Fromer Gov. and mayoral frontrunner Andrew Cuomo.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Town Marketing campaign Finance Board (CFB) on Monday voted to grant former Gov. Andrew Cuomo a portion of the $1.3 million in matching funds it withheld from his main mayoral bid over preliminary findings of unlawful coordination between the marketing campaign and a brilliant PAC supporting it.
CFB member Richard Davis, in a Monday assertion, stated the board’s choice to award Cuomo over $540,000 that it had beforehand withheld got here after the tremendous PAC backing his candidacy — “Fix the City” — up to date documentation with the board. The PAC, Davis stated, confirmed it had really spent near $757,000 on a Might 4 TV advert, over which the board suspects it illegally coordinated with Cuomo’s marketing campaign, as an alternative of the practically $1.3 million it had beforehand reported.
Davis stated that led the Cuomo workforce to petition the CFB to restrict how a lot it’s holding again to the quantity that was really spent on the advert, which the board then accepted.
“With the authority delegated to me by the Board, I grant the petition and authorize a payment to the Cuomo campaign of $540,482, which reflects a withholding of $756,994 in matching funds,” Davis stated.
Former Gov. and mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo speaks after getting endorsed by rival and state Sen. Jessica Ramos. Friday, June 6, 2025.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
The board first declined to provide Cuomo simply over $622,000 in public funds throughout its Might 12 assembly. The board cited it having “reason to believe” Cuomo’s marketing campaign was illegally offering Repair the Metropolis with data and video clips to make its TV advertisements by publicly posting the weather on its web site — a observe referred to as “redboxing.”
In the course of the board’s Might 30 assembly, it docked the previous governor a further $675,000 for persevering with to air the business — totaling $1.3 million.
The board decided that the sum counted in direction of Cuomo’s fundraising cap, which considerably broken his marketing campaign coffers. Its investigation into whether or not Cuomo’s marketing campaign and Repair the Metropolis broke the legislation remains to be ongoing.
In response to the board’s Monday choice, Cuomo’s marketing campaign spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi stated, “We always said we were in full compliance with the law and look forward to receiving the full amount once the CFB finishes their preliminary investigation.”
Despite the fact that the CFB remains to be refusing to provide Cuomo $757,000 in matching funds, his marketing campaign is hardly in dire monetary bother. It has raised $7.2 million in non-public contributions and public funds mixed and nonetheless has $5.2 million in its marketing campaign account.
Moreover, Repair the Metropolis has raised an astounding sum of roughly $12.6 million, based on state CFB information. That’s the most of any outdoors expenditure of its form in metropolis historical past, revealed experiences point out.
Cuomo has been knocked by his rivals for his hiccups with unlocking matching funds, which additionally contains his marketing campaign being denied the general public {dollars} as a result of widespread paperwork points. They contend the problems exhibit that Cuomo is each corrupt and never the competent supervisor he has portrayed himself to be.
Early voting within the June 24 Democratic main begins this Saturday, June 14.
