New York Public News Network | By Jimmy Vielkind
Still smarting after their gubernatorial candidate was blocked from receiving public dollars, Republican New York state lawmakers are pushing a long shot bill that would give him another crack at millions in matching funds.
In a party-line vote last month, Democrats on the state’s Public Campaign Finance Board booted Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s campaign from the matching funds program because of a paperwork error. Elections officials had initially approved Blakeman’s application, which would have let him access up to $3.5 million of public funding.
The board said that application was invalid because his running mate — who was named later — never signed the form. Blakeman filed a lawsuit earlier this month to challenge the decision, It’s pending in Albany County.
“This is a miscarriage of justice and of anything, resembling free and fair elections. It’s a gross manipulation of a $100 million campaign finance system,” said state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, a Niagara County Republican. “They should replace the ‘P’ with ‘partisan’ instead of ‘public’ if they don’t change this.”
Ortt introduced a bill that would create a seven-day cure period during which Blakeman or the other five candidates who were denied by the board could file amended forms.
A spokesperson for the state Board of Elections — which oversees the Public Campaign Finance Board — said it doesn’t comment on pending legislation. In March, finance board chair Barbara Lifton said campaigns needed to be diligent and it was the board’s job to protect taxpayer funds.
“It is the responsibility of a campaign, certainly a gubernatorial campaign, to understand what’s happening with a program that they want $3.5 million from,” she said.
Republicans are in the legislative minority, and their bills aren’t typically brought up for floor votes without approval of top Democrats. Ortt and Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra, a Nassau County Republican, said they would happily hand the bill off to any Democratic legislator who wanted to sponsor it. Both said they were pessimistic that it would pass.
A spokesperson for state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat, declined to comment. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s spokesperson didn’t return a message seeking comment.
A governmental spokesperson for Hochul said the governor would “review any bill that passes both houses of the Legislature.” A Hochul campaign spokesperson declined to comment.
While Democrats championed public financing as a way to make state elections more competitive, Hochul declined to participate in the program. The governor said she wanted to save taxpayer dollars. As of January, she had around $20.2 million in her campaign account — roughly 20 times as much as Blakeman’s war chest.
This is the first gubernatorial campaign during which the program has existed. 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, for a maximum aggregate payout of $3.5 million in a primary and general election.
Blakeman doesn’t have a Republican primary challenger.
Image: State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, seen here with other GOP lawmakers, has introduced a bill to unlock matching funds for candidate Bruce Blakeman. (Jimmy Vielkind/New York Public News Network)