Socialist Assembly Nominee Deletes GoFundMe Asking Strangers To Cover His Rent — The Job Pays $142,000

A Democratic socialist on track for a six-figure seat in the New York State Assembly asked strangers to help cover his rent and groceries—then deleted the fundraiser when the request began attracting scrutiny.

Brian Romero, the Democratic nominee for Assembly District 34 in Queens, was seeking $2,000 through GoFundMe.

The job he is running for pays $142,000 a year.

That contrast is not a talking point. It is the story.

According to Fox News, the fundraiser said Romero needed help with rent and groceries while he transitioned out of his previous job and into the general-election campaign.

It collected more than $1,000 from 13 donors before disappearing after the New York Post began asking questions.

Romero said he did not keep the money and called the fundraiser a mistake. He told the Post that he had asked for help because he was between paychecks as he left his government job to campaign full time.

The GoFundMe had set a $2,000 personal goal rather than a campaign target. By the time it was removed, 13 individual donations had pushed the total beyond the halfway mark.

The appeal specifically cited rent and groceries while Romero moved between employment and campaigning. It disappeared only after press inquiries put the personal fundraising request beside the salary attached to the office he expects to hold.

He also responded by arguing that the episode showed how many working people are struggling to pay rent—the same affordability crisis he says he wants to address in Albany.

The report said Romero earned $106,469 last year and shares a $2,600-per-month apartment with his partner. It also said he faces no Republican opponent in November, making him heavily favored to take the Assembly seat and its $142,000 base salary.

That makes the deleted appeal more than a random social-media embarrassment. It is a direct test of how a nearly certain incoming lawmaker handles money, donors and accountability before taking office.

The timing sharpened the issue: the fundraiser came after Romero had won the Democratic primary and while he was campaigning without a Republican opponent. Donors were being asked to support someone already standing at the doorstep of a guaranteed six-figure public position.

Here is Romero’s own response:

The right-wing media thinks it’s a ‘gotcha’ that a working-class candidate has to face similar economic pressures as his neighbors and millions of New Yorkers. Unlike the corporate class that the Post loves to prop up, I live in the real world. Many of us struggle to pay rent, lack access to healthcare, and are spending less on food.

That is precisely why I’m bringing the fight for a living wage, social housing, and universal healthcare to Albany. I know the struggle. And it’s why I am going to keep fighting like hell for us.

— Brian Romero, MSW (@Brianr4NY) August 2, 2026

That defense deserves to be heard. It also does not erase the obvious question.

If a candidate asking voters to trust him with public money cannot manage the ethics of asking supporters to cover his personal bills, why should taxpayers treat this as a minor lapse?

Romero is no political newcomer stumbling into public life.

His Victory Fund biography describes him as a longtime activist, social worker and legislative staffer who spent five years as chief of staff to Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas.

It also says he has worked as a DEI consultant, taught at CUNY Hunter College and SUNY Stony Brook University, and belonged to both the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party.

The profile lists the June 23 Democratic primary and November 3 general election, while presenting Romero as an experienced operator with years inside New York politics. His campaign résumé includes legislative strategy, public advocacy and coalition work—the exact background that should have made the boundary between campaign support and personal assistance obvious.

He knew the request would reach political donors and supporters, far beyond a private circle of friends.

In other words, he knows how campaigns, government and public scrutiny work.

The $142,000 salary is confirmed in New York State Assembly records.

The official legislative text states that each member receives $142,000 annually. The enacted budget reflects the same rate by appropriating $8.946 million for the salaries of 63 state senators—exactly $142,000 per member before any leadership allowance or other authorized payment.

That is a higher base salary than members of Congress received until 2009 and more than many of Romero’s future constituents earn in two or three years.

The position is public service, but it is hardly a vow of poverty. Romero is seeking one of the best-paid state legislative jobs in America, and the salary begins when he takes office.

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And the campaign has already benefited from taxpayer-backed support.

A New York Public Campaign Finance Board report shows that “Brian for NY” was approved for $43,750 in public matching funds in April.

A second board report recorded another $4,862 in June, bringing those two publicly documented disbursements to $48,612.

The April 15 board document identifies the office as Assembly District 34 and names the registered committee as “Brian for NY.” It records the full $43,750 as public matching funds approved for disbursement at that board meeting, not as private campaign receipts or a projected future award.

It lists Michael A. Favilla as treasurer, and the June 23 report repeats the same candidate and committee identifiers for the additional taxpayer-backed disbursement.

Both payments were approved before Romero created the personal GoFundMe. The campaign’s public-financing relationship was already firmly established when he appealed to supporters for household help.

The matching-funds system converts qualifying private contributions into taxpayer-backed campaign support. The money is restricted to campaign purposes and cannot legally become a candidate’s grocery or rent account.

That distinction protects donors, taxpayers and candidates alike. It also means Romero’s political network was already receiving substantial public help while he separately asked individuals to solve a personal cash problem.

No evidence suggests he diverted campaign funds for personal use. The concern is the judgment behind launching a second, personal collection from a politically cultivated audience.

Public matching funds also multiply the stakes of donor trust. When taxpayers amplify campaign contributions, the candidate has an added duty to keep every financial appeal clear, disciplined and separate from household expenses.

None of that money was Romero’s personal rent fund. Campaign and personal finances are legally separate, as they should be.

But that is precisely why the GoFundMe matters.

A candidate seeking public office has to draw bright lines. Supporters should know whether they are financing a campaign, donating to a personal emergency or being asked to subsidize the candidate’s lifestyle between jobs.

Romero says he recognized the request was wrong and returned the money. That is better than doubling down or quietly pocketing it.

Yet his political answer redirected the argument toward the economic system, using the deleted fundraiser to illustrate the pressures facing renters.

That is a remarkably convenient escape hatch.

Millions of New Yorkers struggle with rent and groceries. Most of them are not weeks away from a nearly guaranteed $142,000 government salary.

Most do not have a campaign operation, public matching funds, political endorsements and a network of donors they can reach with a personal appeal.

The episode also offers a small but useful preview of the governing instinct behind modern socialism.

A personal shortfall becomes a collective obligation. A question about individual judgment becomes an indictment of the system.

And the people asked to pay are told their payment proves why the politician’s agenda is necessary.

Romero may well win in November. In a district with no Republican challenger, the fundraiser is unlikely to cost him the seat.

But voters across the country should remember the sequence.

First came the request for other people’s money.

Then came the scrutiny.

Then came the deletion.

And finally came the explanation that the whole thing proved the socialist’s point.

Albany may be getting exactly the kind of representative New York’s political machine keeps producing.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up. View the original article here.