A candidate for the state Assembly in The Bronx has refiled five years worth of tax returns — and is coughing up $18,000 in back taxes — in an attempt to prove he has been a resident of New York since 2009.
Michael Blake, a former campaign aide to President Obama, struggled to prove that he lives in the borough after the Bronx Democratic Party challenged his candidacy Tuesday in Bronx Supreme Court.
Blake is running for the seat once held by convicted Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, who was found guilty of taking $22,000 worth of bribes.
The Democratic Party is backing rival Marsha Michael.
Blake claimed he has been living at his mom’s Bronx address since 2009 and had the tax returns to prove it.
But the forms were all filed and dated June 26, 2014.
Blake said he will be sending $18,000 to the state to cover his back taxes as a resident, even though he voted in Washington, DC, as late as 2012.
The court hearing is expected to continue into next week.