Gail Burns Clears Her Name on WVOX’s Westchester Rising with Dan Murphy

Westchester Conservative Party Chairwoman Gail Burns appeared last week on the Westchester Rising radio show on 146 0 WVOX hosted by yours truly.

Burns came on to clear her name and deny the allegations made against her by several conservative party leaders that proxies were fraudulently obtained and forged. Click the link to listen to the program.

My show is on WVOX every Wednesday between 1-2 pm

Castro Campaign on Life Support-$4k on Hand-Zherka Money Dries Up?

Tony Castro-less than $4k on hand for Democratic Primary

 

The latest financial disclosure reports for the two Democrats running for DA have Janet DiFiore with $405k on hand and Tony Castro less than $4k on hand.

This is worse than the prior report which had Castro with $9k on hand. Castro raised little funds in recent weeks, and puts his campaign is serious trouble with the Democratic primary weeks away.

This also begs the question if Castro supporter Sam Zherka will fund the campaign in the closing weeks.

DiFiore’s Financials-Friends and Legal Community Support Re-election Bid

DA Janet DiFiore

 

Here’s a story running next week in our 9 weekly papers on the DA’s race between Janet DiFiore, Tony Castro and Dan Schorr. While we highlighted Castro’s contributions ,we do the same now with DiFiore-

 DA DiFiore’s Contributors Made up of

Friends and Legal Community

 

By Dan Murphy

            In our continued focus and review of the race for District Attorney in Westchester, we focus on the financial disclosure reports on incumbent DA Janet DiFiore, who is running in a Democratic primary against Tony Castro on September 15

            As of her latest filing, DiFiore has $405,00 on hand in her re-election bid, compared to $3,861 for Castro.  DiFiore’s contributors make up  a long list of Westchester friends, supporters and professional colleagues, including attorneys and law firms both from Westchester and from New York City, where DiFiore’s husband Dennis Glazer practices.  This outpouring of support is no surprise considering that DiFiore has been a judge and now DA for 4 years, and that she has resided in Bronxville with her family for many years.

            More than 100 contributions of $1,000 were made by Westchester residents to the DiFiore campaign. Some of the larger contributions include:

Liz put the highest numbers first

 

1-Deborah Larkin-$5,000

2-Rory Millson-$5,000

3-Dennis Hersch-$26,000

4-Ettore Biagioni-$10,000

5-Joseph Simone-$5,000

6-Peter Hochfelder-$25,000

7-Steve Stracher-$5,000

8-Andrea Tucker-$5,000

 

25 law firms also made $1,000 contributions, including a $15,000 contribution from the law firm of Bernstein & Liebhard in NYC.

  ”I am pleased and proud to have broad-based support from so many people throughout Westchester and New York state who appreciate the quality and the integrity of the work I am doing,” said DiFiore.  “The list of contributors includes many lawyers and former judges, prosecutors, and police officers who understand the importance of my work.”

Conservatives Fail in Court to Keep Andy Spano off Line

Andy Spano-Conservative?

Rank and file Conservatives lost in court this week when Judge Colabella ruled in favor of the ballot that gave County Executive Andy Spano the conservative party line this November.

While there appeared to be a preponderance of fraud and allegations of fogery with the proxies that County Conservative Chair Gail Burns used to give the line to Andy, Judge denied the motion to set aside the nomination of Andy at the first Conservative convention.

A lot of legalese in this decision which I won’t get into—with the basis for Colabella’s decision based on the fact that a quorum was approved by the body at the convention, thus validating much of what happened later.

Burns issued this statement after the decision.

For the third time in under two months, it has been confirmed that Andrew Spano will appear on the Conservative ballot line as the party’s official candidates for County Executive.

Today, Judge Colabella ruled that the Conservative Party’s nominating convention was conducted legally and in accordance with the New York State Election Law and the party’s nominating rules.  The Judge also confirmed that the proxies during the nomination process were legally obtained and executed.

“As I have maintained from the start, the convention was held in accordance with the law and our voted proxies are valid,” said Gail Burns, Chairwoman of the Westchester Conservative Committee.  “Today, a judge reaffirmed what I have known to be true throughout this entire process.”

“There will always be a handful of party members who may not agree with every candidate on the Conservative Party slate,” continued Burns.  “But to initiate a court action in an effort to overturn a legal nominating convention is absurd.”

“While unfortunate that our party’s nomination process was dragged through the courts, I am pleased that these ridiculous accusations have been put to rest once and for all,” said Burns.

