Before this week, longtime Albany observers expected that the threat of the Public Campaign Finance Board holding back public funding for gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman would be just a quick, fun way for Democrats to make him jump through bureaucratic hoops to collect.

After all, here was a Republican contender trying to cash in on a program his party voted against, decrying it as wasting taxpayer money. This came after his opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul, a super-aggressive incumbent fundraiser, chose to skip applying to the program.

But on Tuesday, the board, with a Democratic majority, showed it was serious about rejecting the Nassau County executive. Members voted 4-3 to turn down Blakeman who stood to collect up to $3.5 million this year from the state treasury. The program allows $6 in public money for every $1 raised of the first $250 from an individual.

Blakeman’s filing violated the........

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