9:15 p.m. | Updated Bill de Blasio, the New York City public advocate, reached a crucial milestone in his bid for mayor on Tuesday when his campaign reported that he had raised all the money he is allowed to spend in the coming primary.
William C. Thompson Jr., a former city comptroller, is on track to hit the maximum soon, according to his campaign, having collected $600,000 in the last two months. That was almost double what he did in the previous fund-raising cycle.
Both still lag behind Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and fellow Democrat, who reported more than a year ago that she had reached the maximum amount for the primary. Ms. Quinn has since raised enough money for a possible runoff and is now soliciting contributions for a general election. During the last two months, for instance, she raised $510,000.
The disclosures were among the highlights of a busy day in New York City’s campaign finance world, as candidates for all offices began releasing preliminary figures regarding their fund-raising efforts in the two months that ended on Saturday. The full reports — including detailed accounts on spending, individual donors and top fund-raisers — must be submitted to the city’s Campaign Finance Board by Wednesday.
Candidates taking part in the city’s voluntary and relatively generous campaign finance program can spend no more than $6.73 million each in the primary, in part from money they raise and in part from matching funds.
In a statement, Mr. de Blasio said his campaign raised $240,000 in the latest period. That includes more than $75,000 in amounts of $175 or less, which, under the city’s $6-to-$1 matching system, would net $450,000 in public money.
“We intend to build on this momentum as we raise resources for the runoff and general election,” his campaign manager, Bill Hyers, said.
For Mr. Thompson, the $600,000 collected was another strong showing after a relatively sluggish start. The bulk of that money came in the last couple of weeks, after Mr. Thompson hired some new staff members and unveiled a string of notable endorsements, including from Merryl H. Tisch, the chancellor of the State Board of Regents, who became his campaign chairwoman, and Richard Ravitch, a former lieutenant governor.
“The campaign is kicking into high gear at the appropriate time,” Mr. Thompson’s chief strategist, Jonathan Prince, said in a conference call with reporters. “We expect to max out. We will certainly have all the money we need.”
The Democratic field also includes the city comptroller, John C. Liu, who reported raising $104,000 while spending $225,000.
Mr. Liu’s campaign said that his collections, too, had reached the spending cap and that he was now eligible for matching funds. But many campaign finance experts doubt he will receive them, because two of his associates, including his former campaign treasurer, were recently convicted on federal charges related to an illegal campaign finance scheme.
The competition could grow to include a very prominent Democrat: former Representative Anthony D. Weiner. He has almost raised the maximum amount he could spend in a primary.
On the Republican side, much of the attention was focused on Joseph J. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, whose campaign said he had raised $558,000. He had collected $730,000 in the first filing for his candidacy, in March.
Adolfo Carrión Jr., a former Bronx borough president and former Democrat who is running on the Independence Party line, divulged disappointing figures. He collected only $18,000 and said in a statement that his fund-raising “demonstrates just how many donors still view our politics as a two-party proposition and the concern some have about the political consequences of giving to an independent campaign at this time.”
This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: May 14, 2013
The headline with an earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of a mayoral candidate. He is Joseph J. Lhota, not Lhoto.
