The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) on Tuesday declined to reward 2025 NYC mayor’s race front-runner Andrew Cuomo millions of dollars he expected to receive in public matching funds.
The CFB voted to deny Cuomo the funds because at least 20% of the paperwork his campaign filed had technical errors — and his campaign did not meet the threshold of eligible donations. Those can be overlapping issues as technical errors can affect how many donations are eligible, according to the board.
Cuomo campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said those issues stemmed from a “technical software error.” The campaign had anticipated the board would reward it roughly $2.7 million in public funds after raising around $1.5 million between the beginning and middle of March.
“Last Friday, the campaign was informed by the campaign finance board that, due to a technical software error, contributions collected on one of our vendor platforms, NGP, were missing one of the fields required by the Campaign Finance Board,” Azzopardi said in a statement, “and so while we met the thresholds necessary to receive matching funds, the campaign had to remedy this technical matter.”
However, Azzopardi claimed the campaign fixed the technical error and expects to receive matching funds next month.
“We have since fully addressed the software issue and have complied with all requirements and will be submitting the proper documentation to the Board within the one-week grace period the board allows to remedy technical issues to receive our eligible matching funds on May 12,” Azzopardi said.
The decision came after Cuomo’s campaign sent an “urgent” email on Sunday to its entire contact list, including reporters, asking donors to complete a form via the app DocuSign in order to qualify for public funds.
Azzopardi added that the campaign has raised an additional $1 million in private donations since the March 13 CFB filing deadline.
Cuomo — a former governor who resigned in 2021 after being accused of sexual harassment by 11 women, allegations he denies — has led the field in the polls and institutional support since jumping in on March 1. But the denial of matching funds, even for the time being, marks the campaign’s first major setback.
Nonetheless, Cuomo’s bid is also bolstered by a super PAC known as “Fix the City” that has already raised over $4.8 million with the support of many prominent GOP donors, according to published reports.
Mayor Eric Adams, who opted out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent, was also denied matching funds once again.
The board has continued to refuse Adams public funds following a December decision based on his now-dismissed federal indictment, which alleged that his 2021 campaign defrauded the matching funds program.
Under the city’s generous public campaign finance program, candidates can get an 8-to-1 match on donations up to $250 from city residents. Mayoral candidates must raise at least $250,000 from a minimum of 1,000 in-city donors in order to qualify.
Meanwhile, the board rewarded many of Cuomo’s rivals with sizable tranches of public money.
Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani led the pack, with a reward of $3.8 million, close to what his campaign said it expected to receive last month. Mamdani is very close to hitting the $8.3 million spending cap, according to his campaign spokesperson, and expects to make up the difference in private funds.
City Comptroller Brad Lander received $861,800, less than the $1.3 million that his campaign expected. Former city Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) unlocked $696,942 and $527,147, respectively.
Independent candidate Jim Walden brought in nearly $2 million in public funds. Walden claimed in an email that he is the first independent candidate to qualify for public matching funds.
At the same time, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), former Bronx Assembly Member Michael Blake, and hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson did not meet the matching funds threshold.
