A court has ruled in favor of Rep. Paul Tonko and brought to a close an attempt by his opponent, Bob Dieterich, to strike his name from the Independence Party line.
Schenectady County Supreme Court Justice Barry Kramer denied Dieterich’s lawsuit seeking to invalidate signatures on Tonko’s Independence Party petition. Dieterich’s campaign sought to invalidate 52 out of 167 pages of Independence designating petitions, which it claimed would leave Tonko below the required amount of signatures.
The Court actually added six signatures back on to Tonko’s petition previously struck by the state Board of Elections before reaching a decision. Tonko’s campaign collected 1,176 signatures, above the required 871, and the state board had tossed out 48.
Dieterich made a bid for the Independence Party line but failed to secure the party’s nomination. He also didn’t obtain enough signatures to force a primary.
Michael J. Kenneally, a spokesman for Dieterich, said the campaign had considered appealing the decision, but decided against it “due to the time sensitive nature of the case.”
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the decision,” Kenneally said in an email. “Had we known that election laws are merely suggestions, we easily could have secured enough signatures to force a primary election.”
Tonko’s campaign was pleased with the court’s decision and in a statement said Dietrich should shift his focus towards “issues important to families,” such as Medicare, Social Security, job creation and “middle class values.”
“Our opponent’s campaign has been obsessed over these wild allegations for the past two months,” Tonko said. “The court’s recent ruling soundly dismissed these charges.”
Dieterich had sought to invalidate commissioners of deeds (the people collecting signatures on Tonko’s behalf), but judge Kramer decided early in proceedings the commissioners were valid, according to court transcripts.
Also, Kramer said allegations of fraud from Dietrich’s campaign were unfounded.
“I see no factual basis to support fraud in any event here,” Kramer said in his ruling.
Kramer said on Thursday, May 31, before reaching his decision, there was “substantial compliance” with the law. Despite a few signatures gathered that were “somewhat questionable,” there wasn’t enough to invalidate Tonko’s petition and fall below the required signature threshold, he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, you have failed to meet your burden of proof here, and the petition that you brought to invalidate the signatures is hereby denied,” Kramer said.
Dieterich is still hopeful Independence Party votes will support him at the polls.
“Bob Dieterich’s message of sound fiscal policy and balanced budgets will resonate with Independence Party voters and ultimately it’s their determination at the ballot box that will matter in November,” Kenneally said in an email.
Clinton Britt, spokesman for Tonko, said the lawsuit was an “unfortunate distraction” from the issues. He previously said it appears “resoundingly clear” that Independence Party voters support Tonko.
The newly redrawn 20th Congressional District includes Albany and Schenectady counties and portions of Montgomery, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties.
In Schenectady and Albany County, there were more than 15,500 enrolled Independence Party voters as of April 1, according to data from the state Board of Elections. Out of that total, there were 13,511 active voters, or around 87 percent. There are a total of 293,198 registered voters within those two counties, where enrolled Independence Party voters account for 5 percent of the voter pool.
