Longshot NYC mayoral candidate Michael Blake gets $2 million in matching funds on eve of primary
NEW YORK — Mayoral candidate Michael Blake has secured $2 million in public matching funds approved by the city's Campaign Finance Board — a significant but belated cash infusion for the longshot campaign.
With just five days left in the primary race, the new cash influx likely comes too late for Blake, a former Bronx assemblyman, to mount a competitive campaign or significantly raise his profile.
But Blake said the new funds mean his 'name will resonate across the city over the final five days' and mentioned get out the vote efforts and field operations targeting undecided voters. He declined to give specifics.
'We have days to close the deal,' Blake told the Daily News. 'Now we can make it clear to voters — you still have a choice. Especially to Black and brown voters, Michael Blake is a choice for you.'
The decision comes after the Democrat sued the CFB for its refusal to allow him to participate in the second and final mayoral debate last week.
The board in late May ruled that Blake would not be participating in the debate because he hadn't met the fundraising threshold to qualify for it, and a Manhattan Supreme Court justice backed up their decision.
Blake's campaign argued in their suit that he had, in fact, met that threshold, and that the CFB's system errors mistakenly made it seem that he hadn't.
The candidate garnered some attention with a lively performance at the first debate at the start of June, and climbed onto some endorsement slates after State Sen. Jessica Ramos, another mayoral candidate all but removed herself from consideration when she endorsed Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
He also cross-endorsed Zohran Mamdani earlier this week as part of a broader attempt to block Cuomo from the mayoralty.
Blake received 2% of the vote in a recent Marist poll.
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