On Monday, May 12th, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign was hit with a preliminary fine of $622,056 by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) for allegedly violating campaign finance laws. The fine was imposed after an investigation raised concerns that Cuomo’s campaign may have coordinated with an Independent Expenditure (IE) supporting his candidacy, Fix the City, violating city rules.
The controversy centers around a webpage posted by Cuomo’s campaign, which contained detailed instructions and strategic data that seemed to align with advertisements aired by the IE. The CFB found “reason to believe” that the ad aired shortly after the campaign’s website update was not independent of Cuomo’s campaign. However, the CFB has made a preliminary ruling, and Cuomo’s campaign has indicated plans to appeal the fine.
This practice, known as “red-boxing,” involves candidates posting campaign information in a way that can be accessed by an IE, potentially leading to coordinated activities, a tactic that is prohibited under New York City’s strict campaign finance rules.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, defended the campaign’s actions, insisting they had fully complied with campaign finance laws. He explained that the legal team had reviewed and approved all materials on the campaign website. Azzopardi also pointed out that other candidates had posted similar content without facing fines or having money withheld from their campaigns.
Despite the preliminary fine, Cuomo’s campaign qualified for $1.5 million in public matching funds, although the board withheld the $622,056 linked to the IE ad in question. Cuomo’s campaign maintains that the information posted online was not intended to coordinate with the IE and that the legal team ensured full compliance with the rules.
