New York Democrats are calling on Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman to explain reported differences between his campaign's bank statements and its public financial disclosures.
The party pointed Monday to a POLITICO report that put the campaign's Sept. 28 checking-account balance at $1.7 million, compared with about $178,000 listed in a disclosure filed with the state Board of Elections earlier this month.
Party spokesperson Addison Dick demanded an explanation for the discrepancies. Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, is challenging Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in November's election.
Report identifies payments and deposits missing from filings
According to POLITICO, the bank statements showed dozens of transactions that did not appear in the campaign's finance reports.
One example was a $13,500 payment on July 29 using check number 1156. The bank statement did not identify the recipient, and the report said the campaign's disclosures did not list that check number or any payment of $13,500 over the past year.
The report also identified an $18,000 wire from actress Lois Robbins on Sept. 2. It said the filings showed neither a donation from Robbins nor an $18,000 transaction within two weeks of that date.
An $18,000 wire from attorney Howard Fensterman, the campaign's finance chair, in July also lacked a matching disclosure entry, POLITICO reported.
POLITICO said the Blakeman campaign did not respond to its request to explain the differences.
Revisions and public matching funds drew earlier scrutiny
The report described repeated changes to the campaign's July cash balance: an initial $4.7 million became $6.1 million a week later, then $4.3 million in August.
POLITICO also reported earlier this month that the campaign had received about $360,000 in contributions above donation limits that still needed to be returned. It cited an unusual refund in which someone who gave $1 in July received $780.76 back.
The campaign previously said it had accidentally submitted duplicate contributions, according to POLITICO. The outlet said nearly a month later the filing still had not been amended to identify which transactions were real.
The state's public campaign finance program provides matching funds based on small donations for participating candidates for governor and other statewide and legislative offices.
Separately, a Sept. 29 New York Focus analysis found requests for public matching funds tied to more than 2,600 ineligible donations. The requests could have generated more than $860,000 in public money if approved.
In that September report, campaign spokesperson Madison Spanodemos said reporting errors had been corrected and amended filings reflected eligible contributions from New Yorkers. She attributed the reporting complications to the earlier dispute over Blakeman's eligibility for matching funds.
New York Focus said the amended reports it reviewed still included thousands of ineligible claims. The state elections board told the outlet that bipartisan staff review claims before payments and that funds can be recovered if paid on claims later found ineligible.
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