Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman won’t be able to access as much as $7 million of public funds for his gubernatorial campaign after a state election board said he didn’t file the required paperwork.
Blakeman and good-government watchdogs condemned the vote, which was adopted along party lines. The public financing program is designed to boost challengers and reduce the structural advantages of incumbents like Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat.
The state’s Public Campaign Finance Board on Tuesday voted that Blakeman, who secured the Republican nomination last month, filed a deficient application because he didn’t list his running mate. The resolution also applied to five minor-party candidates.
The vote occurred as a new Siena University poll shows Blakeman gaining on Hochul. Her lead over Blakeman has declined from 20 points in February to 13 points this week.
“With the race tightening and her poll numbers sagging, it’s no surprise Kathy Hochul’s handpicked appointee would vote to take away funds from Bruce Blakeman’s campaign,” spokesperson Madison Spanodemos said, adding the decision “reeks of corruption.”
The campaign has retained a lawyer to explore its legal options, according to a campaign official not authorized to speak publicly.
Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki said the campaign finance board made its own determination and that “the onus is on each campaign to ensure they meet its requirements.”
Radulovacki responded to the Siena poll by saying the governor is focused on lowering costs for families and keeping them safe.
To qualify for funds, any candidate for governor must raise $500,000 from at least 5,000 state residents who give $1,050 or less. The first $250 of those contributions is matched six to one by taxpayers.
The maximum aggregate payout for a candidate is $3.5 million in both a primary and general election. Blakeman faces a possible primary challenge from Larry Sharpe, a libertarian candidate.
Hochul announced earlier this month that she wouldn’t participate in the program. She reported $20.2 million in her campaign war chest in January. Blakeman reported $1.6 million cash on hand earlier this month and is seeking matching funds for $1.4 million.
Democrats on the Public Campaign Finance Board, who hold a 4-3 voting majority, said Blakeman’s running mate, Todd Hood, never filed a certification asking for public funds. They said the requirement to list a running mate was unanimously adopted at a public meeting in December.
“There are rules, there's laws, there are regulations, and they have to be followed,” said board chair Barbara Lifton, who was appointed by Hochul. “I think we'd be hurting a program, frankly, to start playing favorites.”
Republicans on the board argued that Blakeman applied to participate in the program and was accepted before the board promulgated new rules requiring that gubernatorial candidates list their picks for lieutenant governor. They said no form with a field for a running mate has been created, and candidates weren’t notified of the change.
Brian Kolb, the Republican vice-chair of the Public Campaign Finance Board, called Tuesday’s vote “‘gotcha’ politics that is frankly disgraceful.”
“This is an abomination of trying to do bureaucratic nonsense to try to eliminate candidates for an election,” he said. “It defeats the whole purpose of the Public Campaign Finance Board to the voters, to the donors who want to participate in New York state.”
