Overview
- Republican leaders Rob Ortt and Ed Ra filed a bill to create a seven-day window that would let Bruce Blakeman refile corrected paperwork for public matching funds.
- The Public Campaign Finance Board, in a party-line vote in March, disqualified Blakeman after his running mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, did not sign the required joint certification.
- Blakeman has sued in Albany County to overturn the board’s decision and to compel acceptance of a corrected joint filing, and the case remains pending.
- Up to $3.5 million is at stake through a program that matches the first $250 of small donations at 6-to-1 once a candidate raises $500,000 from at least 5,000 in-state donors.
- The bill faces long odds in a Democratic-led Legislature, and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s choice to skip the program while holding more than $20 million underscores why the funds could reshape the race.