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I spent most of today pouring through the new campaign filings submitted in the past day by Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
There’s a clear pattern of contributions for both campaigns. Hochul has a lot of cash, thanks in part to plenty of big-dollar donations to both her campaign and the state Democratic Party.
Blakeman, meanwhile, is leaning on transfers into his campaign and one of New York’s most famous billionaires is also providing a big boost to his run for governor.
I have details on both campaigns — and spreadsheets for you to browse if you wish.
Later, the state is seeking to kill a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice over New York’s transition of a popular Medicaid program called CDPAP. Here’s their argument.
Plus: Did you know we look at the latest agency rules and regulations on Thursdays? This week, an update on rules around buy now, pay later loans and lobbyist registration fees.
Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman and their many donors, including James Dolan, Terry Pegula and top hospital leaders
A quick look at news on elections that might interest you.
(Will Waldron/Times Union)
📈 Hochul dominates big-dollar donors, Blakeman collects from Dolan family
The purpose of campaign contribution limits has historically been to prevent a small number of people from bankrolling a candidate’s coffers.
But there are ways around that, at least in New York, and those strategies were well-utilized by the dueling candidates for governor over the last six months.
That’s according to new campaign filings from Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Hochul outraised Blakeman by millions and ended the filing period with about $21 million in cash on hand. Blakeman reported having $4.5 million in cash on hand.
That doesn’t include their larger political apparatus. The state Democratic Party, which Hochul controls, had about $22 million in cash on hand. The state Republican Party had less than $300,000.
But Blakeman’s campaign isn’t leaning on the state party. Instead, it’s taking large infusions of cash from the Nassau County Republican Committee, which reported having $2.1 million in cash on hand.
Hochul in 2022 (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
That’s the large-scale view of their campaigns. Before we get into their largest donors, it’s worth a quick refresher on how both candidates and their political parties can evade individual contribution limits in New York. Stay with me.
Candidates for statewide state office in New York can accept up to $18,000 from individual donors — $9,000 during the primary election period and another $9,000 through the general.
But party committees, including the state Democratic Party and the Nassau County Republican Committee, can accept a lot more from individual donors each year — up to $138,600.
There’s then nothing stopping those committees from dumping as much as they want into a candidate’s coffers at any given time. There’s no limit on how much the Nassau County Republican Committee can transfer to Blakeman, for example.
We saw a prime example of how that can work in his latest filing. We’ll get to that in a moment.
Before that, you should know what a housekeeping account is and how it can allow big-dollar donations to fly under the radar.
A housekeeping account is used to run the operations of a political party. It’s used to pay for a party’s infrastructure — think of headquarters, staff and ordinary activities. It can not be used to fund a specific candidate’s campaign.
Both major political parties, and the political arms of each party’s conference in the state Legislature, have them.
Unlike a party’s main account, there is no contribution limit for housekeeping accounts. That means donors can give as much as they want to support a party’s operations.
Hochul at the 2024 Democratic National Convention (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
💵 Big-dollar donors to Hochul and the state Democratic Party
Hochul and the state Democratic Party received several high-dollar donations, including from several entities that depend on the state.
Housekeeping account: Let’s start with the state party’s housekeeping account, which was filled with funds from several interests that often seek to sway state government.
The largest contribution came from the Greater New York Hospital Association, which dumped $1.5 million into the state party’s housekeeping account. None of the other contributions to that account came close to that amount.
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