New York Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman said Tuesday he will sue the state after the Campaign Finance Board denied him matching funds.
The board ruled the Nassau County executive couldn’t get at least $7 million in matching funds.
Just one day before, Blakeman had spoken about the issue
“If they take matching funds away from me, then you’re going to see the tyranny of one-party rule in its worst form here in New York state,” Blakeman said Monday.
The move “reeks of corruption”
On Tuesday, Blakeman’s spokesperson said, “With the race tightening and her poll numbers sagging, it’s no surprise Kathy Hochul’s handpicked appointee would vote to take away funds from Bruce Blakeman’s campaign. While it reeks of corruption, no money in the world can hide Kathy Hochul’s record of driving up taxes, rent, utility bills, and insurance premiums.”
Sources said Blakeman hired a law firm to challenge the 4-3 vote that broke on partisan lines in which the board denied matching funds to Blakeman and five other candidates because their lieutenant governor running mates didn’t fill out a proper form. That form apparently did not exist at the time, but there were other forms that could have been filled out.
The decision roiled the political waters.
“When you have a committee that votes 3-4 and it’s split on partisan voting records and partisan membership, it stinks to high heaven,” political consultant O’Brien Murray said.
Hochul, N.Y. Dems not involved in decision, sources say
Sources told CBS News New York that neither Hochul nor New York Democrats tried to get Blakeman penalized.
“The bipartisan Public Campaign Finance Board makes its own determinations, and the onus is on each campaign to ensure they meet its requirements,” a Hochul spokesperson said.
Public interest group Common Cause New York said that while candidates should follow the rules, the board should have amended its rules.
“Neither the candidates nor the commission and its staff are blameless here,” Common Cause New York said in a statement