A piece of legislation, a blog post, even the end of “Mad Men” — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will use any excuse to ask for campaign money.
Every politician asks for money, of course. But the cup-shaking from Gillibrand is particularly overwhelming. She has sent more than 100 money-grams since 2014, hitting inboxes as often as five times a week.
New York’s junior senator blasts e-mails asking for cash when the Supreme Court makes a ruling she doesn’t like, when Nate Silver writes a blog post or when Hillary Clinton says something inspirational.
The fervent fund-raiser, who hauled in over $30 million in the past six years, fired off a money-grab e-mail only days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia chastising Republicans for refusing to name a replacement.
“I’m not going to stop standing up to the GOP’s reckless obstructionism or fighting for what’s right in the Senate,” it read. “But right now, I need you with me.” She then asked for “$5 or more now.”
A favorite cash-generating theme is Planned Parenthood.
“It’s outrageous,” she wrote on Dec. 20. “We should have been working on issues that move our country forward instead of arguing about contraception — ad nauseam!” She said she needed to raise “$10,000 by midnight.”
After appearing on a February 2015 episode of “Parks and Recreation,” Gillibrand dispatched an e-mail with a photo of her palling around with actress Amy Poehler on set.
“I certainly won’t be quitting my day job, Friends, but I did have an amazing time playing actor,” the senator wrote — before providing a clip of her cameo and asking for a contribution between $5 and $500.
She even tied cash appeals to the “Mad Men” series finale last May.
“America loved tuning in to ‘Mad Men’ every week to see Peggy Olson and Joan Holloway rise in the ranks in a business and an era dominated by men,” she wrote. “But when it comes to paid family leave, we’re still stuck in the ‘Mad Men’ era.”
Her solicitations sometimes shill for Hillary Clinton’s memoir or her own book, “Off the Sidelines.”
“Click here to give $5 or more now and you’ll be automatically entered to win a free, signed copy of my book,” a June 2015 message read.
When she isn’t “frustrated over the gridlock and game-playing” in Congress or “pretty excited about these polls,” Gillibrand touts progressive Democrats facing tough races. The e-mails come with boxes a supporter can click on to donate $5, $25, $50, $100, $250 or $500.
But in most cases, the small print reveals the donation is actually split between the candidate and Gillbrand.
Gillibrand, like many of her colleagues, uses Act Blue, a Democratic online platform that allows donors to give money quickly to candidates.
Her campaign committee took $392,398 from 2,181 Act Blue donors and grabbed another $3.1 million from 2,765 more donors for her “Off The Sidelines” PAC since the 2012 election cycle, federal campaign filings show.
She is due to run again in 2018 and that’s when tens of millions of dollars will likely flow into her coffers.
Of the $5.5 million that Gillibrand’s PAC collected from donors since January 2013, $4.6 million has gone to a variety of accounting, media and credit-card expenses. The PAC had $1 million in its account at the end of 2015.
She sent $1.12 million from her PAC to other candidates’ campaign committees and forked over $350,000 from her campaign to Senate Democrats during that period.
Gillibrand’s e-mails have generated $1.97 million for other candidates from 2012 to 2015, according to records her campaign released.
“She regularly recruits candidates and encourages her supporters to ensure great candidates have the resources necessary to win,” Gillibrand spokesman Glen Caplin said.