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SD-59: Tea Party Coalition of WNY declares war on Republican nominee.

by: Adama D. Brown

Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 04:00:39 AM EDT

Ladies and gentlemen... if you've never seen the political equivalent of a mushroom cloud, this would be it.

You may recall that here in the 59th District, there is currently a four way race going on: Democrat Cindy Appleton versus Republican nominee and former Sheriff Patrick Gallivan, former Erie County Republican boss Jim Domagalski on the Conservative and Independence lines, and former mayor of East Aurora Dave DiPietro as the Tea Party candidate. DiPietro just got reinstated to the ballot after suing the Board of Elections, which tossed his independent ballot line right after he lost the Republican primary to Gallivan in a tight three way split.

Tonight, the following statement was released from the local Tea Party groups via Political Class Dismissed, the website of far-right activist and Tea Party leader Jim Ostrowski:

Joint Statement of the Tea Parties in the 59th District
We, the undersigned tea party groups, do hereby reaffirm our support for David DiPietro, the Tea Party candidate for New York State Senator in the 59th District. We urge all members of the New York State tea party movement, including Carl Paladino, to join us in endorsing David.
The Republican Party nominee, Patrick Gallivan, is a classic RINO Republican and Albany insider. We will not and cannot support him. We consider this a two-way and very winnable race between David DiPietro and the far-left Democrat, Cynthia Appleton whose views would be more welcome on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
This is an historic opportunity for the tea party movement to make a bold statement that we will not stand for business as usual, either in the Republican Party or in Albany.
Please join us!
Wyoming County Tea Party Patriots
Ontario County Tea Party Patriots
Livingston County Tea Party
Tea Party Coalition (WNY)

From the perspective of someone who's been in this fight for over two years now, I can't overstate the significance of this. The 59th is a conservative district, but it's one that teeters on the edge of competitiveness.

Last cycle Erie County Legislator Kathy Konst came within a few thousand votes of knocking off Dale Volker while he was still a 35 year incumbent at the height of his power. Now the massive hubris of the Republican machine combined with a war between right-wing factions is the perfect thing to make it a pickup.

But now would be the worst possible time to get overconfident, which is why it's time for us all to work together and hit this race hard. Let's show people who really is ready to get to work on cutting the budget, creating jobs, and cleaning up Albany, versus who is interested in infighting over control of the Republican Party.

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Adama D. Brown :: SD-59: Tea Party Coalition of WNY declares war on Republican nominee.

Tags: Dave DiPietro, Cynthia Appleton, SD-59, Patrick Gallivan, Jim Domagalski, (All Tags)

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SD-59: Tea Party Coalition of WNY declares war on Republican nominee. | 5 comments

Sign me up with that far-left Democrat, thanks! n/t (4.00 / 3)

by: janed @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 18:17:34 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Interesting Race (0.00 / 0)

If done right, this could be a textbook example on how to take advantage of GOP/Tea Party schism.

It's becoming the "Gee, Oh, Tea!" party, isn't it?

by: Soundpolitic @ Fri Oct 01, 2010 at 06:39:49 AM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Domagalski just dropped out of the race (0.00 / 0)

Buffalo News

Domagalski withdraws from race for Senate

Updated: October 1, 2010, 11:00 PM

Former Erie County Republican Chairman James Domagalski has withdrawn his name as a candidate for the 59th State Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Dale Volker.

Domagalski lost the Republican primary to former Erie County Sheriff Patrick Gallivan but had initially stated that he intended to remain in the race on the Conservative and Independence party lines.

"In a three-way race, I think I would have won," he said.

But the seat turned into a four-way race when fellow Republican challenger and former East Aurora Mayor David DiPietro was reinstated to the general election ballot on the minor Tea Party line by the State Supreme Court days after the primary election.

The state Board of Elections had previously invalidated DiPietro's petition signatures for that line.

Domagalski, a business lawyer, said he would not risk three Republican candidates splitting the conservative vote in the district and allowing lone Democratic candidate Cynthia Appleton to win the seat with party control of the State Senate hanging in the balance.

"My decision was not to be a spoiler," he told The News on Friday after releasing his statement at 5 p.m. "This is not about ego."

Domagalski said he was surprised and disappointed by the ruling of State Supreme Court Justice Timothy J. Drury late last week. Like Gallivan earlier this week, Domagalski said that after reviewing the likelihood of a successful appeal, he decided not to challenge the decision.

Instead, he bowed out of the race.

"I didn't do this for Gallivan. I didn't do this for the party. I did this for the people of the district," he said, referring to the largely Republican district encompassing parts of Erie, Wyoming, Livingston and Ontario counties.

In his statement, Domagalski said, "In a four-way general election race involving three Republicans and a Democrat, the inescapable reality is that liberal Democrat Cynthia Appleton would likely emerge as the general election victor, denying taxpayers, families and businesses in this district conservative representation and potentially leaving Sheldon Silver and the State Democratic party in charge of both houses of the Legislature.

"The specter of such a result would undermine the very message and principals that I have fought so hard for."

Domagalski had been a serious challenger in the Republican primary, raising more money than any other candidate. But even though he won Erie County, he failed to pick up the necessary votes in the outlying counties.

In order to get off the ballot at this late date, Domagalski confirmed that he accepted a state judicial nomination elsewhere in New York State, but he would not say where. He added that he's not actively seeking a judicial position and will return to private-sector life as a managing director with the Hiscock and Barclay law firm.

He also said he's not endorsing any other candidate in the 59th District race and hasn't yet decided if he'll vote for Gallivan or DiPietro in the general election.

by: GOP_RIP @ Sat Oct 02, 2010 at 03:33:14 AM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Is it not too late? (0.00 / 0)

I seem to recall Rick Lazio dropping out several days ago, just at the deadline. Was the deadline extended for Domagalski, or is he under a different deadline?

by: Dan Jacoby @ Sat Oct 02, 2010 at 20:49:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The timing is ok as (0.00 / 0)

the Supreme Court nominee has three days to accept or decline, so Domagalski accepted on Thursday and waited until 5pm on Friday to issue the press release.

Ah...the Friday at 5pm news dump.

by: GOP_RIP @ Sun Oct 03, 2010 at 01:55:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]