Twenty-two months before New York City chooses its next mayor, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and a Democrat, has become the first candidate to surpass a key threshold: She has raised all the money she is allowed to spend in the primary under the city’s public financing system.

Ms. Quinn’s campaign consultant, Josh Isay, said Thursday that Ms. Quinn had raised more than $4.9 million. With the public money she now expects to qualify for, she will reach $6,729,000, which is the maximum amount mayoral candidates who accept public financing will be permitted to spend before the primary.

Mr. Isay said that completing the fund-raising for the primary gave Ms. Quinn “a huge advantage, because the campaign will be able to focus on organizing and she can concentrate more on talking to voters and less on raising money.”

Political operatives not affiliated with the campaign said the milestone was more important symbolically than financially, since most of the candidates were expected eventually to raise the same amount of money.

“It makes her the automatic front-runner,” said Susan Del Percio, a Republican political strategist. But she added that without a doubt, “any serious contender for mayor would reach the limit.”

(Source: NY Times)