2024 marked New York State’s first foray into the world of publicly funded state elections. While the 2024 presidential election attracted more attention, the public campaign finance program and its impact on Empire State politics is, arguably, more important to the future of state government. Proponents of this program promised that it would usher in a new era of clean elections, competitive campaigns, and good government. The program, however, appears to be exactly what the critics predicted: an expensive boondoggle that creates opportunities for corruption and does nothing to improve our political system.
Originally, a state public campaign finance program was adopted by a commission established by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo. A Niagara County Supreme Court Justice, however, found that the commission was unconstitutionally exercising legislative powers when it created a public campaign finance program, and the program was invalidated.
The current public campaign finance program—which is identical to the earlier one established by the commission – was created as part of the state budget in 2020.This occurred as an eleventh-hour change to the budget in March of 2020 just as the state and country were entering into the COVID-19 lockdown.
Under the program that was created by the state legislature, candidates are required to meet a minimum dollar threshold of qualified contributions as well as a minimum number of qualified contributors. Only after meeting these requirements are candidates eligible to receive public funding for their campaigns.
Those on the political left have long championed public funding for political campaigns. Since it became law in 2020, progressive politicians and activists have been the loudest voices in support of New York’s public campaign finance program.The program, however, has fallen far short of what its champions on the left promised.
Public campaign finance advocates argued that elections would become more competitive, with more candidates from a variety of backgrounds now able to run for public office. The state Legislature that will take office in 2025, however, doesn’t look all that much different from the state legislature that was elected in 2022, before public financing of state elections was in effect. In the State Senate, Democrats continue to enjoy a sizable majority.Only a single Senate seat changed partisan hands in 2024 when a Republican challenger defeated a Democratic incumbent in a Brooklyn Senate district.
The State Assembly wasn’t much different.In the overwhelmingly Democratic Assembly, Democrats captured three Republican-held districts while Republicans won two districts held by Democratic members, resulting in a net gain of one seat for the Democrats.
Public campaign finance advocates promised a new era of clean, competitive elections and major changes in state government.The $100 million public finance program, however, resulted in almost no state legislative turnover or shifts in power. It’s hard to see the meaningful policy changes promised by public financing’s left-leaning supporters coming to Albany when the same people who have been in charge remain in charge.
Public financing’s costs go beyond the huge amount of taxpayer money spent on campaigns in 2024. Boosters of public campaign financing argued that it would clean up New York politics. Instead, it cracked the door open for corruption even further.
One 2024 Assembly candidate from Queens and a participant in the public campaign finance program is allegedly under investigation by the FBI for using fake donors to help his campaign qualify for public matching funds. Dozens of individuals who appeared on the candidate’s disclosures as contributors stated publicly that they never contributed. The shady contributions enabled the State Assembly candidate to rake in over $150,000 in taxpayer money for his campaign.
These types of schemes almost seem to go hand-in-hand with public campaign financing.New York City’s public campaign finance program has been in place for over thirty years. From its inception in the late 1980s to today, the Big Apple’s public campaign finance program has been at the center of countless scandals.
Of the many allegations made against indicted New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a claim that his 2021 mayoral campaign used fraudulent or “straw” donors to manipulate the public finance system for additional funds. Over the course of the 2021 campaign, Adams received over $10 million in public matching funds, but this month, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, because of the allegations and irregularities surrounding Adams’ 2021 fundraising, denied the mayor public matching funds for his 2025 mayoral campaign. While the NYCCFB could reverse this decision and allow Adams’ access to public matching funds at a later date, this decision is a major setback for the mayor’s reelection campaign.
Former New York State Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin also allegedly used fake donors to game the system and improperly obtain public campaign funds during his unsuccessful campaign for New York City Comptroller in 2019. Like Adams, Benjamin was indicted for allegedly using fake donors to qualify for public matching funds. Benjamin’s 2019 campaign for comptroller received over $2 million in public matching funds. His federal corruption trial has yet to occur.
Adams and Benjamin might be the most recent elected officials accused of using fake donations to obtain public funds for New York City races, but they certainly aren’t the first alleged to have illegally gamed the public finance program for campaign cash.
The campaign of 2013 New York City mayoral candidate John Liu was embroiled in a public matching funds scandal that resulted in campaign workers going to federal prison. Liu, now a state senator, was not accused of participating in the wrongdoing.
In 2003, a former Queens city councilman was convicted of engaging in a scheme to defraud New York City’s public finance program. The city councilman was convicted of splitting up large contributions that would have been ineligible for the public campaign finance match into smaller, matchable contributions.
New York City’s public campaign finance program has become synonymous with fraud and malfeasance. Given what occurred just this month, it seems the state public campaign finance program is headed in the same direction.
At the December 2024 meeting of the Public Campaign Finance Board, the Board, in a 4-3 vote that broke along party lines, passed a resolution to allow candidates participating in the public finance program to transfer campaign money to party committees without any penalty. This resolution applies retroactively to 2024 candidates who participated in the public finance system. The resolution, which was added to the PCFB agenda at the last minute and without any notice given to the public or the Republican PCFB commissioners, allows candidate campaigns to serve as conduits of taxpayer dollars to the party committees. Any suggestion that this decision by the PCFB will further the program’s stated goals of cleaning up government and making elections more competitive is laughable.
Unless it is abolished by the state Legislature, the state public finance program will be providing funds for qualifying state candidates in the 2026 primary and general elections. In 2026, statewide candidates—Governor, Comptroller, Attorney General, and, in the primary, Lt. Governor—will be on the ballot in addition to all 213 state legislative seats. With statewide candidates on the ballot for the first time since the public finance program took effect, the program’s costs to taxpayers are likely to increase exponentially.
A post-2024 election Siena poll recently showed that most New Yorkers continue to believe the state is headed in the wrong direction. New Yorkers continue to view the Governor and state Legislature unfavorably. Public financing of campaigns has done nothing to change how New Yorkers feel about Albany.
The Empire State’s experiment with public campaign financing has failed.Those who argued it would do nothing to improve politics in New York while at the same time wasting taxpayer dollars and providing an opportunity for dishonest actors to defraud the government have been proven right.
In less than a month, the state Legislature will begin its 2025 session. Pulling the plug on public campaign financing should be at the top of their 2025 agenda.
Joseph Burns is a partner at Holtzman Vogel. His practice focuses on election law in New York State and he can be reached at [email protected].
