Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running for governor of New York as a Republican, was denied public campaign funds by Democrats.
Blakeman, who is running against incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, was denied the funds by the Public Campaign Finance Board, which consists of four Democrats and three Republicans.
The members voted along party lines. Blakeman stood to receive up to $7 million for his campaign, Politico reported.
Blakeman is expected to file a lawsuit challenging the denial, according to Politico.
Democrats said they voted to deny Blakeman based on a rule they authored last December that says gubernatorial candidates and their running mates must apply jointly to enroll in the public financing system.
While Blakeman was certified, his running mate, Todd Hood, was not, Democrats argued.
"Todd Hood has never filed anything to participate in the program," Democrat commissioner Henry Berger said to Politico.
"And I believe he's an essential part of the gubernatorial candidate … The lieutenant governor is not yet participating in the program, [and] has made no effort to participate in the program," Berger added.
Republicans accused Democrats of playing politics.
"This is an abomination of trying to do bureaucratic nonsense to try to eliminate candidates from an election," GOP commissioner Brian Kolb said to Politico. "It defeats the whole purpose of the public campaign finance board."
Tony Casale, another Republican commissioner, said Hood not being certified amounts to a "bureaucratic snafu," telling Politico the board never let the candidates know of the requirements.
"We did know, and they didn't know, and we didn't tell them," Casale said.
Blakeman's campaign ripped Hochul in a statement.
"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," it said in a statement to Politico.
The form Blakeman was required to fill out still had not been created as of the time of the vote.
Democrats argued to Politico that lieutenant governor candidates should have simply applied for the program themselves, even though they're not eligible to participate, and they would have had their filings merged with their running mate.
Blakeman is considered a long shot in a state that has not elected a Republican in a statewide election since 2002.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, lists the race as "Solid Democrat."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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