“The Westchester County Conservative Committee has been vindicated.  After all of this nonsense, we are now even more committed to guaranteeing victory for our slate,” continued Burns.  “In response to this decision I call on every town and city leader to unite behind the endorsed candidates.” concluded Burns

While conservatives can appeal Colabella’s decision, chances of victory are slim. This is bad news for the Rob Astorino campaign, who desperately needed to get the line for Astorino, who already has the Republican and Independence Party lines.

Andy Spano now has the Democratic, Working Families and Conservative Party lines. The battle for the Conservative line was fierce, and was handed to Andy as part of a political deal for Mike Spano to run for Mayor in 2 years.

But the fact that Andy fought so hard for the Conservative line shows how close this race is expected to be.

A travesty of the worst kind

Lesnick Knocked Off Independence Line

Jim Castro-Blanco

 

 

The political battle over the Yonkers City Council President’s race entered the Westchester County Courthouse last week and this week, with incumbent Democrat Chuck Lesnick and Republican challenger Jim Castro-Blanco wrestling over the Independence and Conservative party lines. Both of these lines are crucial, but only in a very close race.

First the Independence party line. Lesnick received the nomination from the leaders of the Independence Party, county leader Dr. Giulio Cavallo and Yonkers Independence party leader Dhyalma Vazquez in June. Then in July, some type of rift developed between Lesnick and Cavallo and Vazquez, which allowed Castro-Blanco to get into the mix, and with the help of Vazquez, collect enough signatures to get onto the Independence Party ballot.

Lesnick was not given any help in collecting his Indepenence signatures, which resulted in Lesnick and many of his supporters and staffers to go out and get signatures of Independence party members. Lesnick submitted over 340 signatures, twice the amount needed to get onto the Independence party ballot.

But many of these signatures were invalid, either because they were not registered Independence party members or because they had already signed for Castro-Blanco. The Board of Elections invalidated 146 of Lesnick’s signatures, and Castro-Blanco went to court last week to try and invalidate anther 50 or so and knock Lesnick off the ballot.

In court last week before County Court Judge Mary Smith, Lesnick consented and agreed not to run on the Independence party line this November. After the court case, the Lesnick campaign said that the distractions of fighting a legal battle for the Independence Party line were too great, and that Lesnick can, and will win, in November on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines.

“What this comes down to is that the Independence Party has set up a primary for reasons known only to them. This will end up costing the taxpayers money to administer,” commented campaign manager Kim DiTomasso. “In the interests of doing the right thing, we have decided not to participate in this charade and feel it best that Chuck remain focused on the general election,” she added.

Council President Lesnick said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to canvass some of the Independence voters and I expect that many of them will vote for me this November, but I am especially happy to have the support of the two political parties that matter most to me: the Democratic and Working Families Parties.”

Lesnick added, “I know that with those parties standing along side me and with my positive record, the people of Yonkers will return me to City Hall to complete the important work we have already begun.”

The Castro-Blanco campaign, had a different take on the court case and the campaign ahead, with their statement reading, ‘Lesnick submitted approximately 120 signatures that he personally notarized. In contravention of New York State election law, Lesnick himself notarized the signatures of over 70 individuals who were not Independence Party members and also failed to properly swear in the others.

After the first day of Mr. Lesnick’s testimony, it became clear that he did not properly swear in the individuals as required by New York State law. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, Lesnick agreed to have his name stricken from the ballot.’

“Chuck Lesnick is an officer of the court and the city’s chief legislator, but he failed to follow the law, plain and simple. The people of Yonkers deserve better leadership,” Castro-Blanco said. Getting the Independence line is a major win for our campaign,” added Castro-Blanco.

“There are many non-affiliated voters who tend to vote on the Independent line. More than ever, we’re very confident about our victory in the coming November’s election.” Both sides are now disputing Castro-Blanco’s name on the Conservative party line and are before Judge Colabella as of press time.

Yonkers Tidbits Post is Gone–

Lets clarify the Yonkers tidbits post, which I have now deleted.

I did not hear that it was Vinny Spano and Virginia Perez involved in a relationship ,those were not the two names that I was referring to.

Vinny-I would call you if I thought it was you, someone else commented below and speculated that it was you-I have no idea who you or Virginia Perez are, or are not dating.

just posting what I’m hearing folks, I think you are all wound a bit too tight—but I deleted the post

Doug Colety Stands Up to Nick Spano

doug colety

We’ve blasted Westchester GOP Chairman Doug Colety over the past few months for his inability to secure the Independence and Conservative party lines for several Republicans in Westchester.

