Michael Blake, former Bronx Meeting Member, participates within the 32BJ SEIU screening course of for mayoral candidates on March 1, 2025.
Photograph courtesy 32BJ SEIU
Michael Blake, former Bronx Meeting Member and present Democratic mayoral candidate, was authorized June 20 for over $2 million in matching funds from the town, with solely 4 days earlier than the first election.
The Marketing campaign Finance Board introduced June 20 that Blake obtained $2,096,907 within the metropolis’s program that matches small donations at an 8-to-1 stage, with the purpose of giving a wider slate of candidates extra substantial funds to compete.
In a press release, Blake stated he would use the last-minute matching funds “to mobilize key constituency groups, and drive turnout in communities too often overlooked.”
“This campaign is fueled by working-class New Yorkers—not wealthy donors or political insiders,” stated Blake. “This milestone sends a clear message: New Yorkers are ready to say that TOMORROW BEGINS TODAY and turn the page on corruption and demand leadership that puts people before power.”
In his marketing campaign, Blake is asking for a middle-class housing tax break, an finish to utilizing credit score scores on housing purposes, placing psychological well being professionals on subways and streets and rushing up metropolis funds to nonprofits, amongst different points.
Although Blake is polling at 2%, effectively behind the frontrunners, former governor Andrew Cuomo and Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani, he gained recognition for his robust exhibiting within the first televised debate on June 4.
Through the debate, he blasted Cuomo for allegations of sexual harassment throughout his tenure as governor. Although prison prices towards him had been dismissed, Cuomo resigned in August 2021 following the scandal.
In a section on public security in the course of the debate, Blake stated, “The people who don’t feel safe are young women, mothers and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo. That’s the greatest threat to public safety in New York City.”
The matching funds seem to come back at a superb time, since Blake’s marketing campaign has spent greater than it has raised and is sort of $50,000 within the gap.
“Reaching the matching funds threshold isn’t just a citywide financial achievement—it’s a declaration that New York City wants change,” stated Blake.
“New Yorkers have a choice: stay with a broken system, or choose a new generation of leadership that believes values matter and courage counts. If you want to change the game, you have to change your mayor.”
