Public fund denial an ironic blow for Blakeman
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
Before this week, longtime Albany observers expected that the threat of the Public Campaign Finance Board holding back public funding for gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman would be just a quick, fun way for Democrats to make him jump through bureaucratic hoops to collect.
After all, here was a Republican contender trying to cash in on a program his party voted against, decrying it as wasting taxpayer money. This came after his opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul, a super-aggressive incumbent fundraiser, chose to skip applying to the program.
But on Tuesday, the board, with a Democratic majority, showed it was serious about rejecting the Nassau County executive. Members voted 4-3 to turn down Blakeman who stood to collect up to $3.5 million this year from the state treasury. The program allows $6 in public money for every $1 raised of the first $250 from an individual.
Blakeman’s filing violated the rules, they found. His application did not include both himself and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Todd Hood, as required by the board on Dec. 9.
Never mind the fact that the application form didn’t even have space for two names.
Never mind that public funding has never been tested in statewide races.
Or that this is was the first time candidates for governor and lieutenant governor were combined into a single unit for funding purposes, which makes the running-mate rule extraneous.
Or that Hood had not even been selected when Blakeman filed his application for public funds.
Any of these twists could have excused the filing flaws. But board officials are standing by the rationale that the same rules apply to everyone. And it turns out would-be GOP primary candidate Larry Sharpe and a few other longshot hopefuls were denied public funds reportedly for the same reasons as Blakeman.
Political party officials keep less-than-meticulous track of procedural trifles at their own risk. When the GOP town supervisor in Huntington last fall won with the help of an inactive Working Families Party candidate siphoning votes from the Democrat, the burden had been on the WFP to control its ballot line.
Blakeman allies say the board fight is headed to court.
For the national GOP, the stakes are higher than just another New York governor’s race. Blakeman was nominated in the hope that his presence on the ticket would help Long Island congressional candidates with the House majority threatened. In 2022 Hochul’s less-than-stellar performance led some Democratic insiders to fault her for congressional losses. The national parties are thus pressuring both candidates to pull out all stops to win by helping turn out their base.
The public funding fight could shake Blakeman, but Democrats cannot rely on it to crush him. Some polls before the ruling suggest Blakeman’s support is headed higher, though he still trails Hochul. Some gap closing is inevitable in any statewide race.
Blakeman’s fealty to President Donald Trump, which may cost him among the mass of New York voters, may also mean he can access funds from out of state that would not be subject to the rules of the Public Campaign Finance Board. And super PAC spending will be relatively opaque and unrestricted.
Hochul and her allies know by now that an edge in funding isn’t everything. The PCFB’s surprise decision could be but a small, fleeting break for her, depending on how the long road will turn.
Columnist Dan Janison’s opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
