Earlier this week, a top campaign official for Republican Bruce Blakeman’s gubernatorial campaign told the New York Post the Nassau County executive had raised nearly $11 million in his bid to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul, enough to compete with the incumbent’s deep coffers. But a new campaign finance filing shows Blakeman hasn’t raised anywhere near that amount.
Blakeman’s July periodic report filed Wednesday evening revealed he had only raised about $3 million since his last filing in March. He also had roughly $1 million transferred in from the Nassau and Suffolk County Republican Parties over the last four months, and received some $770,000 in the first round of public matching funds distributed in the race.
Before this filing, Blakeman had only raised roughly $1.1 million in direct contributions since launching his campaign in December. Combined with the $3 million from the July filing, that brings Blakeman’s total donations to $4.1 million – nowhere near the total $11 million his campaign finance chair, Howard Fensterman, gave the Post.
Even when accounting for transfers in from his county executive account and local Republican Parties, as well as public matching funds, per state campaign finance records, Blakeman has only brought in about $8 million total for his bid against Hochul – still well short of the touted $11 million raised. That means a little under half of Blakeman’s campaign war chest came from sources other than direct donor contributions.
Blakeman’s campaign has also qualified for an additional $1.2 million in matching funds, but the campaign did not report receiving the money yet. The campaign suggested to the Post that the campaign will also qualify for an additional $1.5 million on top of the $11 million claim.
As of July 11, Blakeman’s campaign had $4.6 million cash on hand.
Reached by phone, Fensterman did not comment on the discrepancies and instead deferred to the campaign’s finance staff. A spokesperson for Blakeman reiterated the $11 million claim. After this story was published, the spokesperson added that the campaign intended to file an amended report and pointed out the additional matching funds not reflected in the initial filing.
Hochul’s campaign had not yet filed its July periodic report as of Wednesday night, but her campaign announced she had raised $5.6 million in the first six months of the year. According to her campaign, the governor ended the period with over $20 million on hand.
