Following The Money

One tried and true way to understand what is going on in an election season is to study the financing of candidates' campaigns, the money flowing in and out of their committees' accounts which they're required to reveal publicly.

A review of campaign finances of all of Putnam Valley's candidates in this year's election reveals two clear patterns. First, the Democratic candidates have considerably less money on hand than their Republican opponents, potentially putting them at a severe disadvantage this fall. And second, the Putnam Valley Republican Committee's account has been used as a funnel for some unusual transactions that trace back to County Executive Kevin Byrne.

Specifically, within two weeks starting in late April, the Byrne For County Executive Committee and the Taxpayer Action Network, a PAC Byrne co-founded, transferred a total of $20,600 into the Putnam Valley Republican Committee's account. Considering the committee had about $16,000 in its account at the end of 2025, this was not an inconsiderable infusion.

Within a few days of those transfers, very similar amounts were paid out to Echo Canyon Consulting in Alexandria, VA. For example, on April 30th, the Putnam Valley Republican Committee received $9,000 from the Taxpayer Action Network. That same day, the Putnam Valley Republican Committee wired Echo Canyon $9,990. About ten days later, Byrne's campaign committee and his PAC sent a combined $11,600 to the Putnam Valley Republican Committee. Several days later, the Putnam Valley Republican Committee wired $12,810 to Echo Canyon. Among other services, Echo Canyon helps campaigns with canvassing and petition-signing.

Why would our town's relatively small Republican committee need to spend $20,600 for that kind of help? One possibility is that candidates like to get represented on more than one ballot line so that voters who dislike the major party a candidate is affiliated with have another option. In a town like Putnam Valley, where Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters each comprise about a third of the voting population, a second line can be extremely valuable.

But Christian Russo, the Town Board member who is running for a seat on the county legislature, was endorsed on March 8th by the county's Conservative Party, so by April he already knew he had secured that important second line. And William Gouldman, the current county legislator who is running for Town Supervisor, was the heavy favorite to be endorsed by the town's Conservative Party, which would assure him of a second line too.

However, on March 1st County Executive Byrne learned that he did not get the county's Conservative Party endorsement despite earning it the last time he ran. And in April, the Putnam and Westchester Libertarian Party says he approached them seeking their endorsement and they also said no. So, by this spring Byrne faced the prospect of having just one line on the ballot in a race that was being forcefully contested by Democrat Brett Yarris, unlike when Byrne ran unopposed in 2022.

Byrne's answer was to try to take advantage of the fact that the Libertarian Party no longer had a guaranteed spot on the state ballot by snagging an independent line and calling it Libertarian. A petition-signing spree began. Byrne, his chief of staff Jacqueline Annabi, the county's communications director Chris Formisano, two county commissioners, and several other senior members of Byrne's administration began door-knocking, as did Gouldman and Russo.

Even more signatures were gathered from voters in Putnam County towns other than Putnam Valley by petition-gatherers who hailed from places like Queens, Westchester and Rockland counties, likely thanks to the Echo Canyon service. The effort was successful. On May 26th, Byrne submitted petitions with 2,500 signatures, well over the number required to get listed on the ballot's independent line as Libertarian.

Byrne's actions did not make the Libertarian Party happy. Officials expressed outrage that he had used their party's name and logo when they had expressly not endorsed him. Indeed, in mid-May they endorsed Yarris, Byrne's opponent, through his second "For the People" line. The party issued this statement:

The Putnam Valley Republican Committee's actions suggest they knew they were doing something questionable. Their initial Facebook post inviting voters to come to Pancho & Gringos on April 22nd to sign petitions looked like this:

The post was later edited to look like this:

Byrne fiercely defended his Libertarian strategy in this video: "You know what? For all the hubbub about the Libertarian line, no one else circulated petitions to get on the line. They had every opportunity to do that. They didn't."

Still, his campaign made some changes. At one point his campaign website sported the Libertarian logo (as can also be seen in the party's note above):

And now it doesn't:

This unusual campaign finance activity appears to be unique to the Putnam Valley Republican Party and Byrne. A review of the state's Board of Elections website found no large money transfers used to hire outside petitioners by Yarris or the town's Democratic candidates. And Byrne's campaign accounts didn't transfer funds to any other GOP committee in Putnam County. Indeed, they have demonstrated little enthusiasm so far for his candidacy. According to Transparency USA, the $13,600 payment to the Putnam Valley Republican Committee by the Taxpayer Action Network is the largest payment by that PAC.

Why didn't Byrne just pay for this signature-gathering effort directly from his own campaign and his PAC's accounts instead of routing it through the Putnam Valley GOP? One theory is that it was embarrassing for an incumbent to have to hire outside help to gather signatures. Running the payments through another organization's books might make that activity less visible. Although Byrne's campaign manager was given a day and a half to respond to questions, he did not reply.

It may also have helped that Annabi, Byrne's chief of staff, is the treasurer of the Putnam Valley Republican Committee and that he has close personal ties to the committee's other members. Responding to a text inquiry about why the town's campaign committee would need to pay such large amounts to Echo Canyon, Annabi wrote that, "Echo Canyon is a consulting firm we use to help our candidates." Asked if it was to help obtain the Libertarian line, she did not reply.

Elections in Putnam Valley are often close but usually not this fraught. And the battle is just beginning. As of July, Byrne for County Executive had a balance of $180,683 to deploy and the Taxpayer Action Network had another $18,064. The Putnam Valley Republican Committee had $16,331. Gouldman's committee is inactive. The Friends of Christian Russo had $22,191.

By contrast, as of July the Putnam Valley Democratic Committee had $14,691 on hand and had received no funds from the state or county Democratic committees. Jolicoeur had $1,841 and Gilleo's account was inactive. Yarris had $60,050 in his coffers, including $7,500 in contributions from the county's Democratic Party.

Given the national focus on Congressman Mike Lawler and his role in determining which party will control Congress, Putnam Valley is likely to see a flood of money spent here this fall to turn out Republican voters. "I think of Putnam Valley as a barometer for the whole region," said one Republican operative. "If Gouldman and Russo win, so too will Lawler and Kevin."

Election results across the country this year have shown that money isn't everything. But as the unusual flows of money through this town's accounts illustrate, it ain't nothin' either.

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