By Hank Russell
The New York State Democratic Party filed a complaint with the state’s Board of Elections over an event with Nassau County Executive and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and President Donald Trump. They claim the event was actually a political rally paid for by the county taxpayers, thereby a violation of campaign finance law.
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, Trump visited Long Island on August 14. During his visit, he endorsed Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman for governor. The president went on to tout Blakeman’s record on crime while blasting Governor Kathy Hochul for forcing local municipalities and police departments to end their agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It was also reported by LILP that state Democrats accused Blakeman of putting Nassau taxpayers on the hook for the rally. They noted that even Trump himself referred to his visit to the police training academy in Uniondale as a “rally.” In fact, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Just left a Rally in Nassau County in honor of Bruce Blakeman, who is running for Governor of New York. The crowd went WILD. Something very interesting is happening in New York State! He is a great person, a great politician and, if elected, will be the best Governor in the History of New York! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
On August 28, NYS Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs sent a complaint to the Division of Election Law Enforcement and the Public Campaign Finance Board, claiming that Blakeman broke campaign finance laws when he had the event at a county-owned facility, the Nassau County David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, “which had to be shut down to the public in order to host the ensuing political theatre,” Jacobs wrote, add ing that the “the Republican politcial love fest” took place “on Nassau County government property.”
Jacobs also referenced the rally that Trump attended at Nassau Coliseum in September 2024, which he said resulted in Nassau taxpayers being on the hook for a $1 million police overtime bill, which “illustrat[es] the substantial fair market value and the extreme contrast to the $9,000 contribution limit for statewide offices.” He also pointed out the presence of uniformed police officers at the August event who “serv[ed] as a visual backdrop to applaud on cue for Blakeman and the Republican slate.”
“Candidate Bruce Blakeman, while accepting public finance dollars to mount a campaign, has exploited the governmental office of Nassau County Executive to deploy county funds, facilities, and personnel, all in furtherance of his own statewide candidacy,” Jacobs added. “Such behavior squarely fits the prohibited partisan-use category, not the permissible neutral-government-function category.”
LILP reached out to the Blakeman campaign for comment, but did not hear back as of press time.