New York Democrats ask state election-enforcement unit to investigate Blakeman campaign finance reports; Focus says campaign sought matching funds on 2,600+ ineligible donations worth up to $860K

New York Focus (Oct. 15, Sam Mellins): State Democratic chair Jay Jacobs filed a complaint with the Division of Election Law Enforcement alleging reporting errors at a scale that cannot be dismissed as clerical, relying on earlier Focus and Newsday reporting of double- and triple-counted contributions. Focus says the campaign requested matching funds on over 2,600 donations that were out of state, too large, or both, worth as much as $860,000 in matching funds; it is unclear how much, if any, was paid. Focus reports Blakeman has received the $3.5M maximum and holds about $178,000 cash, versus Hochul at about $19M. The Blakeman campaign called the complaint a desperate attempt after a prior failed effort to block matching funds. The BOE declined comment citing the pending complaint. Allegations are unadjudicated.

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