Staten Island Assemblywoman and GOP mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis has received $1.5 million in public matching funds, according to the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
The CFB announced in a meeting on Thursday that Malliotakis received a public funds payment of $1,518,092. Last week, Malliotakis qualified for the first general election debate, which will be hosted by NY1 on Oct. 10, as well as matching funds because she raised and spent more than $500,000.
Malliotakis received $241,530 in contributions from Aug. 29 to Sept. 18, with her total contributions coming out to $734,412, according to her latest filings with the CFB. And she currently has $162,950 on hand. If she raises and spends $1 million, she will be able to participate in the second general election debate on Nov. 1.
“This significant boost to our campaign is a game changer,” she said in a statement. “It will level the playing field and allow us to communicate with voters about my plans to fix our broken subways, address the homeless and mentally ill on our streets, end pay to play in City Hall and improve the Department of Education to educate our children and keep them safe — the things Bill de Blasio refuses to do.”
Malliotakis, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island — where the majority of voters backed President Trump in the general election — has recently encountered some challenges over her connection to the president. Malliotakis, who served as chairwoman of Sen. Marco Rubio’s New York campaign, voted for Rubio in the April presidential primary but voted for Trump in the November 2016 general election.
She recently told the Daily News that she wishes that Rubio was the nominee but given that he was not, she decided to vote for the candidate “who I thought would shake things up.” She said that she regretted voting for Trump, wishing that she had written in Rubio “so that I could tell you I voted Marco Rubio.”
Malliotakis has opposed Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for undocumented youths brought to the United States in their early childhood and the executive orders barring entry to people from Muslim-majority countries.
But she recently said that she agrees with Trump’s call for NFL players to be fired for kneeling during the national anthem, though she disagreed with his characterization of the players as “son of a bitch.” And she said that she would accept Trump’s vote despite her “mixed feelings.”
De Blasio, for his part, received $86,478 in public matching funds. In August, he submitted a “statement of need” with the CFB asking for an additional $2 million in public matching funds for the Sept. 12 primary on the grounds that his opponents — former Brooklyn City Councilman Sal Albanese and activist Bob Gangi — fulfilled the board’s criteria for “minimal opposition.” The CFB granted his request.
He has received $5,256,676 in contributions and his estimated balance is at $2,345,056, according to his latest CFB filings.
New York City’s matching funds program gives candidates funds at a rate of $6-to-$1 on the first $175 contributed by city residents, for a maximum of $1,050 in public funds per contributor.
Earlier this month, de Blasio received more than 70 percent of the vote in a Democratic primary that many expected him to win, bringing him a step closer to getting reelected. Albanese came in second with about 15 percent of the vote.
Former police detective Bo Dietl, who is running as an independent, has received $909,185 in contributions and his estimated balance is $208,898, according to his latest CFB filings. Dietl and millennial tech entrepreneur Michael Tolkin also qualified for the general election debate.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Assemblywoman Malliotakis.
