Mayoral frontrunner Andrew Cuomo lost out on $600,000 in public funds after an investigation found his campaign illegally coordinated with a super PAC — and his troubles may continue.
But the ex-governor, 67, did net $1.5 million in public matching funds from the city’s Campaign Finance Board, though its members warned they will continue to probe the ties between the campaign and pro-Cuomo super PAC “Fix the City.”
“The Board’s investigation into this matter is ongoing, and we will continue to evaluate the issue of improper coordination,” said CFB board member Richard Davis in a statement.
Fix the City has run two ads in support of the former governor that raised alarm bells among the board and fellow mayoral candidates. As a political action committee, the group is legally barred from donating or coordinating with campaigns directly.
Cuomo, who has consistently polled far ahead of his opponents in a Democratic Party primary battle, denied any wrongdoing with the super PAC — insisting all is above board.
A spokesperson for Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, highlighted the governor’s substantial polling record in a statement to The Post,
“Our campaign’s momentum continues unabated: today we receive $1.5 million on top of the over $3.5 million we have raised in 71 days and are gratified to have the broadest coalition of supporters, and lead in every poll with voters in every borough, gender, race and ethnicity,” Azzopardi said.
The CFB, which monitors citywide elections and matches donations made by private local donors at an 8-to-1 ratio, received an official complaint from fellow Democratic candidate Zellnor Myrie that the pro-Cuomo PAC was violating campaign rules.
Myrie’s complaint letter, addressed to the board on May 5, accused Cuomo of “redboxing” — which refers to super PACs using strategic data and messaging to persuade outside spenders.
Redboxing can refer to campaigns specifically highlighting info on their website — as a way to signal to PACs what information they want them to focus on in advertisements. Myrie argued Cuomo did this with messaging on his site that read:
“We believe it is important for voters to know more about Andrew Cuomo as discussed below.”
Myrie, a Brooklyn state Senator, argued that both ads run by the PAC reflected the information highlighted by the official campaign, though that statement no longer appears on Cuomo’s site.
After conducting an initial investigation, the CFB found that there was reason to believe the PAC’s most recent ad was “not independent of the Cuomo campaign” – prompting the board to withhold $622,056 that was spent on that advertisement.
This wasn’t the first time the Cuomo team lost out on CFB dollars. The longtime politician’s team lost out on nearly $3 million in the last round of public funds because of substantial paperwork issues, The Post found.
Cuomo’s spokesman said the campaign “operated in full compliance” with campaign laws and rules, adding that everything on the campaign team was reviewed by a legal team prior to publication.
“We look forward to making that clear when we respond to the Board’s preliminary ruling and receiving the full matching funds to which the campaign is entitled,” Azzopardi said.
Myrie railed to The Post editorial board after the ruling that Cuomo “has never been a friend to this city.”
“We saw just today with the CFB withholding that this is a man with a casual relationship with the rules and someone who is solely concerned about himself and about accruing power for himself,” Myrie said.
The Democratic primary for mayor is June 24.
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy
