Risa Heller

Here's a look at some of where two top aides to David Paterson donated money in the last filing (January 12-July 11):

Risa Heller, Paterson’s well-paid director of communications, donated $250 to Scott Stringer in January.

Sean Patrick Maloney, a top aide to Paterson who previously ran for attorney general, is spreading his money around. In addition to giving money to Sheldon Silver, Maloney contributed to City Council candidates Bob Zuckerman in Brooklyn, Ari Hoffnung in the Bronx, and Yetta Kurland in Manhattan.

UPDATE: A reader notes Heller's contribution was made before she joined Paterson's staff on April 3.

Democratic consultant Bill Lynch, who has been giving advice to incoming Governor David Paterson, was hanging out this morning outside the executive chambers on the second floor of the Capitol.

I asked Lynch about reports that people are coming out of the woodwork to ask Paterson for favors and jobs.  read more »

Dan Squadron is 28 years old, has never held a public office, and has already raised $205,153.33 in his bid to challenge 30-year incumbent Marty Connor for a state Senate seat, according to the most recent campaign filings.

Connor's numbers haven't been posted online yet, but I'm told he's raised less than $5,000.

When I asked his consultant Evan Stavisky, he told me Connor “hasn’t started fund-raising. He’ll raise and spend whatever it takes to successfully defend his seat."

Connor's campaign closed their July 2007 filing $38,217.60 in debt (although Connor says it was an accounting error).

More after the jump.

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After two and a half years in the hardest job in New York politics, Risa Heller is leaving government to work for Pollock, Silvan and company at the Global Strategy Group.

Which should give her a decent opportunity to put the skills she learned from her ubiquitous boss to good use.

Here's an interesting little sidelight to the DOT bid-rigging story:

Santo Petrocelli and Santo Petrocelli Jr., both listed as employees of Petrocelli Electric (the company accused of defraudnig the Department of Transportation) contributed a total of $4000 to Chuck Schumer, the husband of the commissioner of that department, in December, 2002.

He returned the money (the FEC has him returning twice what he was given, which seems likely to be a typo of some sort) the next year.

Schumer spokeswoman Risa Heller says the donations were returned for "administrative" reasons: "They never indicated whether it was for the primary or the general election. [The campaign] sent the checks back for clarification and they were never sent back again."

Instant messaging has become the preferred message of communication among a segment of the political and media class that just barely missed the phenomenon in high school.

And there's a Web site, AIM Fight, that allows you to track who has the largest network of instant-messaging "buddies" -- depending on your interpretation, that's whoever is the most connected or whoever has the most time on his or her hands.

The numbers change constantly -- they're based on how many buddies a person has online, out to the third degree of separation -- but based on a little snapshot taken around 4:00 p.m. today, here are the five New York politicos who miss high school most, and the size of their buddy networks:

Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser: 46,220 Hillary aide Howard Wolfson: 39,391 Consultant Michael Tobman: 33,477 Chuck spokeswoman Risa Heller: 31,519 Mark Green aide Corey Johnson: 28,458  read more »

A notch below them, Benobserver clocked in at 20,185.

I don't have Chuck's personal IM -- What a thought! -- but four of the top five do have a Schumer connection. Other top scorers include Miller aide Kevin Wardally, political consultants Basil Smikle and Micah Lasher, Fields campaign manager Chung Seto, and Bloomberg aide Terence Tolbert. And I'm sure I've missed a few.

One Risa Heller.

Heller, now Rep. Jane Harman's communications director, will be playing the same role in Chuck Schumer's office, taking over for Stu Loeser.  read more »

She is, we see from this little bio, perfectly qualified for handling her new boss and the New York press. Her degree from the University of Michigan is in psychology and Jewish cultural studies.