Well Doug has finally fought back, by removing 3 loyalists of Nick Spano from employment at the Board of Elections. Yes Doug did take a top slot at the BOE for himself, but so be it.

The primary reason for the GOP battle is the Conservative’s endorsement of Andy Spano for county executive. The fingerprints of Nick Spano were all over this move, by Nick loyalist Gail Burns, Cons Party chair.

Another issue is how Nick Spano is using his Republican connections in a wrong way to boost his brother Mike, a Democrat, and his future run for Yonkers Mayor.

there are very few Republican jobs left in Westchester, and Doug–good job in making sure that Republican interests are secured.

it took balls Doug, and we all know there will be a retribution down the line-well done.

the one person caught in this mess was Steve Levy, Nick Spano loyalist who got fired from the BOE as a result. Levy has always been a top and capable political staffer, and we expect him to land on his feet somewhere.

New Poll Puts Astorino Within Margin of Victory Against Andy Spano

Rob Astorino running to close for Andy Spano's comfort

 

There’s a poll out there that shows Rob Astorino running neck and neck with Andy Spano in their County Executive’s race this November. The Astorino camp is being extra quiet about this poll, but we’ve heard from numerous sources that its real good for Rob and real bad for Andy, with high negatives about taxes and the cost of living in Westchester, the most expensive place to live in the country.

This is why there is such a battle over the Conservative party line between Spano and Astorino, because Andy or Rob, needs this line in a very close race in the fall.

Anthony Mangone Joins Burns/Spano effort to Keep the Conservative Line for Andy

Disgraced attorney and politcal fraud Anthony Mangone has joined the legal team trying to preserve the Conservative Party line for Andy Spano.

The Astorino team jumped on the news, and pointed to Mangone’s shady past.

The attorney defending signatures suspected of being forged to help Andy Spano hijack the Conservative Party line in this year’s tight race for Westchester county executive admitted to trying to rig a Westchester election seven years ago, according to news reports, and Mr. Spano has an ethical obligation to publicly dissociate from him, the campaign of reform county executive candidate Rob Astorino (R-I) today said.

 The attorney, Anthony Mangone, 35, is the subject of a column in today’s Journal News (Meet Spano’s Latest Bedfellow–Aug. 4)  According to the column and other news reports, Mr. Mangone illegally opened absentee ballots in a 2002 Westchester State Senate election and wrote in the name of his preferred candidate. Mr. Mangone reportedly accepted a plea-bargain deal in that case.  
Mr. Mangone is now defending suspicious Spano signatures that Westchester Conservative Party leaders and members contend are forgeries. The signatures helped Mr. Spano win, under highly dubious circumstances, the Conservative Party nomination, even though 93% of Conservative Party leaders supported Mr. Astorino in the race at a June nominating convention.

 ”It defies belief that the person defending the alleged Spano-signature forgeries is an admitted election tamperer,” said Astorino spokesman Bill O’Reilly. “Mr. Spano must  publicly dissociate from this attorney. If he needs names of some honest attorneys, we can send them over to him. “

 Yes Bill, it does defy belief, but what is also does is expose the close relationship between the other Spanos-Nick and Mike and their effort to give Andy the Conservative line. Mangone has served in numerous capacities for Nick Spano over the years, and Mangone got into his legal election troubles doing Nick’s dirty work collecting or forging signatures for a judicial candidate back in 2002.

The deal cut between all of the Spano’s has Andy getting the Conservative line this year, and Mike Spano getting Andy’s support in 2 years for a Demcoratic run for Yonkers Mayor.

This deal is getting notice outside of Westchester, with State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long saying that he may contact Attorney General Andrew Cuomo about the Andy Spano Cons endorsement.

But will Andrew Cuomo come in and hurt his fellow Dem Andy?

More Petition Problems in Yonkers?

The candidates for office in Yonkers–Council President, City Council in the 2nd, 4th and 6th, and county legislator in the 17th, are reviewing and examining their opponents petitions to see if they can knock them off the ballot.

We hear alot of rumblings about candidates with ‘issues’ with their petitions. We’ve previously posted about Council President Chuck Lesnick and his Independence party petition problems.

Lesnick has responded with a lawsuit of his own, against Republican Jim Castro-Blanco and his Conservative nomination. More on this suit as it becomes available.

Here are some of the other petition questions we are hearing about

1-Wilson Tererro-candidate for city council in the 2nd district.

2-Sandy Annabi-candidate for county legislator.

the Board of Elections must rule on the vaildaty of the petitions and then lawsuits must be filed against either/both Alvarado and Annabi to try and knock them off the ballot.