New York Public News Network | By Jon Campbell
New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is asking a state court to reverse a decision made by a Democratic-led board to block his campaign from accessing millions of dollars in public matching funds as he seeks to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state’s Public Campaign Finance Board, arguing it exceeded its authority when its Democratic contingent blocked him from participating in a state program matching small campaign donations at a 6-to-1 rate.
The lawsuit argues the four Democrats on the board acted arbitrarily when they invalidated Blakeman’s participation in the program last week, and asks a state Supreme Court judge in Albany to reverse the decision.
“This determination casts serious doubt on whether the [board] is truly a bipartisan state agency,” Blakeman attorney Adam Fusco said in a statement. “Democracy is about fostering participation in the electoral process, not playing partisan politics designed to weaponize the system and clear the field of meaningful competition.”
The stakes are considerable for Blakeman, who has struggled to raise campaign cash in his bid to deny Hochul, a Democrat, a second full term. And it comes as no other Republican filed to run in the gubernatorial primary before a Monday deadline, decreasing the maximum amount of matching funds he would be able to access if his lawsuit is successful.
The Public Campaign Finance Board, in a 4-3 party line vote, found Blakeman and his running mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, didn’t file the appropriate paperwork to receive matching funds.
In December, new filing rules required Blakeman and Hood to file joint paperwork to join the matching fund program. But Republicans argue that form does not actually exist, and that an application Blakeman filed without Hood remains valid.
Under state law in effect for the first time in a gubernatorial race, qualifying candidates are eligible to have certain small donations matched by public funds. To participate, a candidate has to raise $500,000 from at least 5,000 state residents each giving $1,050 or less. The first $250 of each eligible contribution is matched at a 6-to-1 rate.
Blakeman’s campaign had about $1.6 million on hand as of last month, the last time it was required to disclose its finances. He’s seeking more than $1 million in total matching funds thus far.
Hochul had about $21.2 million in her campaign account as of mid-January, according to state records. The governor, a prodigious campaign fundraiser on her own, declined to participate in the matching program.
Blakeman’s lawsuit named both the Public Campaign Finance Board and state Board of Elections as defendants.
Barbara Lifton, a former Democratic state assemblymember who chairs the Public Campaign Finance Board, said she stands by her vote invalidating Blakeman’s participation. The rules required both the governor and lieutenant governor candidate to file, she said, and the board does not have discretion to bend the rules.
“The law and regulations were clear,” Lifton said. “If a judge decides otherwise, we’ll of course respect a judge’s decision.”
A spokesperson for the state Board of Elections didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
The maximum amount of matching funds available to a candidate in the governor’s race is $3.5 million for a primary and another $3.5 million for the general election. The primary funding is reduced if an opposing candidate doesn’t meet criteria to be considered “competitive.”
Blakeman had been gearing up for a longshot primary that would have made him eligible for some primary matching funds were he to raise enough. But that changed Monday when Larry Sharpe, who had twice before run for governor on the Libertarian line, announced he was not able to gather enough petition signatures to run for the GOP nomination.
No other candidates filed for the Republican primary, meaning Blakeman will only be eligible for up to $3.5 million should he raise enough from smaller donors.
“I knew it would be hard,” Sharpe said during one of his regular livestreams. “It was harder than I thought. I had big plans. It wasn’t working.”
Both Hochul and Blakeman will also have to return some of their campaign haul to donors.
State law allows contributions of up to $18,000 per person to a gubernatorial campaign — $9,000 for a general election and $9,000 to a primary. Since neither is facing a primary, both will have to return any donations that exceeded $9,000 — which amounts to several million dollars for Hochul and at least $100,000 for Blakeman, according to state disclosure records.
Sharpe said he still intends to petition his way onto the general election ballot on an independent line in November.
Jimmy Vielkind contributed reporting.
Image: Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, left, is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul. (The Associated Press file photos)