ALBANY – A state judge reversed a Democrat-controlled panel’s decision to block GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman of potentially millions of dollars in campaign matching funds.
Albany County Supreme Court Judge Denise Hartman issued an order signed Tuesday that will force the New York State Public Campaign Finance Board to reverse its party-line decision from March 31 that penalized Blakeman for failing to submit paperwork that never existed in the first place.
Hartman excoriated the Democratic board, saying it clearly went against its own regulations because it didn’t give Blakeman any notice that his forms were incomplete, nor did the board give him the one-week period to fix this mistakes as is required under policy.
“He received no notice that the [finance board] considered the submissions deficient until after the filing deadline had lapsed,” Hartman wrote. “Petitioners should have been given notice and one week to cure.”