Republican candidate Steven McLaughlin said he’s staying on the ballot and offered some sharp criticism to Assemblyman Tim Gordon, I-Bethlehem, after a state judge validated his petitions in the 108th Assembly District race.
McLaughlin, R, C-Melrose, is challenging Gordon for his seat and said the first-term assemblyman is playing dirty politics in order to keep him off the ballot. McLaughlin said he believes he is the best candidate for the job in the Democrat-controlled state Assembly because he won’t be a puppet for the Assembly speaker.
McLaughlin, a registered Conservative, said his petitions were objected to by one of Gordon’s `hometown operatives,` Veronica Wolfe of Bethlehem, who said that a quorum of county Republican chairmen was not present when he was granted a Wilson-Pakula certificate to run on the Republican ballot line.
A Wilson-Pakula certificate is required for the designation or nomination of a candidate who is not enrolled as a party member.
State Supreme Court Judge Eugene Devine ruled that McLaughlin’s Wilson-Pakula certificate was correctly authorized by the county chairmen. Devine said that the county chairmen represented over 60 percent of the weighted vote in the assembly district, which provided a proper quorum for the Wilson-Pakula certificate.
`I was caught out of the blue on this,` McLaughlin said. `There was no notice. I was contacted and said ‘What the heck is this?’`
Gordon did not return calls to Spotlight Newspapers before publication.
`They didn’t challenge a single signature, not one of the more than the 1,500 signatures I got to be on the ballot,` McLaughlin said. `It was a gutless move, and I’m not very happy about it. And although justice was served, trying to knock me off the ballot over some drummed up technicality was just a waste of everyone’s time.`
Running for his first political office, McLaughlin said the state’s Assembly is being unfairly controlled by Downstate Democrats and that he is challenging Gordon, the Independence Party chairman in Bethlehem, for stepping in line with Assembly Majority Leader Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and other Downstate Democrats.
McLaughlin, who is a businessman, said that he has heard many concerns going door-to-door in the 108th District, which includes parts of Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties.
He said residents are angry and disgusted with New York government and that the elderly in particular are fearful of the current economic environment and high rate of taxes in the state.
`I was told by someone over the age of 50 at one home, ‘Good luck, I hope you win and fight the good fight, but I’m leaving the state because I can’t afford the taxes,’` McLaughlin said. `There’s nothing good about people leaving the state.`
McLaughlin said Gordon is `fearful` of his challenge.
`Tim Gordon ought to be ashamed of himself for allowing his campaign cronies to engage in such heavy-handed Boss Tweed-style tactics to deny voters their basic constitutional rights,` he said.
`It’s clear that Gordon is running scared from his inability and unwillingness to take decisive action to cap property taxes and ease the pain at the gas pump for middle class families.`
McLaughlin had even more heavy-handed criticism to offer Gordon.
`Now that Gordon’s scheme to steal this election has been totally rejected, it’s time for him to stop lounging around on vacation and get back to work and do the job that taxpayers are paying him to do: Cap property taxes and reduce the out-of-control spending that is crippling our economy,` McLaughlin said.
`Gordon must realize he’s in trouble with voters after sitting at the Capitol silently for two years being a puppet of Speaker Silver and the special interest groups.`
McLaughlin and his wife of 17 years, Maggie, have an 11-year-old son, Sean, and a 12-year-old son, Danny, who both attend Hoosick Valley schools. He was a commercial pilot in Albany and was also a corporate pilot for KeyBank, and has maintained `a perfect safety record` with more than 12,000 hours of flight time.“