Super PAC Forms to Boost Bruce Blakeman, Hochul’s Republican Challenger

The Republican candidate for governor, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, has struggled to keep up with the campaign fundraising juggernaut of his Democratic opponent, Governor Kathy Hochul. As of mid-January, Hochul’s campaign had more than 16 times as much as Blakeman’s in its coffers.

But help is on the way.

According to state records, a super PAC called “Make it Cheaper” was formed on Friday to back Blakeman’s campaign. 

The announcement marks a potentially significant development in the race and involves a key player who boosted the last Republican to run for governor. 

Kristofer Graham, the committee’s treasurer, held the same role in 2022 for a super PAC that spent more than $7 million to help US Rep. Lee Zeldin mount an unusually competitive challenge for a statewide Republican candidate in New York. Another outside group spent over $12 million on Zeldin’s behalf, according to a report issued by the state Board of Elections. He lost to Hochul by about six percent.

Well-known Republican consultant Chris Grant of the firm Big Dog Strategies is also working for the new super PAC backing Blakeman, according to state records. The committee’s name, “Make it Cheaper,” suggests it will focus on affordability. 

Blakeman badly needs the support. In mid-March, his campaign reported having only $1.6 million in cash on hand, while Hochul most recently reported in January having more than $20 million. Blakeman did recently get some good news in court rulings finding he was entitled to millions of dollars in public matching funds.

Grant and Graham did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Independent expenditure committees can raise and spend unlimited sums supporting candidates, but aren’t allowed to coordinate that spending with the campaigns they are supporting.

During the 2022 elections, the super PACs supporting Zeldin were scrutinized by the Times Union for overlap between their staff and that of the Zeldin campaign. A lengthy investigation by the State Board of Elections enforcement counsel ultimately resulted in the two groups paying a $900,000 settlement, reportedly the largest sum ever paid in a New York super PAC coordination case. The settlement contained no admission of wrongdoing, and an attorney for Save Our State — the group for which Graham was treasurer — told The New York Times that it paid the settlement to avoid the “nuisance” of a lengthy investigation.

An unsealed report issued by the state’s chief election enforcement counsel, however, said the office had uncovered “substantial evidence” demonstrating that the respondents “knowingly and willfully coordinated with candidate Lee Zeldin, both directly and through agents, resulting in unlawful contributions.” 

Zeldin’s campaign manager told The Times the investigation was “nothing more than political extortion by New York aimed at silencing political opposition.” The enforcement counsel, Michael Johnson, is a former state Democratic Assembly staffer.

Ronald Lauder, a billionaire cosmetics heir, spent more than $10 million seeking to elect Zeldin. He reportedly paid a majority of the $900,000 fine.

A financial boost to the top of the Republican ticket could also buoy down-ballot Republican candidates for Congress. New York is a battleground in the struggle for control of the House of Representatives, and Zeldin’s strong showing in 2022 helped Republicans win congressional seats in New York — a major factor in the party regaining control of the House that year.

Republicans have not won a statewide election in New York since 2002, and Blakeman faces an especially difficult electoral climate this year. During mid-term elections, the party of whichever politician holds the White House typically suffers, and it remains unclear to what degree donors this year will pour money into a pro-Blakeman effort.

State Conservative Party Chair Jerry Kassar told Politico last week that the recent court ruling granting Blakeman public matching funds would be a “magnet to attract other money to his campaign.”

Republican political consultant David Catalfamo told New York Focus that donors concerned about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — and his handling of the issue of antisemitism — may also come to view the election of a Republican governor as the best means of limiting the mayor’s power. 

“If you believe there needs to be a check on Mamdani — and I think a lot of older, Jewish voters have that exact point of view,” he said, “then one way to check a mayor is with a governor.”