POLITICS ON THE HUDSON

Report: Sanders spent most in NY

Joseph Spector
Albany Bureau Chief
Bernie Sanders greets the crowd during the Democratic debate against Hillary Clinton at Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn on April 14, 2016.

ALBANY -- Bernie Sanders spent the most in New York on ads, but it wasn't enough to carry him to victory in his native state.

As for Donald Trump, who romped in New York: He spent a paltry $67,000 on ads, a review of spending by the Center for Public Integrity found.

Trump, the Manhattan billionaire, focused his New York efforts on massive rallies around the state, particularly across upstate. He ran at least one radio ad in the Capital region.

The report said that Trump's spending came to a mere 13 cents a vote as he garnered 60 percent of the vote. He won at least 89 of the 95 delegates at stake.

"We went all over New York state," Trump said in his acceptance speech Tuesday night. "New York state has problems like virtually every other state in the union. Our jobs are being sucked out of our states. They are being taken out of country. We’re not going to let it happen anymore."

Sanders was estimated to spend about $6.8 million on ads in New York in advance of Tuesday's primary, by far the most of any candidate in the Republican and Democratic primaries, the report said.

But the money didn't carry the Vermont senator to victory: He garnered 42 percent of the vote compared to 58 percent for Hillary Clinton, who spent nearly $3.8 million.

Clinton, the former secretary of state and Chappaqua, Westchester County, resident, picked up 139 of state's 247 Democratic delegates.

"Thank you, New York," Clinton told supporters at her victory party Tuesday night. "You know, you've proved once again there's no place like home."

The Center for Public Integrity, based on data it received from a media tracking company, said Sanders, the Brooklyn native, spent $9 per vote, and Clinton spent about $3.62 a vote.

Sanders sought to tout his New York roots in ads.

“Values forged in New York,” one Sanders' ad said. "Brooklyn-born. Native son who knows what we know: We are all in this together.”

The other two Republican candidates, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, spent about $500,000 each in New York on ads.

In one radio ad, Cruz knocked New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, the liberal Democrat, who was among New York leaders who criticized Cruz for his "New York values" comment about Trump in a January debate.

Kasich won four delegates. Cruz got zero.