through LLCs allows donors to legally circumvent the state’s $150,000 annual political donation limit for individuals and $5,000 cap for corporations.

All it takes to register a limited liability corporation in New York is a three-question form and $200.

The use of LLCs to evade campaign contribution limits has special significance this election year, in which voters will decide who fills every seat in the state Senate and Assembly. Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated during his 2010 campaign that he would be in favor of limiting donations from LLCs, and in his January State of the State address — which called contribution limits “riddled with loopholes” — vowed to enact campaign finance reform this year.

Cuomo himself has been a beneficiary of the LLC loophole: his 2014 campaign has received a quarter million dollars from the holdings of Leonard Litwin, the New York Public Interest Group (NYPIRG) calculated in July.

In total, more than 20 LLCs associated with Litwin have funneled about $1.8 million to more than 60 state-level candidates, as well a a few local officials and more than a dozen political committees, since the beginning of 2011.