ALBANY – GOP candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman will be able to tap into up to $4 million in campaign matching funds under a state program, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
The state’s Democratic-controlled Public Campaign Finance Board improperly denied Blakeman access to the funds by flimsily arguing he failed to submit paperwork, said the unanimous 5-0 decision from the 1st appellate division.
“We all knew from day one that this was dirty politics,” Blakeman said during an unrelated press conference in Albany. “That this was something that was done to try and frustrate our ability to get matching funds even though we complied with everything that was required under the statute.
“It gives me great confidence in our judiciary,” he added.
The ruling, which affirmed a lower court’s finding, agreed the board was wrong not to give Blakeman and his running mate, Oneida County Sheriff Todd Hood, a standard one-week window to fix any paperwork errors.
“PCFB’s determination to exclude petitioners from the Program under a theory of strict compliance was irrational,” the judges wrote.
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Blakeman’s camp quickly cheered the decision.
“The PCFB tried to play a hidden ball trick to exclude Blakeman and Hood from being able to participate in the program. Instead of fostering participation in the electoral process, the PCFB resorted to partisan politics,” Blakeman’s lawyer, Adam Fusco, wrote in a statement.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who claims no involvement in the PCFB’s effort to keep Blakeman from public funds, is not opting into the program.
Her campaign and the state Democratic committee had a massive $32 million on-hand at the start of the year.
“While Bruce Blakeman burns campaign cash on his Trump loyalty tour, promising to bring his toxic ICE partnership and untrained, armed MAGA militia to the entire state, Governor Hochul is focused on lowering costs and fighting back against Trump. That’s the choice in this race,” Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika wrote in a statement.
As of the latest campaign finance disclosures released in March, Blakeman’s campaign had around $1.6 million on hand.
While a $4 million boost of public matching funds would be help, it’s no match for the $20 million Hochul had in her coffers to start this year, not to mention another $12 million in the state Democratic committee’s account.
Several head-turning polls have put Blakeman within single digits of Hochul’s lead in deep blue New York. But the most recent Siena College poll conducted early this month had the Long Island pol 16 points behind Hochul.