Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-endorsed Republican seeking the New York governor’s office, has directed more than $4.2 million in campaign funds to Harris Media, the advertising firm that handled a 2017 campaign for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The campaign of Blakeman, who is Jewish, also paid a fundraising company established by a convicted fraudster, an investigation by Our News Outlet has found.
New York State Board of Elections records show that Blakeman’s campaign spent more than $4.2 million on digital advertising through Harris Media.
Harris Media ran the AfD’s advertising operation during Germany’s 2017 federal election campaign. The ads depicted then-Chancellor Angela Merkel as a terrorist, according to DER SPIEGEL.
A Harris Media employee also reportedly proposed the slogan “Germany for Germans” to the party, though an AfD staffer rejected it as excessively nationalistic.
The firm’s work for the AfD came as the party’s Thuringia leader, Björn Höcke, delivered a speech attacking Germany’s approach to remembering the Holocaust.
Höcke described Berlin’s Holocaust memorial as a “memorial of shame” and called for a “180-degree turn in the politics of memory.” Alice Weidel, who is now the AfD’s co-leader, said the speech used language reminiscent of Adolf Hitler.
Harris Media has also provided services to Britain’s UKIP and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. Its US clients have included Senator Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and the pro-Trump Right for America PAC.
Republican Bruce Blakeman paid Harris Media more than $4.2 million for fundraising and digital advertising. The firm previously proposed a slogan for Germany’s far-right AfD that some party members considered too nationalistic
The Trump-backed candidate also paid more than $11,600, divided across 800 installments, to the fundraising company founded by convicted fraudster Jack Daly, who admitted to mail fraud and lying to the Federal Election Commission after targeting elderly voters and veterans
Daly received a four-month prison sentence and two years of supervised release in 2023
Blakeman’s campaign also paid Better Mousetrap Digital more than $11,600 for fundraising services, with the money distributed across nearly 800 transactions between April and October 2026.
The company was founded in 2023 by Jack Daly. That same year, Daly was sentenced to four months in prison and two years of supervised release for creating a fraudulent political action committee, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Daly’s PAC collected more than $1.6 million by telling contributors their donations would convince a Wisconsin sheriff to seek a US Senate seat.
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Prosecutors said Daly falsely implied that the sheriff, Clarke, was seriously considering a Senate campaign and misrepresented his own involvement with the PAC.
“Daly targeted vulnerable victims, including a woman with Alzheimer’s and elderly veterans,” the Eastern District of Wisconsin US Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Daly pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to make false statements to the Federal Election Commission.
In the same year Harris Media worked on the AfD’s advertising campaign, party leader Björn Höcke delivered a speech that Alice Weidel said echoed “the vocabulary of Adolf Hitler.” Blakeman, who is Jewish, nevertheless hired the agency for his own campaign advertising
Kathy Hochul is seeking re-election as New York governor on November 3. The Cook Political Report currently characterizes the race as leaning Democratic
Daly later sought to overturn his conviction, arguing that his former attorney had provided “substantively incorrect advice.” Judge JP Stadtmueller rejected the request. Daly’s supervised release ended in June.
Better Mousetrap describes itself as “the premier digital fundraising consulting firm for Republicans,” with experience ranging from statehouse races to presidential campaigns.
The company’s listed clients include Donald Trump for President, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Committee.
A spokesperson at Blakeman’s campaign headquarters told Our News Outlet by phone that the campaign had “nothing to say.” Our News Outlet also sent questions by email.
Blakeman was 14 points behind Hochul in the latest Quinnipiac poll ahead of the November 3 election. The Cook Political Report continues to rate the New York governor’s race as leaning Democratic.
Addison Dick, a spokesperson for the New York State Democratic Party, told Our News Outlet: “Bruce Blakeman paying millions to these people to shape his campaign message fits perfectly with his ongoing embrace of far-right extremists.
“Blakeman has fully earned his ‘100% MAGA’ label, and New Yorkers are about to reject him because of it.”
Our News Outlet requested comments from Harris Media, Better Mousetrap and Daly’s attorney.
