Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman's campaign sought more than $860,000 in public matching funds tied to over 2,600 contributions that did not qualify under New York's rules, according to a New York Focus analysis published Tuesday. It is not clear whether the state paid matching funds on any of those contributions, and the campaign says it has corrected errors in its filings.
The analysis found that the requests included more than 1,900 contributions from outside New York and more than 500 from New York donors whose total giving exceeded the program's limit. The disputed requests accounted for about 10% of the contributions the campaign submitted for matching, New York Focus reported.
Which donations can receive a match?
New York's Public Campaign Finance Program gives candidates for statewide office $6 in public funds for each $1 of an eligible contribution. According to the state Public Campaign Finance Board's rules, the donor must be a New York resident for a statewide race, the contribution must be at least $5, and only the first $250 per covered election can be matched. A donor's contributions for the election cycle cannot total more than $1,050 if the campaign claims a public match.
New York Focus reported that the Blakeman campaign requested matches for more than 400 contributions from Florida and Texas donors. It also identified nearly 200 $1 contributions from donors in other states, which would be too small to qualify even if the donors lived in New York.
One request involved a $9,000 contribution from Brock Pierce, who listed a Puerto Rico address, the outlet reported. The campaign's filings marked the out-of-state donations as coming from “in-district” donors, according to the analysis.
The requests involving New York donors who exceeded the $1,050 cycle limit included contributions from former Rep. Nan Hayworth and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, New York Focus reported. Its analysis found that the campaign's most recent amended filings still included thousands of requests tied to ineligible contributions.
Campaign disputes status of filings
Campaign spokesperson Madison Spanodemos told New York Focus that the errors had been corrected and the campaign had amended its reports to reflect eligible contributions from New Yorkers. She attributed the reporting complications to Gov. Kathy Hochul's effort to block Blakeman from receiving public funds. The outlet said the campaign did not answer its follow-up requests about the requests still shown in the amended filings.
The campaign and the finance board have previously fought over Blakeman's eligibility for the program. In March, the board voted 4-3 to deny the campaign matching funds because his running mate had not submitted required paperwork. A court ruled in Blakeman's favor in May, allowing the campaign to receive public money, according to New York Focus.
Blakeman's campaign reported receiving nearly $2 million in public matching funds as of July. That total does not establish that the board approved or paid any of the requests identified as ineligible in the analysis.
Kathleen McGrath, a spokesperson for the state elections board, told New York Focus that bipartisan staff review matching claims before funds are sent to campaigns. She said the board also has ways to recover money if a claim is later found ineligible after payment.
Alex Camarda, a policy analyst with the nonpartisan group Reinvent Albany, said the campaign should understand the program's basic eligibility rules. The Democratic state committee circulated the New York Focus findings Tuesday and criticized Blakeman, but its political characterization is separate from the outlet's analysis and the board's determination of any payment.
The board's review will determine which of the submitted claims qualify for public money. The amount sought on ineligible contributions is a potential match value, not a finding that the campaign received that amount.
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