All those declarations leave the neighborhood ready for fresh political blood, and recent campaign filings give residents a sneak peek at who might be a serious contender come next September.

In the 5th District, Mark Thompson has showed his fundraising chops by raising $60,785 from 292 contributions in the past six months. So far, Thompson doesn’t face any other serious candidates, but insiders say Steve Newmark, who currently works for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and hasn’t started campaigning, could raise significant money and support when he officially jumps into the race.

In the 4th District race, two candidates, Domenico Minerva and Benjamin Kallos, are practically neck and neck when it comes to fundraising as of the latest filing deadline, which was July 16.

Kallos raised a total of $28,453 in the last six months, bringing his campaign chest to $33,456, he said. “Our campaign is very excited about the 348 contributions that demonstrate more community support than we ever expected, and we hope to continue that trend, expanding the number of small contributions from residents all over the district and the city,” Kallos said, noting that his average contribution was $95.42 and that 22 percent of the contributions were $10, a threshold many candidates point to in showing their grassroots support.

Minerva comes a close second in fundraising for the filing period, bringing in $24,793 from 104 contributions, which he raised almost exclusively in the past two months. The other contender, Hill Krishnan, raised only $1,085 from 22 contributions. The only other candidate, David Menegon, confirmed that he’ll drop out of the race due to the possibility of being redeployed to the Army by the end of this year.

But insiders say that at this point in the race, having the least—or the most— money in a campaign account is no indication of where a candidate will fall on the ballot.

“Because of New York City’s extraordinarily generous and almost universally participated-in campaign finance program, everybody will have the same amount of money, so the money has less meaning,” said political consultant Hank Sheinkopf.

The matching program gives candidates $6 for every $1 raised from New York City residents, for up to $175 per person. The program was intended to level the playing field and give candidates without access to big money a chance to compete, a point Krishnan raised in defending his fundraising position.

“Running for City Council in New York should be about more than just raising money,” Krishnan said in an email. “I don’t work in a lucrative career to meet and raise money from high donors; I am a professor.”

Sheinkopf said that it’s way too early to rule anyone out, regardless of how paltry their total seems in comparison to other candidates.

“Unlike most people in my business, I got rid of my crystal ball a long time ago—it didn’t fit in my wallet,” Sheinkopf said. “Early money helps define the race for people in the media business and for local community activists. But the general public, they don’t care.”

Domenico Minerva

The latest candidate to jump into the race for the Upper East Side’s 5th Council District didn’t count on entering New York City politics. Growing up in a conservative-leaning area of Long Island, raised in a Republican family and living in various cities around the country, Domenico Minerva wasn’t always certain where his liberal, Democratic values would fit.

Minerva’s family moved to Florida when he was in school, and after he graduated from college, he went to Atlanta to work for Morgan Stanley. When the stock market nosedived, he took some time off to help his sister and nephews out in Los Angeles, then started thinking about becoming a lawyer. He relocated to San Francisco for a job a law firm and, while there, the political bug finally bit him.

“It’s nice, because [San Francisco]’s a liberal setting, so the values were pretty much in line with everything that I already believed. Everyone is so active and involved with local politics that you can talk to anyone about politics,” Minerva said in a recent interview.

When he began doing just that—talking to everyone around him about local politics—he realized how transformative the process could be.

“That really focused me and got me understanding that one person can make a difference; before that, I was sort of one of those pessimistic non-believers,” Minerva said.

After law school in New Orleans (he lost his apartment there during Hurricane Katrina), he got a job with a securities litigation firm and ended up living on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

“When I moved to New York, I knew it was important for me to start getting involved. I’m a lawyer; I have a legal education, which really helps on the policy side,” he said.

He soon found the Lexington Democratic Club, where he served as treasurer and is now a third term president. Minerva is also a member of Community Board 8, and said that during his relatively short time in the neighborhood, his immersion in the local scene has prepared him for the challenges that would face a City Council representative.

“I’ve been very involved. We’ve had very successful forums talking about issues that are facing the Upper East Side specifically or the city generally or the state,” he said.

Minerva shares many similar viewpoints and priorities for the East Side as current Council Member Jessica Lappin, who is likely running for Manhattan borough president in 2013, as well as fellow candidates Benjamin Kallos, also a politically active attorney, and Hill Krishnan, an NYU professor: opposition to the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station (he lives right by the site), a concern for air quality (his wife is about to give birth to their first baby), advocating for more school seats.

He said that he’d like to focus on getting more support for businesses along the Second Avenue Subway construction route and finding creative solutions for building new schools. He would push for better bike lanes and more green taxis, as well as more accountability of restaurants for renegade deliverymen on electric bikes.

Minerva said that it’s still early to be formulating more specific policies, but that he plans on continuing his work with the club and meeting people in the neighborhood to gear up for his campaign.

David Menegon via LinkedIn

David Menegon, president of the Lenox Hill Democratic Club, is considering a run for the Upper East Side’s 5th district city council seat, Our Town has learned.

The bid for the council seat, currently held by Jessica Lappin, who is very likely running for Manhattan Borough President, has already attracted three declared candidates – NYU professor Hill Krishnan, attorney and activist Ben Kallos, and Domenico Minerva, attorney and president of the Lexington Democratic Club (check out the April 19 edition of Our Town for a profile of Minerva).

While he hasn’t made any official moves to register a run for the seat, Menegon said that he’s talking with friends and potential supporters about a possible run.

“I’ve spoken to a couple of friends about this. I’m interested. I’ve lived here for almost 20 years,” Menegon said. “I haven’t filed any paperwork, I haven’t made a decision, it’s very preliminary.”

Menegon is an Army veteran who served for two years in Iraq, and he’s worked in sales at the Xerox Corporation for the past 20 years. He said that his time overseas working on development and infrastructure would be useful in working on Upper East Side issues like the Second Avenue Subway construction and the opposition to the East 92nd Street Marine Transfer Station.

“I think I have some skills to be a good advocate for people in the community,” Menegon said. “It’s a 50/50 thing right now.”