NY Public Campaign Finance Board Must Choose Principle Over Poisoning the Program with Partisanship
Reinvent Albany worked hard for New York’s historic public campaign matching program. Despite imperfections, we believe the program is a crucial step towards making elections fairer and reducing the crushing power of big money over our democracy.
We are dismayed by reports in Newsday and the Daily News that the Public Campaign Finance Board (PCFB) is poised to vote on partisan lines to deny the Republican candidate for governor public matching funds because of an easily correctible filing error. We are disappointed by the officious public comments of representatives of the Democratic majority on the board, which come across as small-minded and highly partisan.
The purpose of the Public Campaign Finance Law is to encourage fair competition by offering public matching funds to candidates raising small contributions from the general public so as to offset the huge fundraising advantage of deep-pocketed special interest groups. In turn, the job of the Public Campaign Finance Board is to encourage candidates to participate in the program while simultaneously protecting public funds from misuse. While the facts and timeline surrounding the GOP candidate’s filing are complicated, his mistakes appear innocuous and nothing suggests any intent to seek a special advantage (see analysis below).
One of the most persistent criticisms during the long campaign to pass the Public Campaign Finance Law, was that – unlike the independent NYC Campaign Finance Board – the State Board of Elections and Public Campaign Finance Board could never be trusted to administer a public matching program because it was warped by partisanship and Albany’s culture of political conniving. Fortunately, the PCFB has rebutted this cynical perspective by doing principled and professional work – at least until now.
We hope the members of the PCFB vote for principle over partisanship tomorrow. New Yorkers have more than enough to be cynical about.
Rationale for Board to Allow a Cure to Filing Error
As reported, the seven-member Public Campaign Finance Board – with four members appointed by Democrats and three by Republicans – is poised to vote tomorrow against the GOP candidate for governor, Bruce Blakeman, receiving public funds. The Democratic majority’s justification is reported to be the failure of the GOP candidate for Lt. Governor, Todd Hood, to be listed on the registration or as a supplemental to it, or as part of a joint application/certification required under Public Campaign Finance Program Regulations Part 6221.26, Special Rules for Candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. This was due four months prior to the primary election, or February 23, 2026. According to Newsday, Blakeman submitted his registration for public matching funds in mid-December when neither he nor Hood had been officially nominated for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor tickets, respectively.
Blakeman, after he became the Republican nominee, did amend his paperwork on February 12th to add a new treasurer to his filings without adding the Lieutenant Governor, who was part of the ticket at that point. Making these changes was the campaign’s obligation under Part 6221.7(f) to “notify the State Board of Elections and the PCFB as applicable of any material change in the information required to be listed on the registration,” which explicitly includes the Treasurer. At that point, the Board should have raised with Blakeman’s campaign that his registration needed to be amended or supplemented and his application adjusted to reflect Hood being his Lieutenant Governor, which was publicly known. Indeed, the Board’s rules require it – specifically 6221.7(e)(3) – which states, “if it is determined that an application is incomplete, the PCFB shall provide the candidate and committee an opportunity to cure any defects.” Had the Board done so, Blakeman could have adjusted his filings to meet the March 2, 2026 deadline.
We believe that the recency of the statutory and rules changes pertaining to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and the program itself obligate the Board to provide candidates maximum flexibility consistent with the law and rules to participate. The current rules allow the Board to vote in favor of enabling Blakeman to cure his filing deficiencies given that the Board erred and should have notified his campaign before the deadline to cure had passed.
Reinvent Albany is a 501(c)(3) organization that, as a policy matter, supports robust participation in the state’s campaign public financing system. We do not endorse candidates. Any statements related to a campaign’s participation in the program should not be interpreted as support for or opposition to any candidate or campaign for office.
Statements from other watchdog groups prior to vote: