Republican leader Dean Skelos is already plotting his course for 2010 and hoping that the so-called anti-incumbent wave that swept certain areas of New York will help his conference retake the New York State Senate.
There were also Republican successes, albeit slightly less high-profile, in Monroe, Erie and Onondaga counties, Skelos noted, all of which are home to marginal Democrats who have been in the GOP crosshairs in the past.
"If you're Bill Stachowski, Dave Valesky, Darrel Aubertine, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Craig Johnson or Brian Foley, I think you have some cause for concern," Skelos told me yesterday.
"We've had people approaching us and asking to run against Democratic incumbents whereas in the past we've had to go out and seek candidates to run," the senator continued. "Even some candidates who maybe fell a little short, we're going to look at all of them. Some of them ran terrific campaigns and perhaps are ready to go for the Senate."
So if we go by what Skelos is saying, his targets are clear: SD-3, SD-7, SD-35, SD-48, SD-49 and SD-58.
Without challengers, it will be tough to gauge just how vulnerable those six seats are. Keep in mind that Skelos gave us Barbara Donno in SD-7 last year, so it's not as if Skelos has a good record to work with. He was, after all, the leader when the Republicans lost the majority last year.
Skelos and crew dropped more than $800,000* on Barbara Donno's bid against Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington). She lost Plandome Manor, where she's mayor, early tallies say.
I'm sure Frank Padavan thanks you, Senator Skelos.
Phillip provided us with the Siena polling results earlier. The results showed that two Democratic incumbents - Sen. Craig Johnson and Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer - enjoy big leads while two upstate senate races (SD-56 and SD-59) have our Democratic challengers trailing.
Knowing the two upstate districts very well, there are a few things. First, in SD-56 that race is much closer than it appears. You have colleges in the district (yesterday's rally in Rochester was an example) that are energized for not only Barack Obama, but they also like this Rick Dollinger fellow a lot too. Knowing how these polls are conducted, they probably aren't able to target the youth vote. Also, I think Robach's win in Greece/Parma is overstated. He's going to win both. That goes without saying. That's his turf and he will win that area. But he's not going to win by 37 points as he is in the Siena poll.
Brighton and Rochester are going to be the keys for Dollinger and he is winning there right now. I would say that the margins of victory in those areas for Dollinger in this poll are pretty close to what they will be on Election Day. But I would watch for the Greece/Parma numbers on Nov. 4. That is where the difference will be made. If Dollinger can make it fairly close in Greece and then win big in Brighton and Rochester, Dollinger will win.
And if you want a sleeper, watch what Kathy Konst does on Election Day. Volker lost the Erie County portion of this district on Primary Day. Konst is a conservative Democrat who could win this district. Jumping six points in the poll and holding Volker at the same number he came in at last time could mean that this is a race. Keep an eye on this one. There are a lot of people sick of Volker's dirty tricks and tactics and that might play right into Konst's hands. The extreme negativity Volker has utilized might work against him on Tuesday.
There are a lot of questions heading into Tuesday. Luckily we won't have to wait long for the answers.
The new Siena Polls on four state Senate Races are out this morning and it is a decidedly mixed bag.
7th SD - Nassau County - Craig Johnson (D, incumbent) vs. Barbara Donno (R)
Johnson has a 50-35 percent lead over Donno, down from a 49-25 percent lead in the previous Siena New York Poll. Johnson has the support of more than three-quarters of Democrats, while Donno has the support of more than two-thirds of Republicans. Johnson has a nearly two-to-one lead among independent voters, 50-28 percent, up from 36-24 percent in the last poll. Donno's overall gain in the poll comes largely from Republican voters, where she went from leading 47-28 percent, to now leading 68-19 percent.
Johnson is viewed favorably by 40 percent and unfavorably by 28 percent of voters (36-17 percent last poll). Donno currently has a 29-23 percent favorable rating (16-9 percent last poll).
...
37th SD - Westchester County - Suzi Oppenheimer (D, incumbent) vs. Liz Feld (R)
Oppenheimer has maintained a large 64-29 percent lead over Feld, down slightly from 61-24 percent in the previous poll. While Oppenheimer has support from 88 percent of Democrats, Feld is only winning among Republicans 64-30 percent. Oppenheimer has a better than two-to-one, 59-28 percent, lead among independent voters. Oppenheimer leads in every region and with virtually every demographic group.
...
56th SD - Monroe County - Joseph Robach (R, incumbent) vs. Richard Dollinger (D)
Robach leads Dollinger 52-39 percent, edging up slightly from 49-38 percent in the last poll. Robach has the support of 84 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats in this district with a large Democratic enrollment edge. Dollinger has the support of 55 percent of Democrats and 13 percent of Republicans. Robach leads among independent voters 56-37 percent, up from 46-34 percent. Dollinger leads by 11 points in Rochester and eight points in Brighton, however, Robach leads 67-27 percent in Greece and Parma.
...
Obama has a commanding 61-32 percent lead over McCain.(!)
Volker has a 50-39 percent lead over Konst, down six points from the last poll, when he led 50-33 percent. Volker has the support of three-quarters of Republicans, while Konst wins among Democrats 60-28 percent. Konst now leads among independent voters 47-40 percent, after trailing with these voters 43-28 percent previously. Volker has a small three - point lead in the Erie County portion of the district and a large 23-point lead in the Livingston/Ontario/Wyoming Counties portion of the district.
Much, much work to do. If you are in or near the 56th or the 59th, now is the time to get off the bench. I still think that the Rocbach/Dollinger race is going to turn largely on the Obama GOTV effort. Obama leads McCain 2-1 in that district and the urban parts of Rochester are going to be key. If you are anywhere near there, now is the time to get involved. This is a winnable race, folks.
To say that GOP money sop Barbara Donno's ridiculous ad released yesterday a was a "streeeeeetch" woul be something of a rather profound understatement. The Donno ad was simply beyond ridiculous, though I'm beyond happy that Dean Skelos continues to dump big bucks into this race. Srsly, Dean, you rule.
Craig Johnson is out with a new ad of his own today and it is remarkable for ads in this race in that it appears to be rather free of complete and utter BS.
Port Washington cops last night arrested a 22-year-old man who's been paid as a campaign consultant to Nassau Republican Senate candidate Barbara Donno (left), charging him with the theft of re-election signs for her opponent, Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington).
He's identified as Vincent Jeffrey, 22, of Manhasset.
Donno campaign spokesman Bryan Hurst described this as the action of "an overzealous campaign supporter" who has been suspended from the campaign without pay and who he said "obviously" wasn't acting on the orders of higherups.
The Johnson campaign gives this account, calling it a "new low" for Donno: "A Johnson campaign volunteer caught a person matching Jeffrey's description attempting to take a sign from Port Washington Blvd., just north of Wakefield Avenue, during Thursday's morning rush hour. The campaign later discovered that 70 to 100 Senator Johnson signs, many along Port Washington Blvd. and Searingtown Road, turned up missing within that same time period. Nearly all of them were replaced by Donno signs."
"The campaign volunteer was able to get the license plate number from the silver convertible the person was driving and a complaint was filed with police... Jeffrey was found with some of the missing signs in his possession and placed under arrest, according to Port Washington Police. Records on file with the New York State Board of Elections show that Jeffery has been on the Donno campaign's payroll since at least June 19."
Hurst of the Donno campaign said: "This was an overzealous campaign supporter who acted obviously outside the campaign...He has since been suspended without pay.
"Previous to this incident, the Town of North Hempstead Republican Party filed a complaint with the Port Washington Police Dept. stating that our signs had been stolen."
Normally, it would be easier for me to swallow the whole "overzealous staffer" thing. But, given the overtly dishonest campaign Donno has so far run, I'm not so sure.
(It's what they do. - promoted by phillip anderson)
The ever-desperate campaign of Babs Donno trips over itself again and again. This time Donno comes out swinging at the wind attacking Craig Johnson over Assembly Speaker Silver talking about bringing back the communter tax. Never mind that Johnson opposes the commuter tax. Donno never lets a fact get in her way.
Senate candidate Barbara Donno doesn't identify herself as a republican. You 'd be hard pressed to find it spelled out on her website or mentioned in her TV ads or in her mailings. On election day, she'll have the word "Republican" spelled out under her name.
How can republican candidates like Donno run like mad from her party name and still have a party designation?
Do what Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is doing in Washington State.
The Siena polls released today have created quite the buzz. No one said this New York State Senate fight would be easy, but it certainly is quite intriguing. These polls showed that these races are going to be very competitive in some places and not-so competitive in others.
But how seriously should we take these polls? Let's use this disclaimer from the poll to get this analysis started:
These SRI surveys were conducted from September 11-17, 2008 by telephone calls to likely registered voters in each State Senate district. For the 3rd SD, 405 voters were called, with a margin of error of + 4.9 percentage points. For the 7th SD, 402 voters were called, margin of error + 4.9. For the 15th SD, 401 voters were called, margin of error + 4.9. For the 48th SD, 437 voters were called, margin of error + 4.7. For the 56th SD, 429 voters were called, margin of error + 4.7. For the 61st SD, 450 voters were called, margin of error + 4.6. Data was statistically adjusted by respondent age - and in the 3rd SD, party - to match likely voters.
Phillip mentioned the high margin of error earlier. I would also like to point out that only 400-plus voters were surveyed in each district. That is a very small sample when you take into consideration how many voters each senate district contains.
There also some questions I had after looking at the crosstabulations for each poll. Take SD-56's crosstabs, for example. Sen. Joe Robach had a favorable rating in Greece/Parma of 71 percent. That is Robach's turf, but 71 percent still seems high to me considering Rick Dollinger had a 56 percent favorable rating on his turf in Brighton. Those numbers tell me that when they conducted this poll and especially when they called voters in Greece, they called more Republicans than Democrats. That Greece/Parma portion of the poll just seems to be inflated to me. This race isn't a double-digit race. We are talking single-digits, if not a dead heat.
The SD-3 crosstabs also boggle my mind. Trunzo is viewed favorably by 54 percent of Democrats? Really? That seems very high to me, especially since this guy is in hiding somewhere. Also, Trunzo is viewed more favorably than Brian Foley in Foley's hometown of Brookhaven. That doesn't sound right to me. And Trunzo is viewed more favorably among people ages 18 to 34? I'll have to take you word for it.
I will echo what Phillip said earlier and that is take these results with a grain of salt. Overall, I think SD-15 and SD-61 are about right. It would make sense that both of those races are tied at the moment. I do think SD-3 is much closer than that and I would even bet Foley is leading. The SD-56 poll also doesn't show how close that race truly is. Again, it depends on your sample. If your sample leans one way or another, that's the way the poll will lean. I'm not accusing Siena of anything (they do great work there) but the sample you have is the sample you work with.
What the Siena polls did tell us today is that we have a fight on our hands. But it also gave the Republicans a nice warning shot across the bow. We are coming for them with everything we have. To think, we could have four races (SD-3, SD-15, SD-56 and SD-61) in play and the Republicans are spending their resources in two races (SD-7 and SD-48) where our incumbent senators are up by double-digits.
November 4 is going to be very, very good for us. But we still need to work hard. There are other races throughout the state we should keep an eye on and work just as hard in. This election is ours for the taking. So let's take it.
As a result of those polls coming out today, some of the candidates or their campaigns have come out with statements regarding the results.
Brian Foley's campaign (SD-3): "The voters of Islip and Brookhaven are tired of skyrocketing property taxes and the failed economic policies of the Albany status quo, and no amount of misleading and negative attack ads will change that. We are not surprised that a majority of voters do not want Caesar Trunzo to represent them in Albany any longer - after 36 years of dysfunction, voters are hungry for change."
Senator Craig Johnson's campaign strategist Evan Stavisky (SD-7): "The results of this poll are a reflection of Senator Johnson's tireless efforts on behalf of Nassau's residents. He will continue to fight for real tax relief and to help New York state get back on the right track, just as he helped bring Nassau County back from the brink of fiscal crisis."
Rick Dollinger's campaign response (SD-56): "We always knew that this was going to be a close race. And, after spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars trying to hide from his anti-choice, pro-gun record Republican incumbent Joe Robach, who won his 2006 re-election bid with 70% of the vote has plummeted 21% to a point where less than 50% of the public wants to see him back in Albany. Monroe County voters have demonstrated that they are fed up with failed Republican economic policies and are ready for a change. The numbers in Monroe County clearly show that voters overwhelmingly support a shift in the State Senate to Democratic control and are ready to send someone to Albany who shares their beliefs and values."
Joe Mesi's campaign (SD-61): "We don't put a lot of stock in polls, but this confirms what really matters: every day, Joe Mesi is meeting Western New Yorkers who are rallying to his plans for real change for our future. With rising concerns about jobs and the economy, voters are telling Mesi they want new solutions, not more of the same failed policies of the past."
I will have more of analysis later. There is more than meets the eye with some of the results, particularly in SD-56.
As if you needed any more proof this week that Republicans can't handle money, take a look at where Dean Skelos has been blowing his campaign committee's money so far this cycle. He's spent close to $1.3 million on Barbara Donno ($650K in SD-7) and David Renzi ($600K in SD-48). The result? Their candidates are being crushed by 20 points or more. It seems that Skelos just can't let the SD-7 race go, as he continues to pour money into a vendetta race against Craig Johnson. As for SD-48, I guess they just can't get over the fact that they lost a seat they'd held since the 19th century and must feel that they are owed it or something. Darrel Aubertine appears to have sealed the deal with the good people of the district and even $600K doesn't seem to have changed that perception all that much.
The point is that that money is gone. It's not coming back. Dean has dropped well over million bucks on two long shots and has gotten two blowouts in return.
Of course, this all pales in comparison to the nearly $1 million, give or take a cup of coffee or two, that Dean has dumped into defending Serph Maltese. That's a lot of money and it's only September. The result? A dead heat against 20 year incumbent. A million bucks and Maltese is still in real serious trouble.
With mad fiscal skillz like these, is it any wonder our state budget is in such a mess?
The big set of polls from The Siena Research Institute that everyone has been waiting on since last week are finally live. The news is overall is pretty damn positive for Dems, but I'd caution everyone to take these numbers with a massive grain of salt. The polls have a pretty high MoE and these races are historically difficult to poll. That said, I like what I see.
Short summary: Our freshman are safe. They are absolutely crushing. Both Craig Johnson (SD-7) and Darrel Aubertine (SD-48) have leads of 20 points or more. Ceasar Trunzo (SD-3) and Serph Maltese (SD-15) are in trouble. Trunzo holds a 6 point lead on Brian Foley in the poll but is well below 50%. Maltese is tied with Joe Addabbo. The poll says that race is dead even. Rick Dollinger is within striking distance of Joe Robach, but has his work cut out for him and Joe Mesi has small lead on the Republican in the race for the open seat in SD-61.
From Siena:
Siena New York State Senate Polls:
Six Key Races Will Help Determine Control of Senate In '09
Republicans Lead in Suffolk (3rd SD) & Monroe (56th SD)
Democrats Up Big in Nassau (7th SD) & North Country (48th SD)
Races in Queens (15th SD) and Erie (61st SD) Are Neck & Neck
Loudonville, NY. With Republicans currently holding a 31-30 majority in the State Senate, the political eyes of New York are turning to legislative races across the State that will determine whether Republicans continue to control the State Senate or Democrats gain a majority for the first time in more than four decades. The two newest senators - both Democrats elected in special elections - have leads of at least twenty points, while two incumbent Republican senators have smaller leads, another Republican incumbent is tied with his opponent, and an open seat shows a very tight race, according to new Siena (College) Research Institute polls of likely voters released today.
Republican challenger to Sen. Craig Johnson has received $462,000 in direct contributions from the New York Senate Republican Campaign Committee so far.
There is also the money spent by the SRCC on Donno's behalf which adds up to $196,527.
Liz has a great breakdown of recent campaign finance filings from the Democrats and Republicans that tell where their resources are being spent and what their primary focuses are heading into November.
On the Democratic side, the three big ones are SD-3 (Brian Foley), SD-15 (Joseph Addabbo) and SD-56 (Rick Dollinger). These seats should go without saying. In SD-15, Republican Serph Maltese narrowly won in 2006 and is vulnerable this year. Here in upstate New York, Dollinger is presenting a serious challenge to Sen. Joe Robach. Robach hasn't received the same love from the SRCC that Dollinger has received from the DSCC. Meanwhile, SD-3 is interesting. Foley is getting plenty of money and support from the DSCC and Republican Sen. Caesar Trunzo is getting backing from the SRCC. Trunzo will need it since he has apparently entered his cave for the winter.
The top target for the SRCC is Maltese, who they have invested a lot of money in hoping he keeps that seat.
The second biggest target for the SRCC? One would think either Trunzo or Robach, right? After all, their counterparts with the DSCC have invested a lot of money in SD-3 and SD-56. But neither are their second biggest target.
Actually, Barbara Donno in SD-7 (Republican challenger to Sen. Craig Johnson) is. The Republicans have spent over $142,000 on Donno, which is remarkable considering she is, at best, a long shot to Sen. Johnson. The reason for this is Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his personal issues with Sen. Johnson. I think the Republicans are crying because Sen. Johnson broke up their nine seat stranglehold out on Long Island. By January, that should be down to seven seats.
There are a couple things that surprise me with the recent filings:
- The lack of money invested in Robach. I would think that they would want to keep this seat that has such a high Democratic enrollment with a candidate that has been able to win there multiple times now. Maybe they will invest more in Robach come October, but the fact they are investing more in races they can't win (SD-7) should raise some questions about what the Republican strategy is for November. Do they really think they are going to keep the majority? It sure seems that way. Of course, these are the same people saying McCain is close in New York.
- The money invested by the SRCC in SD-43 and no money being invested by the DSCC there. The GOP is investing a lot (over $84,000) to keep Bruno's old district red. Are they really worried about keeping this seat or what? It's a Republican district with a Republican assemblyman as the candidate. That's not to take away anything from Mike Russo. If the DSCC can give a modest amount of money to challengers like Kathy Konst, they should be giving up some cash to Russo in SD-43. That seat seems to be one that the Republicans are afraid to lose and the Democrats aren't interested in winning.
I will have more about these filings in my power rankings tomorrow.
(The latest from Barbara Donno, our very own Sarah Palin. - promoted by phillip anderson)
For someone who says "I'm not your typical politician" and "I learned that we are all fed-up with politics as usual, partisan sniping and outright character assassination- especially when that's what we get instead of progress" she sure doesn't live up to that.
For a local race, Donno has brought sleaze to a new level. And considering her party in Nassau, that says alot.
What does Republican Barbara Donno, who is running a doomed campaign against Sen. Craig Johnson, and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin have in common?
Well, two things:
(1) They are or were mayors of very small towns
AND
(2) They both like (or liked) to spend their town's money over the amount that was budgeted.
At the end of Barbara's first year as mayor, March 2008, the budget line for legal expenses was $114,904 over the $60,000 amount budgeted for the year. That is almost exactly the same amount that was spent by the previous mayor for his entire two-year term. This means that the village's legal expenses went from being an item that represented only 9 percent of the budget and grew to 18 percent in one short year. Mayor Donno offers residents an excuse that litigation is costly and she inherited these expenses. Oddly enough, when Barbara Donno brought an Article 78 Proceeding against the village during her predecessor's administration, the legal fees didn't rise dramatically. By the way, our former village counsel, who won that legal proceeding, worked for 10 years with three mayors. Mrs. Donno replaced him to hire a longtime associate of hers as village counsel. She will say that the board of trustees approved her appointment. That is true as far as it goes; the trustees' vote was split, so Barbara's vote was the deciding factor. In her "year in review" letter to Village residents and currently on the website, Mrs. Donno admitted, "The issue of these costs remains a concern to me..."
You also have to look at the quality of advice the board of trustees and mayor received for this very costly service. The village had a road study performed by an outside engineering firm to address safety concerns raised by residents. At the June 26, 2007, board of trustees meeting, the board approved the recommendations. Mrs. Donno cast the deciding vote. But the recommendations have not been completely implemented yet. Why hasn't counsel advised the board that this failure to improve safety conditions leaves the village with a greater liability should an accident occur in the area studied?
In late August, 2007, Mayor Donno called an unscheduled meeting of the board to approve the issuance of a bond for a large road project. There was no notice given to residents; personally I thought the meeting was held illegally and refused to vote at that time. It was interesting that counsel was not present at that unscheduled meeting. One of our village residents wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Manhasset Press saying the "hastily called meeting is irresponsible..."
On July 17, 2008, a Legal Notice appeared in the Manhasset Press giving notice of a zoning board hearing that evening. These notices are supposed to appear at least a week in advance; why wasn't counsel reminding the village that this was inappropriate and leaving the village open to litigation?
When she ran for mayor, Barbara's campaign letter referred to the newly revised Code of Laws passed in 2005 and 2006 and said "ensure that they are necessary and appropriate for our village." Only minor changes have been made since Barbara took office. Did the previous mayor and board do such a good job, or is she afraid to spend the money it would take to have her counsel do a review?
That same letter complained about permit fees. Barbara's term of office is almost three quarters over. If she hasn't been able to reduce the fees in this small village, how does she expect to do it in New York State?
It amazes me how the Democrats always get the label of "tax and spend" when the Republicans are the real tax and spenders. Someone once debated with me the difference between "fiscal responsibility" and "fiscal conservative", saying that they were one in the same. I beg to differ, considering the Republicans will call themselves "fiscal conservatives" only to tax towns, counties, states and countries into oblivion.
Barbara Donno: Just another tax and spend Republican.
I caught up with our good friend Senator Craig Johnson this morning at the Sheraton in downtown Denver, the home of the New York delegation. Take a look:
Yesterday we reported on the minor party ballot line shenanigans in SD-7, where two parties, the Working Families Party and the local Independence Party both wanted Freshman Senator Craig Jonson on their lines only to end up with Johnson off the WFP line and with challenger Barbara Donno taking the Indy line at the insistence of the state Indys. WFP chief Dan Cantor released this statement late yesterday afternoon:
"Senate Republicans used the courts to circumvent the democratic process and the will of Working Families Party members in the 7th Senate District."
"Senator Johnson has been a champion of middle and working class values, and has worked tirelessly to make sure that their issues and concerns are heard in Albany. No matter what line his name will be on in November, he will continue to have the support of the Working Families Party, and more importantly, the support of the hard-working men and women in his district."
"We have no doubt that Craig Johnson will be re elected to the State Senate."
More fun with minor party ballot lines in the 7th. Liz is reporting that the Appellate Division 2nd Judicial Department has ruled unanimously that freshman Senator Craig Johnson will be kept off the Working Families line. This is ironic in that the WFP is a big reason why Johnson is a Senator today and they endorsed him again 2008. The court also ruled that his challenger, Barbara Donno, will keep the Independence Party line even though the local IP has endorsed Johnson as well.
You remember the "North Shore Committee for Truth", don't you? It's the Republican Senate Campaign Committee funded astroturf entity that I wrote about last summer that sprang up shortly after Craig Johnson won the SD-7 special election. The website for the "committee" now seems to be defunct (what did they spend the $5K Bruno gave them on anyway?), but the woman who is at least nominally behind that effort, one Christine A. Nagy (or Christine A. Imrie, depending on what documents you are looking at) is also the woman behind the apparently successful (for now, anyway) effort to keep Johnson off the WFP line this November. Spin Cycle has the goods:
The court case that has knocked Sen. Craig Johnson off the Working Families Party ballot line was brought by a Republican resident of Westbury whose address is also that of a now-you-see-it-now-you-don't civic "committee" -- which sent out letters attacking Johnson shortly after he was elected last year.
Senate GOP Majority Leader Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre has made no secret of his special desire to unseat Johnson, the only Democrat in Long Island's 9-member Senate delegation. The Senate Republican Campaign Committee donated $5,000 last year to the North Shore Committee for Truth, whose treasurer was listed as Christine A. Nagy.
Records show Nagy, 35, is registered to vote under that name, and did so in 2007, but on other records is Christine A. Imrie, who made the successful application to challenge Johnson's petitions. Meanwhile the "truth" committee's Web site, active a year ago, seems to have gone off-line, though you can see some of the content by clicking this Google-cached item. Phone numbers that are listed under both of the petitioner's names seem to be disconnected.
Just in case this tactic didn't work, Nassau Republicans also sent out one Patrick Lilavois to collect petition signatures for a WFP candidacy that only ever existed as a means for denying Johnson the ballot line.
Meanwhile, the earlier gambit by which Patrick Lilavois, also of Westbury, gathered 44 signatures for the WFP line -- with help from North Hempstead Republicans -- seems to have paid off for the GOP as a tactical move. If a party member signs two candidate petitions, only the first one counts. In some cases, Lilavois got to the doors of party members first, helping Johnson's foes' efforts to winnow down his number of valid signatures and thus aid the prospects of keeping him off the WFP line. Some earlier partisan analysis from the Johnson side is here.
