Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s re-election campaign has received a single contribution of more than $45,000 from a major supporter of charter schools.
The governor also received a surprise contribution from a convicted stock swindler.
Hedge fund investor John Petry — who sits on the board of the city’s largest charter school network, Success Academy — contributed $45,100 to Cuomo’s re-election campaign last month, records show.
That’s the largest contribution the campaign received during the 32-day pre-primary period — and represents more than 10 percent of the $394,000 the governor collected.
Cuomo also got $5,000 from shoe designer Steven Madden, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for stock fraud and mentioned in the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Madden had previously donated $60,000 to Cuomo’s campaign — $50,000 in June 2016 and $10,000 in July 2017.
Madden defended his donation and addressed his criminal past, saying he doesn’t see himself as a political liability.
“Fair question. But in my case I had a second chance and I’ve made the most of it,” he said. “Second chances is one of the great things about America.”
Petry, who helped found the pro-charter Democrats for Education Reform, previously donated $20,000 to Cuomo in March of 2017.
He’s contributed a total of $115,000 since Cuomo became governor in 2011, records show.
The debate over expansion of charter schools has been a contentious one within the Democratic Party — and particularly between Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Most charter schools — which typically have longer school days and year than traditional public schools — operate without unionized teachers.
Cuomo approved a law in 2014 requiring New York City to provide space for charter schools in public school buildings or pay their rent in private facilities.
Cuomo pushed the law after de Blasio — a charter school critic — blocked some charters from co-locating in public school buildings.
Cuomo’s primary challenger, Cynthia Nixon, and her wife, Christine Marinoni, have long been advocates of funding for traditional public schools and critics of charter schools.
Marinoni worked at the city Department of Education before Nixon announced her candidacy for governor.
Nixon’s educational proposal makes no mention of charter schools.