Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, the Bronx community activist who was (I believe) the first Democrat to announce a primary challenge to controversial Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr., has decided to end her candidacy just days before the petition and campaign finance deadlines, a local newspaper is reporting.

The Bronx News Network spoke to Pilgrim-Hunter, who said the main reason she had decided to drop out of the race was cash – or lack thereof. She has managed to raise just $30,000, while Espada had $300,000 on hand as of mid-January and told me yesterday he will report raising another $100,000 over the past six months.

“This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ll ever have to make,” Pilgrim-Hunter told the Bronx News Network. “In the interest of making sure that Pedro Espada is out of office, and also building power in my community, I’ve decided to withdraw.”

“…We did a really good job of fundraising,” she said, referring to the number of small donors in the community who gave to the campaign. “It wasn’t enough to be able to have an effective fight and win this race.”

Pilgrim-Hunter once told me she thought it would take $600,000 to defeat Espada.

She now wants to start a new group that will “recruit strong progressive leaders that can enter into all levels of government.” She didn’t mention anything about endorsing any of her erstwhile primary opponents, like, say, Gustavo Rivera, a former aide to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand who has been endorsed by Bill Samuels and his New Roosevelt Initiative PAC.

(For the record, Samuels called on Pilgrim-Hunter to drop out of the race, noting at the time the more narrow the field against Espada the better the chances are of ousting him).

Share|