ALBANY – A state judge reversed a Democrat-controlled panel’s decision to block GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman from getting up to $4 million in matching campaign funds in the race against Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Albany County Supreme Court Judge Denise Hartman issued an order signed Tuesday that will force the New York State Public Campaign Finance Board to reverse its party-line decision from March 31 that penalized Blakeman for failing to submit paperwork that never existed in the first place.

Hartman excoriated the Democratic board, saying it clearly went against its own regulations because it didn’t give Blakeman any notice that his forms were incomplete, nor did the board give him a required one-week period to fix any supposed mistakes.

“He received no notice that the [finance board] considered the submissions deficient until after the filing deadline had lapsed,” Hartman wrote.

“Petitioners should have been given notice and one week to cure,” she added.

The move represents a major win for Blakeman, who is serving as the Nassau County executive on Long Island, access to public matching fund. Hochul didn’t take advantage of the program, opting to tap into her $32 million war chest instead.

“Attempts to rig the system and cheat my campaign out of matching funds was sharply rebuked by Justice Denise A. Hartman who laid out a well-reasoned opinion based on the facts and the law,” Blakeman wrote in a statement cheering the decision.

“Nothing will stop us in our mission to save New Yorkers from high taxes, out of control utility rates, and increasing crime.”

The judge’s decision will clear the way for Blakeman to try to unlock upwards of $4 million of funding from the matching funds program throughout the course of the campaign.

“The Democrats created this absurd campaign finance system — wasting $100M of taxpayer money — and then tried to weaponize it to deny the GOP candidate access to it,”  Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), a one-time potential challenger to Hochul, posted on X.

“The lengths NY Dems have gone to corrupt our elections by violating the constitution, the laws, and the regulations are truly unparalleled,” Lawler added.

Good government orgs like Reinvent Albany, The Brennan Center and Citizens Union also blasted the board’s denial of Blakeman’s matching funds as clearly political.

“We hope the PCFB’s decision will be a single misstep rather than the beginning of a pattern of politicizing the state’s public campaign finance program,” Reinvent Albany wrote in a statement. “The PCFB must not appeal the case.”

But Brian Keegan, the Democratic co-director of the PCFB, said in a statement that Dems were likely to appeal.

“The ruling allows this campaign to address their missed filing months after the deadline, which is why an appeal is likely,” Keegan said. “The question is whether a campaign seeking public funds gets another chance after failing to meet a mandatory filing deadline on time.”

Brian Kolb, the top Republican on the board, applauded the judge’s decision, saying the program should “be administered fairly and with common sense.”

“Voters deserve elections decided at the ballot box—not by partisan gamesmanship or procedural ambushes,” Kolb said.

Hochul’s campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika brushed off the court’s decision and sought to tie her Republican rival to President Trump.

“While Bruce Blakeman burns campaign cash on his Trump loyalty tour, promising to bring his toxic ICE partnership and untrained, armed MAGA militia to the entire state, Governor Hochul is focused on lowering costs and fighting back against Trump. That’s the choice in this race,” Hochul’s spokesperson said.

Hochul is seeking her second full four-year term in office after she ascended to the governor’s seat when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in 2021. She holds an advantage in voter registration as Democrats account for 48% of all voters registered in the state.

Only 23% of resgistered voters are Republicans, while 25% are registered independent.