Syracuse GOP candidate charged with campaign finance fraud, must repay taxpayers $238K

A former candidate for New York state Senate in Syracuse must pay back $238,000 in public campaign matching funds after cheating taxpayers in a massive election fraud scheme, a state investigation has concluded.

Caleb Slater, a Republican who lost his bid for the 48th Senate District seat in 2024, is accused of giving donors gift cards in exchange for contributions and falsely attributing some contributions to fake donors.

Those donations fraudulently inflated the share of public matching funds Slater received for his campaign by more than $61,000, according to a notice of enforcement from the New York Public Campaign Finance Board.

The notice, obtained by syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, said the board is seeking a total of $286,052 in penalties and repayments from Slater for violations of election law and the state’s public campaign matching funds program.




https://www.syracuse.com/politics/cny/2026/02/syracuse-gop-candidate-charged-with-campaign-finance-fraud-must-repay-taxpayers-238k.html