SLAM-CLUNK: The blame game has begun. Two weeks before Election Day Gov. Kathy Hochul made a point of distancing herself from a ballot measure that should’ve been a slam dunk for Democrats but, as POLITICO exposed this week, is being grossly mishandled. “I will say that we are stepping in now to provide assistance because it is apparently necessary,” Hochul said today, when asked if she thought the ERA campaign has been mismanaged. The multi-million dollar effort for the Equal Rights Amendment — a referendum on reproductive rights in the Democratic stronghold for New York — has turned into a cash cow for polling and consultancy firms. Meanwhile, organizers of the measure have used less than 16 percent of the $2 million they had spent at the start of this month on direct voter outreach, our colleague Bill Mahoney reported yesterday. And Republicans have mobilized their voters against the measure. Now Hochul — who announced last year she’d be backing a $20 million effort for the initiative with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — is setting herself up not to be the fall person if the measure underperforms. POLITICO’s report Thursday noted the pro-ballot proposal campaign, New Yorkers for Equal Rights, is finally launching a high-dollar advertising blitz after spending a record-shattering sum on consultants and overhead during the past year. Previous campaigns behind constitutional amendments on issues like casinos and redistricting have used upwards of 90 percent of funds on TV ads, lawn signs and other forms of direct voter outreach. New Yorkers for Equal Rights, by comparison, has so far spent over 80 percent of its funds on other causes. “I will not pass judgment at this time on earlier efforts, but certainly, when you build up a campaign, you raise all the resources you need, and you get it on the airwaves and in digital media campaigns and mail as soon as possible, and that's a wise way to spend the money that you raise,” she said. Instead, the pro-Prop 1 group is ramping up spending on voter outreach in the final days of the campaign, with early voting set to begin Saturday. Hochul, who supports the ballot proposal but does not have a direct role in the campaign, says the state party is making a seven-figure investment in paid communications on Prop 1, including 1.5 million pieces of mail and digital advertising and millions of targeted text messages as voting begins, Playbook is first to report. Make the Road Action, Planned Parenthood, New York Civil Liberties Union and other like-minded organizations are behind the New Yorkers for Equal Rights effort. “With 11 days to go, the Prop 1 campaign is focused on a strong finish to our 15-month long campaign,” Andrew Taverrite, a spokesperson for the campaign, said in a statement responding to the governor’s remarks. “Every day we have been connecting with New York voters and urging them to vote yes on Proposal 1 to protect abortion rights and end government discrimination,” he added. “We were in this fight early because we knew what it would take to win. We are on TV, streaming, and digital, in mail boxes, on the phones, and at the doors. Everyone who wants to protect New Yorker's rights should be with us, ready to roll up their sleeves and get the job done.” Meanwhile, Republicans have successfully launched an effort to vote no on the measure, saying the vaguely-worded amendment — which protects against discrimination along the lines of “gender identity [and] gender expression” but does not include the word “abortion” — would ensure trans athletes can participate in sports leagues that align with their gender identity. “This looks more like a Ponzi scheme than a real campaign,” said New York Democratic consultant Jon Paul Lupo, who is unaffiliated with the campaign. “This is a once-in-a-generation civil rights measure during an election where control of the House runs through New York. The campaign’s donors and stakeholders should be outraged.” The ballot proposal is showing other signs of cracking in the final days before voters head to the polls. The Editorial Board for Newsday, the Long Island newspaper that slammed the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, encouraged its readers to vote against prop 1. “Proposition One is an end run around the will of the people to have these choices made by their elected representatives,” the board said in the editorial. “Newsday's editorial board recommends a NO vote on Proposition One.” — Jason Beeferman | 
