Joel Miller and Gary Levine scrambled in an effort to get Jonathan Smith off the ballot.
Surrogates of each campaign issued challenges to Jonathan Smith's petitions yesterday. Only 500 signatures were required and in a stunning show of strength, nearly 70 volunteers carried petitions and collected over 1300 signatures in support of the endorsed Democratic and Working Families Party candidate in the 102nd Assembly District. Miller is notorious for challenging the will of the voters and trying to silence critics or challengers.
Jonathan Smith stated, "Mr. Miller must be seriously worried that our campaign is going to ask why he has done nothing to ease the crushing burden of the broken property tax system in New York?"
"Why has he voted "no" on ensuring pay equity for women?"
"Why hasn't he put forward any plan to revitalize our local economy?"
"Why does he oppose providing healthcare to all New Yorkers?"
Smith continued, "We want to have a serious discussion about how to make our community better, while Joel Miller wants to hide from his record."
Campaign Manager Jonathan Wright added, "This is another example of Joel Miller's and Gary Levine's contempt for the democratic process. We have knocked on over 2500 doors and made more than 1000 phone calls to spread our positive message of providing universal healthcare, fixing the broken property tax system and creating jobs through the new energy economy. It is not surprising that Levine, who until last year was a lifelong Republican, would also stoop to these litigious tactics - neither Miller nor Levine are focused on the issues that are affecting our communities."
There are a few reasons why I despise the petition process. This is one of them. Just the challenge itself makes it seem like Smith has done something wrong. We shouldn't be treating candidates like criminals and investigate their signatures. Let the Board of Elections take care of that. The candidates shouldn't be allowed to make challenges based on partisan differences.
