A June primary schedule in New York State compresses election activity to a relatively short period of time. Among those activities is an early round of campaign financial reports from statewide or legislative candidates who have applied to participate in the state’s Public Campaign Financing Program.
The Program was created in 2020, modeled after a similar project in New York City. State matching funds are distributed for personal contributions ranging from $5 to $250. The matches for statewide candidates are set at $6 per dollar contributed, while matches for legislative candidates vary from 12:1 to 8:1 dependent on the amount contributed. Total state costs in 2024 were more than $32 million.
In that year more than 200 state legislative candidates participated. Word seems to have gotten around since then. When sign-ups for 2026 participation closed out on February 23rd there were 434 candidates on the list, including several statewide candidates.
The list includes Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman; five candidates for comptroller; and the Democratic and Republican candidates for attorney general. Governor Kathy Hochul is not participating. Eighteen legislative candidates from Western New York are signed up, which is about double the number from 2024.
The rules of the Public Campaign Financing Board (PCFB) require participating candidates to file financial reports on March 16th, which is more than two months in advance of when candidates who are in a primary ordinarily must report.
These procedures will unlock tens of millions of dollars in state funds for this year’s elections. While one of the primary purposes of the Program is to help new candidates be competitive with established officeholders who generally have easier access to donations, a review of this year’s participants shows that incumbent officeholders, who often have long established political committees with healthy fund balances, are becoming quite comfortable with using state funding too.
Here is a list of statewide candidates participating in the program as well as legislative candidates in Western New York. The code for the information is R=revenues raised; S=money spend; and C=cash-on-hand. All data is for the period running from January 12th through March 12th.
Governor – Republicans
Bruce Blakeman – R $1,101,088; S $154,862; C $1,636,883
Larry Sharpe – R $15,427; S $16,945; C $29,007
Attorney General
Incumbent Democrat Leticia James – R $643,956; S $623,401; C $3,149,663
Republican Saritha Komatireddy – R $117,086; S $129,952; C $504,501
Comptroller
Incumbent Democrat Tom DiNapoli – R $306,307; S $340,902; C $1,320,126
Democrat Adam Bunkeddko – R $46,612; S $82,676; C $77,886
Democrat Raj Goyle – R $443,053; S $436,525; C $1,252,221
Democrat Drew Warshaw – R $257,604; S $616,988; C $911,640
Republican Joseph Hernandez – R $19,667; S $14,797; C $32,708
Western New York State Senate
61st District – incumbent Democrat Jeremy Zellner – R $8,650; S $7,494; C $152,641
61st District – Democrat Jon Rivera – R $63,703; S $15,570; C $86,044
63rd District – incumbent Democrat April Baskin – R $49,389; S $7,984; C $99,602
63rd District – Republican Geoff Szymanski – R $200; S $0; C $200
Senator Pat Gallivan (60th District) and Thomas Anda (District 62) are listed as participants in the state program but have no campaign reporting on file.
Western New York Assembly
142nd District – incumbent Democrat Pat Burke – R $28,266; S $15,057; C $63,475
142nd District – Republican Gary Dickson – R $11,086 plus $9,000 personal loan; S $2,063; C $18,024
143rd District – incumbent Republican Pat Chludzinski – R $27,485; S $3,105; C $41,721
143rd District – Democrat Ryan Taughrin – R $10,990; S $1,071; C $9,120
144th District – incumbent Republican Paul Bologna – R $9,400; S $12,901; C $96,610
144th District – Democrat Donna Dye Sholk – R $3,561; S $245; C $3,317
145th District – Democrat Nate McMurray – R $4,864; S $151; C $4,713
145th District – Republican Rebecca Wydysh – R $19,567; S $3,190; C $16,377
146th District – incumbent Democrat Karen McMahon – R $20,100; S $0; C $20,100
149th District – Democrat Adam Bojak – R $10,117; S $10,337; C $13,138
149th District – Democrat Kevin Deese – R $7,031; S $8,305; C $22,424
149th District – Democrat Karen Hoak – R $16,423; S $14,362; C $6,052
Candidates who have signed up to participate but who wind up with no opponent will not receive state funds.
In the special election for the 61st District seat that was vacated by Mayor Sean Ryan both the winner of the election, Jeremy Zellner, and his Republican opponent Dan Gagliardo received state funds for their elections. Zellner received the maximum amount allowable, $375,000. Gagliardo was paid $196,694. As of March 10th, only Zellner, Gagliardo, and two Assembly candidates from New York City have received funds from the PCFB.
PCFB procedures provide for audits of about one-third of the participants in the program each election cycle, selected by a lottery composed of all participants. Per PCFB rules, it can take 18 months following an election to complete an audit. The committees from the 2024 state legislative elections that were selected for audit were publicly identified.
The state law that created the Public Campaign Financing Program was amended last year to provide that candidates selected for post-election audits are anonymous unless there is a finding of wrongdoing. Here are the revised PCFB regulations:
6221.27 Audits
(c) The names of candidates and districts selected for an audit shall not be disclosed unless there is a declared finding of wrongdoing by the PCFB. Audits shall be conducted in a confidential manner, and any documents, information, or findings are confidential. Upon issuance of a Final Audit Report where the PCFB has found that a violation occurred, any records related to such audit shall be subject to the provisions of article 6 of the Public Officers Law [the Freedom of Information Law].
Whether the state financing program is working as intended is not a settled issue. The well-respected Brennan Center for Justice, one of the main advocates for creation of the program, says that it is.
Questionable or illegal activities might include:
Candidates using friends or family in effect as state-paid consultants or as landlords for campaign headquarters.
The legitimacy of campaign expenses (the New York Times found a candidate who reported expenses for headquarters that did not exist).
The use of straw donors (donors reimbursed to donate) to receive state matching funds. The Albany Times Union reported on one such incident involving a mid-state Senate candidate.
There has been no official fact-based public analysis of how things operated in 2024. The state comptroller’s office, which might ordinarily be doing such work, won’t be able to do so with credibility since whoever is elected state comptroller will have been a participant in the program in 2026.
In the meantime, candidate participation in 2026 will likely more than double the amount of state funds provided to 2024 candidates. The distribution of tens of millions of dollars in state funds should require better public reporting and review.
A footnote
Today is the 11th anniversary of Politics and Other Stuff, first published on this date in 2015. This is post 691. I thank all of you who read this blog. I like a line from a movie about the Washington Post, where publisher Kay Graham says “our readers are leaders.” I believe that is true of the Western New Yorkers who read this blog.
I greatly appreciate the sources that have helped me assemble the posts all these years. Please keep the tips coming.
Bluesky @kenkruly
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